In early DeFi, the traders who tracked orderflow data on DEXs had a clear advantage.

They could see where liquidity was moving, what pairs were heating up, and where volatility would strike next.

That edge became the foundation of entire strategies, from MEV extraction to alpha rotation.

Now, with intent-centric systems like @anoma, a new type of signal is emerging: intent flow.

-- 📌 Solvers Generate Market-Grade Data

Every intent is an expression of demand:

• Swap this asset.
• Execute this strategy.
• Send to this address under these constraints.

When solvers compete to fill these intents, they create a real-time feed of market demand.

Unlike DEX orderflow, this data isn’t siloed inside one protocol. It spans multiple resources: liquidity pools, execution layers, oracles, even privacy-shielded venues.

-- 📌 Why It’s an Alpha Signal

Intent flow tells you not just what people are trading, but what outcomes they want.
That’s a higher-order signal.

• DEX orderflow: “Users are swapping $ETH → USDC.”

• Intent flow: “Agents are looking for yield under X policy constraint, across multiple chains.”

That gap is huge. It turns raw transaction data into structured demand intelligence.

The first teams to capture, index, and interpret this flow will have the same edge early MEV searchers had in 2020.

-- 📌 From Edge to Ecosystem

This isn’t just alpha for traders.

1. Protocols: Can see what outcomes users want and optimize products accordingly.

2. Builders: Can identify gaps in solver coverage or under-served intent types.

3. Agents: Can route smarter by predicting where liquidity gravity is concentrating.

Intent data becomes the feedback loop that improves the substrate itself.

•••

-- 📌 The Big Picture

Every crypto cycle produces a new class of edge:

• 2017: ICO capital flows.
• 2020: DEX orderflow.
• 2025: Intent flow.

It’s not obvious today, but in hindsight it will be.
The investors, builders, and solvers who master intent data will sit at the center of the next wave of crypto intelligence.