Topics of Crypto World

This article explores the role of tokens as underwriting tools for user behavior in the crypto space, and analyzes airdrop mining, token incentive design, and how gamifying and financializing user behavior can drive effective user acquisition and retention.

In April 2025, the Meme token RFC on the Solana chain experienced a phenomenal surge. The price soared to US$0.199 in a short period of time, and the market value exceeded US$100 million. The rally was driven by a complex network of capital, including the sophisticated operations of multiple associated addresses and market makers. Musk’s social interaction and Solana ecosystem support further boosted RFC’s market popularity. However, the whale's manipulation and highly concentrated chip distribution expose the market to huge risks, which may lead to violent price fluctuations. The RFC incident revealed the contradiction between community governance and institutional trading in the encryption market.

In April 2025, Solayer’s ecosystem token LAYER surpassed $2, reaching a market cap of $400 million and a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of over $2 billion. Its technical breakthrough, InfiniSVM, achieves blockchain scalability through co-designed software and hardware, significantly enhancing transaction throughput. The market responded enthusiastically to its tech narrative, capital backing, and ecosystem integration, driving LAYER's price surge. Hardware acceleration has sparked a performance race, a reshaping of mining economics, and a wave of developer migration. Despite risks like inflation, technical delays, and regulatory uncertainties, LAYER’s long-term value lies in its commercial rollout of million TPS and its influence on hardware standards.

In April 2025, Lido announced the launch of its Unichain Liquidity Incentive Program, targeting multiple major asset pools to reinforce stETH’s position as the dominant DeFi currency and promote its role as a core asset in cross-chain trading. This move not only extends Lido's dominance in the Ethereum staking market but also offers Uniswap a strategic breakthrough in its Layer 2 ambitions. Meanwhile, the UNI token struggles with low prices, though market signals suggest a potential rebound. Lido’s incentive initiative may trigger a liquidity redistribution across the DeFi ecosystem and spark interest rate wars among lending protocols. Investors should closely monitor the long-term value driven by cross-chain interoperability.

MANTRA's OM token experienced a catastrophic 90% crash, plummeting from $5.21 to $0.50, in what appears to be more than just a technical failure. The article details MANTRA's controversial history, including centralized token control with 90% of tokens in a single wallet, alleged OTC fundraising schemes, and legal disputes in Hong Kong. The crash was reportedly triggered by forced liquidations resulting in $66.97 million in liquidations and strategic investors' exodus, with 43.6 million OM tokens being transferred to exchanges before the crash.

Gate Research: This week, Huddle01, Mint Blockchain, Gradient Network, and ByteNova have all presented opportunities for users to engage with the Web3 ecosystem. Huddle01 is a Web3-based decentralized video conferencing platform where users can earn points by completing social tasks, missions, interacting with applications, collecting badges, and inviting friends. Mint Blockchain, a Layer 2 blockchain focused on the NFT ecosystem, is distributing its airdrop in phases to MintID stakers, GreenID users, and Mint Expedition participants. Gradient Network, a decentralized edge computing platform built on Solana, allows users to earn points through registration, completing tasks, installing browser extensions, and inviting friends. ByteNova, a decentralized edge AI ecosystem, enables users to earn points by connecting wallets and social accounts, inviting friends, completing tasks, and checking in daily—these points will later be converted into rewards. All of these projects are in their early stages of developmen

Gate Research: This report covers key blockchain industry developments from April 11-17, 2025. Ethereum gas fees hit a record low, with the average transaction cost in March plummeting 80% compared to the end of last year; Gate.com released its Q1 2025 report, showing growth in both trading volume and reserves; OM experienced a flash crash with a peak drop of over 90%; TRON reported record-high quarterly revenue of $760 million; Solana raised its block compute limit, further enhancing network performance; Sony-backed Soneium partnered with EigenLayer to reduce blockchain finality time by 98%, setting a new benchmark for L2 performance; and the depegging of sUSD worsened, triggering market panic.

Alliance DAO’s investments in 28 Web3 consumer-facing apps—spanning lifestyle, gaming, crypto speculation, SocialFi, creator tools, financial services, and utility platforms—showcase its thesis and strategic approach in this fast-growing vertical. This report unpacks the core paradigms, challenges, and opportunities shaping the Web3 consumer app landscape, and explores how we should define and evaluate success in this category.

Gate Research Daily Report: April 18: Bitcoin is priced at $84,927, while Ethereum edged up to $1,587.17. Solana's DEX trading volume surpassed Ethereum, ranking first across all chains. Circle Research released the Refund Protocol. Ethereum transaction fees hit a five-year low, and the DeFi market lost nearly $49 billion in Q1. Slovenia proposes a 25% crypto tax.

In the race for funding and hype, many projects exaggerate lab metrics—sacrificing decentralization, security, and practical usability in the process. This article argues that blockchain teams should shift focus back to meaningful applications and scale their solutions around real-world use cases, not vanity numbers.

The intersection of AI and crypto has always been a narrative brimming with potential. Blockchain's decentralized nature perfectly complements the efficiency gains brought by artificial intelligence, inspiring countless developers to invest heavily in this vision. Tools like DeepSeek are leveraging human-like content generation technology to accelerate Web3 cultural content production automation. This opens up vast new opportunities for value creation in the Web3 content creation space.

On April 14, 2025, the crypto market was rocked by a violent crash. OM, the native token of the MANTRA Chain and a prominent player in the RWA (Real World Asset tokenization) narrative, plummeted 94% within just four hours, triggering widespread panic. The project team blamed liquidation issues on exchanges, but on-chain data revealed a sophisticated scheme involving tokenomics manipulation, narrative control, and airdrop traps. The event highlights the risks of an unregulated crypto space and how human psychology is often exploited, reminding investors to stay vigilant during periods of extreme volatility.

Recall is a groundbreaking decentralized platform that leverages blockchain technology to create a new framework for AI agents, enhancing collaboration and providing economic incentives. It tackles challenges in traditional AI systems related to data transparency, trust, and collaboration, paving the way for the growth of the AI agent economy.

Explore the architecture, applications, and market potential of Decentralized Physical AI (DePAI)—from autonomous vehicles and collaborative robotics to distributed data markets. Discover how robots operate within the Web3 ecosystem and uncover emerging investment opportunities.

This article provides an in-depth introduction to Yield Basis, a new project launched by Curve’s founder. It covers the project’s background and core philosophy, its innovative mechanisms, technical architecture, unique advantages, as well as future development prospects and potential challenges.