Many people look at a particular sector to see if there's a chance, and they tend to check whether the leading players are already established. Once they think the landscape is set, they assume there's no more room for opportunity. But this way of thinking is actually based on analyzing results that have already played out. When the landscape is still forming, there are actually more variables than you might imagine.

StandX is one of the earliest Perps projects I got involved with last year. Their pace has always been a bit different—while others are busy issuing tokens and pushing data, they’ve been continuously improving their product, releasing new features every month. Recently, they’ve been working on the SIP-1 BlockTrades proposal. They haven't had a TGE yet. If it were last year, people might say they’re slow, but looking back now, it might not be a bad thing at all.

The market is also changing. The way Perps scores are earned has shifted from initially throwing money at rankings to a more cautious participation approach. Many are still trading, but they’re no longer risking large amounts; instead, they’re doing small trades or arbitrage, with scores serving as additional income.

Polymarket is a good example—most of the activity there is driven by arbitrage bots, and scores are just a side benefit.

So, the projects that will succeed in the future aren’t necessarily the “first movers,” but those that resemble sustainable, long-term trading products.