Crypto’s only path forward is to become an essential part of the mainstream world.

For crypto, there is only one road ahead—not remaining outside the mainstream, but becoming the mainstream itself.

On October 29, NVIDIA’s market cap soared past $5 trillion, making it the world’s first publicly traded company to reach this benchmark. The crypto community collectively felt stunned—not only because NVIDIA’s valuation eclipsed the total crypto market cap ($4 trillion), but also because NVIDIA and the AI sector it leads are actively pursuing new growth opportunities and pushing the boundaries of innovation. Meanwhile, many perceive crypto as locked in a zero-sum game, where many have neither gained wealth nor secured their future.

AI professionals talk daily about hot topics like autonomous vehicles, robotics, biotech, and spaceflight—how AI is fundamentally transforming these industries. In contrast, as one crypto influencer put it, the daily buzz in crypto centers on meme coins, animal-themed tokens, viral online content, which token listed on Binance Alpha, which celebrity liked or retweeted—and after the hype, chaos remains.

The repeated busts of altcoins and meme coin trends may be steering crypto participants toward a clearer direction. Only by merging technology with the real economy can crypto secure a lasting future. Crypto should serve as a platform for technological advancement rather than speculation.

Here’s the reality: with USD stablecoins reaching a market cap of $250 billion (vs. $2.5 trillion USD in circulation), Bitcoin surpassing $2.2 trillion (vs. gold’s $27 trillion), and Binance’s daily spot and derivatives volume hitting $100 billion (vs. NASDAQ’s $500 billion), crypto is running out of options—it can only become the mainstream itself.

I. Using Blockchain to Rebuild the Global Financial System

Stablecoins are gradually replacing the legacy systems of fiat currency; crypto exchanges are eating into the market share of traditional securities exchanges like NASDAQ; Bitcoin is emerging as a new global store of value after gold; public blockchains such as Ethereum are seeking to replace SWIFT, building new international value transfer networks. From currency and securities markets to gold, international trade, and payments, crypto is reshaping the entire financial landscape.

Throughout this process, the crypto industry keeps evolving.

Stablecoins are advancing toward “decentralized stablecoins”—with Ethena and others following USDT and USDC; exchanges are moving toward “decentralized exchanges,” with Uniswap, Phantom, and Hyperliquid joining the ranks after centralized platforms like Binance and Coinbase; Bitcoin’s market cap is nearing one-tenth of gold’s; more countries are viewing Ethereum as a new network for international trade settlement.

Every advance in these sectors marks technology’s ongoing transformation of the real world.

The Internet once fully rebuilt the global financial system. Blockchain is now driving a second overhaul—this time, an even more systemic one.

Crypto has moved beyond the fringe financial system and is integrating with the mainstream, even poised to overtake it. Its trailblazing progress already accounts for roughly a tenth of the mainstream system in several fields.

For example, USD stablecoins make up about a tenth of circulating dollars ($240 billion vs. $2.4 trillion); Bitcoin’s market cap is nearly a tenth of gold’s ($2.2 trillion vs. $27 trillion); Binance’s daily volume is about a tenth of NASDAQ’s ($30 billion in spot, about $100 billion total vs. NASDAQ’s $500 billion).

II. Becoming the Platform for Emerging Tech Companies—Just Like Early NASDAQ

In its infancy, NASDAQ—like today’s Binance and other crypto exchanges—was the home of “junk stocks.”

NASDAQ didn’t start out as a blue-chip exchange like NYSE. It focused on smaller-cap, tech, and unlisted stocks, providing transparent pricing and electronic matching. Meanwhile, NYSE stuck with manual price calling and trading floors.

NASDAQ’s early days were anything but glamorous. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was riddled with scams—nearly identical to the “pink sheet market” in The Wolf of Wall Street, dominated by penny stocks and manipulated penny stocks.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort, a fund sales manager during this turbulent era, excelled at selling penny stocks. He’d pitch obscure pink sheet stocks, like the fictional “Aerotyne International”—a company that didn’t exist. Belfort’s pitch:

“Sir, I have a company developing revolutionary aerospace technology,

with Boeing investors and NASA watching.

You wouldn’t want to miss out, would you?”

Countless NASDAQ investors bought these pink sheet stocks, just as today’s crypto market media and influencers promote:

“Sir, here’s a revolutionary x402 protocol token,

with companies like Google, Visa, and even Coinbase getting involved.

You wouldn’t want to miss out, would you?”

Yet in reality, many of those tokens had no such companies backing them.

Only after the tech boom of the late ‘80s and ‘90s, with Microsoft, Apple, Intel, and other giants listing, did NASDAQ become truly mainstream.

In 2004, NASDAQ’s average daily trading volume matched the NYSE for the first time. From its 1971 founding to Apple’s 1980 listing and finally to 2004, it took NASDAQ 33 years to surpass NYSE.

NASDAQ’s long journey included periods of confusion, but ultimately, it waited for the rise of Apple, Microsoft, Intel, NVIDIA, and other tech leaders—becoming the world’s leading stock market.

NASDAQ’s trajectory may inspire crypto professionals: focus on crypto’s unique market advantages (fair launches, global distribution, early user airdrops), just as NASDAQ’s strengths were transparent quotes and electronic matching. Don’t fear early market disorder—just as NASDAQ was once dominated by penny stocks, and the crypto market by memes and worthless altcoins.

Companies that have a significant impact on society will continue to shape crypto’s future. Just as NASDAQ relied on Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and NVIDIA, crypto will depend on organizations like Tether, Ethereum, Polymarket, Hyperliquid, Farcaster, and Chainlink. Most altcoins and memes will fade into history.

With NASDAQ’s daily volume in the hundreds of billions and Binance’s in the tens of billions, it’s not far-fetched for crypto exchanges to surpass NASDAQ and become the world’s largest capital market.

A legendary trading market attracts the world’s leading tech innovators. It’s not just about capital flows—it’s the pulse of progress, the world’s productivity, and the epicenter of investment enthusiasm.

III. Crypto Will Move Past the Meme Era and Enter Its "iPhone Moment"

Binance’s daily volume is already one-tenth that of NASDAQ; USD stablecoins have reached one-tenth of circulating dollars; Bitcoin’s market cap is nearing one-tenth of gold’s. Crypto’s next step: it must become the mainstream itself.

Fortunately, early NASDAQ was just a minor exchange, and Apple’s first two decades were spent serving niche hobbyists. No one imagined they’d become today’s mainstream.

Apple was founded in 1980, but it took twenty years for the Internet revolution to truly erupt. NASDAQ only surpassed NYSE in 2004, finally becoming the world’s leading capital market and entering the mainstream.

Without foundational tech firms like Apple and Microsoft, the Internet and AI industries wouldn’t have scaled. Similarly, today’s Ethereum, Tether, Solana, Binance, and Hyperliquid still need time to mature as core infrastructure. Only when they fully develop will the Web3 revolution truly arrive, and mass adoption products like Amazon, Facebook, and TikTok will explode onto the scene.

The Internet is vast. It covers tech companies, fintech, infrastructure makers, and capital markets like NASDAQ that embrace new technology. Ultimately, it impacts every real business. Crypto is just as broad: it includes not only crypto companies, but foundational protocols and infrastructure firms, and capital markets like Hyperliquid and Binance using cutting-edge tech. Soon, crypto will give rise to new applications at scale and even influence traditional industries worldwide.

Technology drives humanity’s continual quality-of-life leaps. Crypto’s future is destined to fuse deeply with technology—becoming the backbone and synonym of the next wave of innovation.

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