In his 2024 New Year message, Xiao Feng, CEO of HashKey Group, shared his thoughts on the top 8 industry trends for the coming year, based on the first principles of blockchain.
Feng examined the evolution of record-keeping methods, from the first ledger that appeared in Sumer in 3500 BC to the distributed ledger records that emerged into the digital world with Bitcoin in 2009 AD. He stated that social and economic changes have been adapted every time.
Feng identified several key trends for the blockchain industry in 2024:
- Ethereum continues to lead: Feng predicts that Ethereum will continue to lead the innovation in blockchain technology and that no one can match this.
- Mature Layer 2 Technology: Blockchain’s Layer 2 technology is maturing and supporting the emergence of applications with specific scenarios and real value.
- Rise of Cryptoeconomics: Cryptoeconomics has clearly become a science, with the token economic model showing great real value in supporting the real economy and technological innovation.
- Evolution of the Bitcoin Ecosystem: While Lightning Network’s fiat stablecoin payment system is something to look forward to, success can only be achieved by following Bitcoin’s core features, according to Feng.
- Developer-oriented networks: Blockchain is a developer-oriented network, not a consumer-oriented network. All major blockchain networks are competitive, and those that get more support from developers can thrive.
- Logic Underlying the Bitcoin Rally: According to Feng, the underlying logic of this Bitcoin rally is anti-inflation in the developed economies of Europe and the US, driven by the demand for safe havens amid geopolitical turmoil.
- Global Digital Immigrant Boom: The global digital immigrant boom is about to begin, with countries scrambling to launch ‘digital immigrant visas’ in the race to become a global technology and innovation hub.
- Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN): DePIN connects the real world and the virtual world, connecting off-chain and on-chain.
*This is not investment advice.