Recently listened to the first annual dialogue after the founder of a leading exchange made his comeback. Many people focus on his personal experience and gossip, which is within the realm of entertainment. But truly valuable information lies elsewhere—free from the constraints of daily CEO affairs, his thinking mode has completely shifted out of the "exchange competition" game, switching to a more macro perspective of "generational iteration."

If you want to grasp how this industry will evolve over the next 3 to 5 years, these five angles are worth repeated contemplation.

**Reboot of the Stablecoin Business Model**

The most valuable insight from this dialogue concerns stablecoins. Currently, there is a clear problem in the stablecoin ecosystem: in the 1.0 stage, users exchange fiat currency for stablecoins, and issuers use these funds to buy U.S. Treasuries for interest. In other words, this is essentially a "zero-interest lending" to users, with the issuer's profit margin coming from this spread.

But what will happen in the next stage? The competition in stablecoins will no longer focus on fighting for existing market share but on transforming the entire business logic. Future stablecoins need to have three features: distributing U.S. Treasury yields to coin holders, sufficient trading liquidity, and a comprehensive compliance framework. Whoever can achieve all three may become the next massive project. This is not just a simple feature competition but a reshaping of the game rules themselves.

**Ecological Thinking in Prediction Markets**

An interesting phenomenon is that some investors support multiple prediction market projects simultaneously, which seems contradictory. The explanation is straightforward and aligns with open market logic: don’t act as a "player" choosing winners and losers, but instead serve as a "garden" allowing various experiments to grow.

Projects like PolyMarket have already validated this approach, but there’s no final answer on who will ultimately win. The smartest approach is to allow multiple teams to showcase their strengths—different incentive mechanisms, interface designs, and fund-locking schemes—letting the market naturally select the "most innovative" team through this diverse competition. This way of thinking belongs to ecosystem builders, not traditional VC betting strategies.

**Why AI Agents Must Use Crypto Finance**

This perspective is quite interesting from first principles. The current financial system is designed for humans—identity verification, selfie uploads, card payments, handwritten signatures—all processes centered around carbon-based life forms. But silicon-based beings (AI systems) cannot play by these rules. AI Agents cannot open bank accounts or pass biometric verification.

So what to do? This is where the value of crypto finance becomes apparent. It’s not an optional feature for AI but the only feasible infrastructure for AI economic systems. Rather than being just a technical direction, this is an inevitable one. Building financial channels for machines offers a much broader imagination space than creating better payment systems for humans.

**Intergenerational Shift in Industry Logic**

A clear signal from the entire dialogue is that the competition dimension in the crypto industry is upgrading. From initially focusing on "whose coin is faster and cheaper," to "whose ecosystem is more open," and now to "who can connect to the foundational needs of the next era." Stablecoins, prediction markets, and AI finance all point to the same phenomenon: industry competition has shifted from fighting for existing users to shaping future user demographics.

This is why some viewpoints sound like they are discussing grand philosophy, but in fact, they are predicting the market landscape 3 to 5 years ahead. Mastering this perspective makes it much clearer when observing industry trends.