20 Emerging Trends in the Encryption Space to Follow in 2024

The new year is about to begin, and we have compiled 20 important trends that may emerge in the encryption industry this year, covering multiple aspects from underlying infrastructure to top-level applications. This is destined to be a year full of opportunities and challenges.

1. EVM Parallelization

The battle for public chain performance is still ongoing. In November, a certain blockchain project announced an upgrade, claiming it would become the first parallel EVM chain. In December, the prices of two related projects surged significantly, but have recently retraced.

2. Modular Blockchain

Innovations in data availability, consensus, and execution layers are continuously emerging. The industry has dedicated weekly reports tracking the latest developments in this field.

3. Solana Ecosystem

Recently, a large number of meme coins related to Solana have emerged, and its DEX infrastructure projects have also performed well. In the future, focus on projects in the value chain related to asset issuance, circulation, and leverage.

4. Decentralized Internet of Things ( DePin )

Although the DePin concept has recently been somewhat hyped, it still has development potential. Hardware mining can serve as an entry point, and an excellent dividend mechanism design is key.

5. Restaking (

DeFi projects compete through interest rates. Ethereum PoS brings about a 3% risk-free yield, which can be leveraged up to 8%. Some projects claim to offer native yields to attract DeFi users. Meanwhile, Ethereum ecosystem DeFi projects may counteract with higher yields.

6. Sei Ecosystem

Similar to Solana, after the V2 launch, projects related to asset issuance, circulation, and leverage should be followed.

7. Starknet Ecosystem

The issuance of tokens is highly anticipated. The main focus is on two directions: DeFi and full-chain gaming. In the DeFi direction, attention should be paid to the movements of relevant committees, while in full-chain gaming, one can pay attention to some specialized research institutions.

8. Atomicals Protocol

Compared to BRC20, it has stronger orthodoxy. You can follow some mainstream Atom and Quark projects, while other inscription projects need to be judged based on market sentiment.

9. Game Finance ) GameFi (

A number of high-quality game projects emerged in the fourth quarter of 2023 and will be launched successively this year. For specific information, you can consult some professional gaming guilds.

10. On-chain Games

Games that put assets on the blockchain may provide a stronger sense of excitement, but current research is still insufficient. You can follow some analyses from professional research institutions.

11. Proof of Work ) PoW ( mechanism

Miners always need to dig for new projects. A simple strategy is to follow the new models launched by mining machine manufacturers. After a manufacturer launched a new mining machine in May last year, the related tokens surged by up to 10 times.

12. Cosmos Ecosystem

Although we do not have much research on Cosmos, the ecosystem has remained vibrant and has the potential to incubate high-quality projects.

13. Derivatives

The current DeFi protocols are becoming increasingly complex, making it difficult for individuals without a financial background to understand. However, for traders, this presents opportunities for complex on-chain arbitrage and hedging. Some projects have shown excellent fundamental data and provide a good user experience.

14. Intent ) Intent ( and Artificial Intelligence

This concept was briefly hyped but has since calmed down; however, the related projects are still worth following.

15. Berachain

Proof of Liquidity ) may become a new battleground for the competition of capital efficiency in economic models and tokenomics design.

16. Decentralized Science(De-Science)

A certain research institution proposed this concept, which currently mainly involves pharmaceutical and AI projects. Not many relevant projects have been discovered yet.

17. Stablecoin

Some projects are launching new versions, bringing new architecture, capital efficiency, and interest rate mechanisms.

18. Ponzi Economics

The story of OHM fork projects seems never-ending, with two projects having increased by over 20 times in the last 30 days.

19. ZK Proof Hardware Acceleration

There are currently few related projects, and it may still be too early.

20. ZK Co-Processor

This is a relatively new concept, and there are already some in-depth analysis articles in the industry.

Overall, the encryption industry will continue to develop rapidly in multiple areas such as technological innovation, expansion of application scenarios, and optimization of economic models in 2024. Investors and practitioners need to remain vigilant and closely follow industry trends.