In the past few months, the main theme of the market has slowly shifted from 'speculation' to 'value'. This is not a hollow conclusion but a trend derived from the changes observed in on-chain data, user behavior, and the ecosystem's circulation. Recent observations from 10x Research highlighted this turning point: the influence of speculative funds is declining, while ecosystems that can genuinely generate users, cash flow, revenue, and deflationary mechanisms are quietly gaining strength.
In other words: the underlying logic of the bull market is shifting from 'speculating on coins' to 'using them'.
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Speculative dividends are fading, but fundamental demand is starting to rise.
Past bull markets mostly relied on narratives, and the most common narrative in Web3 is 'price'.
But now we can see two obvious changes:
1. On-chain activity is no longer completely following price fluctuations.
Active wallet counts, transaction volumes, and gas consumption on chains like Sui, Solana, Base, BSC are showing relatively stable growth.
This means that user behavior is gradually breaking free from speculative cycles and starting to have more certain use cases.
2. More and more ecosystems are starting to generate measurable cash flow.
Like DEX trading fees, lending interest, MEV, block space income, point economy, etc., are gradually allowing certain protocols to truly possess 'equity-like' value.
These two changes are what the past crypto market has lacked.
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This cycle is closer than ever to 'value finally being priced'.
The 10x perspective points out that the current market is actually in a unique phase:
Although the market is volatile, the fundamentals of the Web3 ecosystem are accelerating improvements.
More importantly, the market is no longer moving in sync for all assets, but is showing 'structural differentiation':
Chains with real users → Live better
Protocols that can provide stable returns → Are more likely to be focused on
Tokens with deflationary mechanisms and fee income → Higher price reflection
Pure narratives and pure speculative tokens → Have already begun to be eliminated by the market
This represents the first appearance of the difference between 'value stocks vs concept stocks' in the market.
This is a new phase in the crypto world.
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The new growth engine: Three forces are establishing long-term value
1. User activity brings predictable cash flow
The correlation between chain activity and protocol income is starting to become quantifiable.
The more you use → The more fees increase → Protocol income grows → Token buybacks/burns/profit sharing become stronger
This is the definition of 'fundamentals' in traditional markets.
2. Well-designed token models are starting to show 'deflationary force'
Like certain L1s, DEXs, computation layers (AI × Crypto), and RWA protocols:
The busier the chain → The more tokens are burned
The more popular DEXs are → The more is distributed to stakers
RWA becoming more popular → Actual returns are higher
These returns are not like airdrops, but are 'repeatable and sustainable'.
3. Web3 is transitioning from tools to infrastructure
Applications like payments, BTCfi, RWA, AI agents, cross-border remittances, and on-chain identity are starting to land.
These areas have one thing in common:
The more users there are, the more valuable the tokens become.
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After the speculative cycle ends, the real bull market begins
Many investors mistakenly think 'market volatility = market is about to end'.
But often it's the opposite:
When short-term speculators exit, long-term builders and deep users remain,
That will be the foundation for the next bull market.
Data shows that the market is rapidly approaching this structure:
Active users have increased compared to last year
The number of developers continues to grow
User loyalty for new Dapps is increasing
Reserves, protocol income, and on-chain fees are showing robust growth
The market is transitioning from 'speculation-driven' → 'fundamentals-driven'.
This means for most people:
What you think is consolidation might actually be value being accumulated.
