Inscriptions ignite the crypto market—where will the next "hurricane" blow?
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Inscriptions ignite the crypto market—where will the next "hurricane" blow?
The moo of bulls can still be faintly heard—what are the wealth codes of the past two months and those yet to come?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Terry
Since October, fueled by expectations around spot Bitcoin ETFs, a broad rally has swept through various sectors—from BRC20 and the Solana ecosystem to GameFi—making it hard to keep up. A market revival seems to have happened in an instant.
In this fragile yet warming market environment, different narratives such as Bitcoin's ecosystem, Solana’s ecosystem, and Proof-of-Work (PoW) stories have rotated rapidly into focus. This article reviews the dominant market narratives and key topics over the past two months, while also exploring which sectors might take center stage next. Risk warning: The crypto market moves extremely fast—always exercise caution!
Rapid Rotation of Market Hotspots
1. Bitcoin Ecosystem: ORDI Leads the Charge
Foremost is the Bitcoin ecosystem, particularly the inscription sector represented by "ORDI," which has driven market interest over the past two months. Gains among high-profile tokens related to inscriptions continue to break records.
Especially after BA launched, ORDI surged strongly, pushing the inscription craze to its peak within just one week and emerging as the brightest new star in the crypto market.
This momentum also ignited enthusiasm for SATS, RATS, and even inscription concepts across other blockchains. However, recent harsh criticism from Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr toward ORDI and similar inscriptions poured cold water on the trend, causing ORDI to experience wild rollercoaster price swings over the past two days.
Overall, Bitcoin Core developers have long opposed inscriptions and have made clear their intent to act. Yet given that the inscription market now ties together miners, exchanges, and users with vested interests, progress will inevitably involve prolonged tug-of-war dynamics and won’t proceed smoothly.
Notably, there has recently been renewed industry debate about Ethereum and Layer2 solutions—particularly regarding issues caused by the constant emergence of new Layer2s based on scalability principles: fragmented liquidity, lack of interoperability, etc.—which has contributed to a weakened Ethereum narrative. The surge in Bitcoin inscriptions has further exacerbated this situation.
2. Solana Ecosystem: SOL Sparks a Mini Bull Run
Against this backdrop, high-performance heterogeneous chains like Solana have once again drawn market attention. SOL achieved more than a 3x gain in just two months, bringing its market cap close to $30 billion.
Besides ongoing community-led recovery efforts following the FTX collapse, the attention brought by Lily Liu, chairwoman of the Solana Foundation, from Wall Street’s old-money circles cannot be overlooked, especially her promotion of Solana to broader off-exchange capital pools—a competitive edge currently difficult for other blockchains to replicate.
As SOL gained heat, projects within the Solana ecosystem also enjoyed their own mini bull run, giving rise to several noteworthy sub-projects. Among them, oracle project PYTH and MEV project JTO stand out as the most eye-catching newcomers—both quickly listed on major exchanges like BA and Coinbase, warranting continued observation.
Additionally, the spillover effect from Solana to alternative L1s deserves attention. Currently, Avalanche appears to be the primary beneficiary, with other new public chains gradually gaining traction as well.
3. FTX Reorganization Narrative
The representative here is naturally FTT. As the FTX bankruptcy process advances—with billions of dollars in assets recovered and new reorganization plans favoring users and suggesting potential exchange relaunch—FTX creditor claims have steadily risen in value recently.
The data clearly reflects this: starting in October, over-the-counter valuations of FTX claims exceeded $0.50, indicating market expectations that roughly half of user funds could be reclaimed.
By November, quotes from larger FTX creditors had climbed to between $0.60 and $0.65, a 30% increase compared to about a month earlier, signaling growing market optimism.
This surge pushed FTT to its highest level in a year.
Now, more public reports are emerging about OTC purchases of FTX claims. Especially as assets held by FTX—including SOL—continue to appreciate in value, the resolution process for creditor claims is accelerating. A full revival or reboot of FTX may not be out of the question, making other bankrupt firm reorganization plays like VGX equally worth watching.
4. PoW & AI Ecosystems: KAS, TAO
Meanwhile, KAS—as a rising star in the new generation of PoW projects—reached a market cap nearing the $1 billion mark and subsequently listed on BA, briefly sparking a wave of interest across various PoW tokens and even smaller PoW-focused exchanges. However, aside from KAS, most others proved fleeting and short-lived, so we won't dwell on them here.
AI-related tokens regained market attention during November amid OpenAI’s internal leadership turmoil. Projects like TAO, operating at the intersection of AI algorithmic models and PoW, naturally attracted investor focus.
Particularly, TAO combines practical AI applications by aiming to provide AI algorithm models to developers worldwide, forming a decentralized marketplace for AI models. This unique positioning has earned it valuation premiums, surging over 6x since early October.
Which Concepts Might Take Over Next?
Beyond current trends, what other sectors or narratives show signs of potential momentum ahead?
1. ETF-Related Narratives
To some extent, the core narrative driving the market rebound over the past two months stems entirely from anticipation surrounding spot Bitcoin ETFs, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s stance being the decisive factor.
Currently, the SEC officially recognizes only five cryptocurrencies as non-security tokens: Bitcoin, Ethereum, BCH, LTC, and DOT.
This implies that if spot BTC and ETH ETFs receive SEC approval in the coming years, any subsequent applications for new spot crypto ETFs would logically focus only on these three remaining non-security tokens: BCH, LTC, and DOT.
Therefore, as the SEC’s decision window draws closer, beyond the widely watched Bitcoin and Ethereum, BCH, LTC, and DOT carry significant speculative and imaginative potential. Recent price catch-ups by DOT likely reflect this very expectation.
2. Rising Heat Around the Cosmos Ecosystem
At the time of writing, numerous projects within the Cosmos ecosystem have consecutively hit new all-time highs. NTRN’s rise aligns with a community proposal supporting “permissioned deployment of smart contracts.” As Cosmos’ flagship consumer chain for smart contracts, this proposal effectively expands the use cases for cosmWASM, delivering direct benefits.
As the central hub for smart contracts in the Cosmos ecosystem, Neutron serves as a proving ground—if successful, it could significantly enhance ATOM’s utility and value proposition.
Additionally, INJ broke above 27 USDT today, TIA surpassed 11 USDT, both reaching new highs. INJ has become, without question, the most volatile token in the Cosmos ecosystem this year, now approaching a $2 billion market cap.
Currently, whether Celestia, Injective, Neutron, or others, they’re all introducing promising variables for ATOM.
Conclusion
Overall, new hotspots keep emerging—the scent of a bull market feels faintly perceptible, yet the bear still lingers nearby. In reality, the entire market is simply waiting for the final verdict on spot Bitcoin ETF approvals.
Under these circumstances, maintaining cautious optimism, continuously monitoring developments, and actively participating may be the only viable approach in this rapidly rotating market environment.
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