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Below are 9 trends to watch that I've discovered while spending an insane amount of time researching for @Lightspeedpodhq. SVM Adoption Eclipse, MakerDAO (TBD), Rome (shared sequencer) and other protocols are adopting the SVM. This is huge for Solana because: 1) We know Solana has great tech, the challenge is convincing people to care. Wider SVM adoption means greater developer and user mind share. It also gives developers optionality as the fate of their application and career is no longer solely predicated on Solana's adoption/survival. Eclipse has created a bridge between the Solana and Ethereum community. For the first time, developers are talking about the merits of the SVM. The inevitable shift: - Parallel execution and local fee markets are required - Let's use the SVM for rollup execution - Let’s use Solana as a sequencer - Let's tap into the SVM's app/liquidity hub - Damn, Solana isn't going anywhere 2) SVM adoption leads to the experimentation that is touted for modular ecosystems. If an SVM fork unlocks a game-changing innovation, Solana can and will adopt these upgrades. 3) Execution environments will consolidate in a power law fashion because of composability and users want to be where other users are. The SVM is having its breakout moment. Modular vs Monolithic The lines are blurring between monolithic and modular designs. Solana can eventually implement DAS and validity proofs creating a DA layer with an enshrined SVM execution layer on top. does this mean Solana is modular? Celestia has limited execution, DA and consensus. Is Celestia really a modular chain? Modular layers can enable acclerated experimentation as multiple teams compete to work on a specific problem (Celestia, EigenLayer, Avail) and teams are not reliant on backwards compatibility, multiple stake holders, etc. But these components 1) are prone to commoditization and 2) will lose sovereignty over time as integrated protocols will demand more influence over their design/roadmap. The adoption of the SVM is just one way to modularize innovation but we're already seeing this within many teams within the Solana ecosytem (e.g. RPCs, Privacy Solutions). Depending on your definition, Solana is modular at the technical - modular components in a vertical wrapper - and community level (DeFi, NFTs, DePIN). It's mostly semantics and marketing. Appchains 1,000+ apps powered by crypto is intuitive. 1,000+ appchains isn't. Users don't care about the chain - they care about the product, experience, community and status. Each incremental user into crypto will care less about the backend (chain), sovereignty and idealism. each user will incrementally care more about the features listed above. those features have [almost] nothing to do with the chain itself but everything to do with offchain properties, supplemented by onchain liquidity. Crypto is liquidity on the internet. the internet is a network. networks inevitably have power law outcomes. Outside of a few unique consensus level customizations, the stated main reason to have an appchain is sovereignty (the ability to fork). This was Rune's reason for MakerDAO's propose appchain. This may work for Maker but this ability is a double-edged sword. If you can fork at anytime you inherently reduce composability and trust with other apps/chains. It's important to remember that "practicle forkability" is what matters. If 40% of Makers assets (e.g. RWAs) are with 3 entities than those entities decide which fork is the real [valuable] MakerDAO. Most appchains should just be 1) on a general-purpose chain or 2) a centralized database. appchains are often just centralized databases with a web3 markting budget. Rollups The main selling point for rollups is access to ETH, the tokens on the ETH L1, Ethereum alignment (marketing) and the price-insensitive Ethereum user base. Rollups want to bridge to layers that have an abundance of tokens + interesting state. Forget about everything else. Verifiability End-user verifiability via low hardware requirements or DAS/validity proofs is the end game right now. But do users care to run a light node? but actually? 99% of peope probably don't but I agree its a goal we should work towards. It costs $350/month to run a validator node on Solana. Is that too expensive? I don't think so. Can Solana offer end-user verification asynchronously without impacting latency or throughout? Yes, eventually. On and off-ramps For crypto to win normies we need to get people paid onchain. I used Venmo for 6 months without linking my bank account. I was paid for dinners, etc. over time, built up a balance, then began to pay people with my "Venmo dollars". Eventually Isaw the value of Venmo and linked my account. Crypto needs to take a similar approach. Social, gaming and DePIN are the most likely onboarding mechanisms. Permissionless Frontends We'll see a battle between 1) frontends vs frontends 2) frontends vs protocols. Frontends will align with protocols and protocols will align with frontends via revenue share. Platform risk will be introduced as protocols and frontends realize they are competing for a greater % of user payments. There's a term called "commoditize your complement" - frontends will attempt to commoditize the protocols underneath them granting them a greater share of revenue + influence on protocol design. This is aggregation theory meets crypto. Discovery vs Distribution In the internet age, distribution costs nothing but discovery costs everything. This is why aggregators will dominate and why 30% of all D2C funds raised from venture capital went towards Google and Facebook - they control demand and discovery. Scarcity vs Abundance The world never had abundance until the advent of the internet. ETH is based on scarcity, SOL is based on abundance. both can have value. Remember, the opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea. Example: How can you improve your sales copy? 1) Make it much longer; that way it’s reassuringly detailed. 2) Make it much shorter; that way its brevity proves it’s a no-brainer. Both can be good ideas.