AI is concentrating market power. Companies that embed AI natively into their product and operations are achieving disproportionate growth and efficiency, accelerating the disruption cycle for incumbents.
Re-architect your product and engineering around AI-native tools and workflows. For investors, prioritize companies demonstrating high product engagement and efficiency (ARR per FTE) driven by core AI features, not just marketing spend.
The AI product cycle is just beginning, promising 10-15 years of disruption. Companies that master AI-driven change management and business model innovation will capture immense value, while others will struggle to compete.
The rapid maturation of AI, particularly in vision, language, and action models, is fundamentally redefining "general intelligence" and accelerating the obsolescence of both physical and cognitive labor.
Investigate and build solutions around Universal Basic Services (UBS) and Universal Basic Equity (UBE) models, recognizing that traditional UBI is only a partial answer to the coming post-scarcity economy.
AGI is not a distant threat but a present reality, demanding immediate strategic adjustments in how we approach labor, economic policy, and human-AI coupling over the next 6-12 months.
AI model development is moving from a "generic foundation + specialized fine-tune" paradigm to one where core capabilities, like reasoning, are intentionally embedded during foundational pre-training. This means data curation for pre-training is becoming hyper-critical and specialized.
Invest in or build data pipelines that generate high-quality, domain-specific "thinking traces" for mid-training. This enables smaller, more efficient models to compete with larger, general-purpose ones on specific tasks.
The era of simply fine-tuning a massive foundation model for every task is ending. Success in AI will hinge on sophisticated, intentional data strategies that infuse desired capabilities directly into the model's core, driving a wave of specialized pre-training and more efficient, performant AI.
Geopolitical competition in AI is shifting from raw compute power to the strategic advantage gained through open-source collaboration, demanding a re-evaluation of national AI policy.
Invest in and build on open-source AI frameworks and models, leveraging community contributions to accelerate product development and research breakthroughs.
The next 6-12 months will define whether the US secures its long-term AI leadership by adopting open models, or risks falling behind nations that prioritize collaborative, transparent innovation.
The move from generic, robotic text-to-speech to emotionally intelligent, context-aware synthetic voice is a fundamental redefinition of digital communication. This enables new forms of content creation and personalized interaction.
Builders should prioritize "emotional fidelity" in AI outputs, not just accuracy. Focus on models that capture nuance and context, as this is where true user engagement and differentiation lie.
Voice AI, exemplified by ElevenLabs, is moving beyond simple utility to become a foundational layer for immersive digital experiences. Understanding its technical depth and ethical implications is crucial for investors and builders looking to capitalize on the next wave of human-computer interaction.
The explosion of AI model complexity and scale is creating a critical technical bottleneck in data I/O, shifting the focus from raw compute power to efficient data delivery, making data infrastructure the new competitive battleground.
Prioritize data platforms that offer unified, high-performance access across hybrid cloud environments to eliminate GPU starvation and accelerate AI development cycles.
Investing in advanced "context memory" solutions now is not just an IT upgrade; it's a strategic imperative for any organization aiming to build, train, and deploy competitive AI models over the next 6-12 months.
Demand for provably correct systems in hardware, software, and critical infrastructure creates a massive market for formal verification. AI scales these human-bottlenecked processes.
Investigate formal verification tools for high-stakes codebases or chip designs. Prioritize solutions combining probabilistic generation with deterministic proof for speed and reliability.
"Good enough" code is ending for critical applications. AI-driven formal verification is a commercial imperative, redefining development cycles and trust.
The macro shift: Geopolitical competition in AI is not just about raw model power; it is about who controls the foundational research and development platforms. Open models are the battleground for long-term national AI sovereignty.
The tactical edge: Invest in open model research and infrastructure, particularly in post-training environments and high-quality data generation. This builds a resilient, transparent AI ecosystem that can adapt and innovate independently.
The bottom line: The US must prioritize open model development now to secure its position as a global AI leader, foster domestic innovation, and provide accessible AI options for a diverse global user base over the next 6-12 months.
The convergence of AI and immersive computing is pushing towards a "HoloDeck" future. Roblox's vector-based data storage of 13 billion monthly hours provides unprecedented training data for agentic NPCs and real-time world generation, fundamentally changing how virtual worlds are built and experienced.
Invest in platforms that offer cloud-native, AI-accelerated creation tools and robust multiplayer synchronization. Prioritize those building on rich, proprietary 3D interaction data for superior AI agent training.
The future of digital interaction is 4D, photorealistic, and AI-driven. Companies with a clear, long-term vision paired with rapid, cloud-connected iteration will capture the next wave of virtual co-experience, making them prime targets for investment and partnership over the next 6-12 months.
OGs are cashing out. Heavy selling pressure above $120k comes from early Bitcoin whales transferring wealth to "fair-weather" DAT holders, creating a fragile market structure.
Politics now dictate portfolio risk. Zohran Mamdani’s rise signals a shift to redistributionist politics. If this trend goes national, it’s a clear signal to liquidate assets, as redistribution historically crushes asset prices.
Invest in clean assets with real yield. In a market saturated with VC-owned tokens, assets like Hyperliquid (HYPE) stand out due to their airdrop-only distribution and fee-driven buy-and-burn mechanism, creating a direct link between platform usage and token value.
**Privacy Isn't a Feature; It's the Foundation.** For institutions, confidentiality is non-negotiable. Any network aiming to attract serious capital must offer privacy that allows for compliance without broadcasting every move to the world.
**Real Adoption Is a Long Game.** Chasing bull market hype is a losing strategy for enterprise adoption. Canton’s success with partners like Goldman Sachs, DTCC, and Citadel demonstrates the power of prioritizing utility and compliance over a premature token launch.
**The Next Wave Is Tokenizing Everything.** The goal is to move beyond crypto-native assets. The real prize is upgrading the rails for the world's existing financial system—equities, bonds, and treasuries—by making them digitally native, 24/7, and instantly settleable.
Focus or Fade. As the industry matures, companies must shed non-core business units to become world-class at one thing. For Blockworks, that's data, not news.
Buy the Theme. Public market investors will pay a massive premium for the only stock representing a major crypto trend (e.g., Securitize for tokenization), often making it a better trade than trying to pick winners among underlying assets.
Growth is Subsidized. Major L1/L2 foundations are actively paying for enterprise adoption (e.g., Solana and Western Union). This is a standard business practice to kickstart network effects, but the long-term ROI remains unproven.
Social Proof is the New Alpha. FOMO’s core bet is that transparently tracking successful wallets is a more powerful discovery mechanism than traditional research. By making on-chain activity legible and social, it unlocks a new paradigm for retail investing.
User Experience Wins the Next Cycle. The next 100 million crypto users will not be onboarded with seed phrases and gas fees. By abstracting away all technical friction and mirroring the seamlessness of Web2 apps, FOMO provides a blueprint for mass adoption.
Trading is Becoming a Spectator Sport. By turning trading performance into a form of content, FOMO is building a new financial creator economy. The best traders are the new influencers, and their alpha is the content that drives the entire ecosystem.
The Internet Gets Its Native Wallet. x402 uses crypto to finally fulfill the internet's original vision of direct, peer-to-server payments, unlocking an economy of micropayments for everything from accessing an article to running an AI model.
The Ad-Supported Web Is Obsolete. AI agents that retrieve information without viewing ads are killing the web's 20-year-old business model. x402 provides the new economic rails for a pay-per-use internet where value is exchanged for resources, not attention.
Build Composable Money Legos. The biggest opportunity lies in creating simple, single-purpose APIs that agents can easily discover and compose. Think of it as building for the App Store of the emerging AI agent economy.
Despite the brutal sentiment, both speakers remain bullish, predicting a sharp reversal and a new all-time high for Bitcoin by the end of the year once macro clarity emerges.
Macro is King. Bitcoin's fate is now tied to the broader economy. Forget four-year cycles; the key catalyst is a resolution to the government shutdown, which could unlock pent-up energy in the market.
The Treasury Trade is Toast. The era of companies boosting their stock by simply buying Bitcoin is over. Expect a painful shakeout as the market demands real utility and revenue, leading to more forced selling.
