This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <\/em>subscribe<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Coinbase Institutional and Glassnode released a report focused on the trends we\u2019ve seen so far this year. Some of the data is somewhat expected, but there were also some fun nuggets that show just where crypto is growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Take, for example, this chart from a16z.<\/p>\n See how large January was in comparison to other months? Perhaps it\u2019s not jaw-dropping, but that\u2019s pretty dang impressive. And before you ask, no this data doesn\u2019t reflect any of the wallets opened by people<\/a> when TRUMP dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coinbase Institutional\u2019s David Duong explained to me that the chart was produced prior <\/em>to the launch of TRUMP. Though, he added, the president\u2019s memecoin \u201cwas also pretty impressive [because] there are a lot of market players who had never touched crypto before who adopted crypto mainly to trade [TRUMP].\u201d<\/p>\n But the attention shouldn\u2019t just be on wallets or memecoins, let\u2019s give altcoins their moment to shine too.<\/p>\n Duong thinks that bitcoin\u2019s selfishly been hogging the attention, but that doesn\u2019t mean that there isn\u2019t room for altcoins. He thinks folks are still looking for the \u201c1000x opportunity in the space.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps that means that we\u2019ll see more newcomers enter the playing field, challenging the \u201cblue chip names\u201d and the dino coins from the early 2020s.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to smart contract platforms or other things, I think people are content with having like ETH, SOL and SUI, but many people are kind of saying, \u2018Yes, but what other platforms are out there, what could come next?\u2019 So I think that\u2019s still a theme now that people are playing the space again,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n A side effect of this: Sectors are becoming more and more clear within crypto. As Duong explained, we\u2019re seeing memecoins fully carve their own path and separate from other parts of crypto while DeFi is starting to see its own pickup following the shift in the regulatory environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n AI agents are a good example of the branching out we\u2019re seeing, Duong added, given that they\u2019re focused on the \u201cattention economy\u201d inside of crypto. On the other hand, DEXs are close to 20% of the volume of centralized exchanges.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the market players are trying to assess the market at the moment, so they are looking at the sectors, and they know what could be attention-grabbing or getting more revenue. But now it\u2019s a question of \u2026 what\u2019s going to actually garner the attention?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n So many trends to watch, so little time.<\/p>\n Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter<\/a> \u2014 market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXfMNUUvODRjtA9O93M_HBf7RNA_iS1Hap-CxktXaVKddWD_w3GqZxLB8SO2g-jBVwEhjpp-vCr-KyywG_1yy3YN3F82wTrjDjaiIZ66mxLCL_BAkR-O-kugt12Uo2kxl0oNiR9Pzw?key=AxxiNq_JlFrtiF2i8cwol0f0\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXeWIO9TL8gLxT1Ik29sAqu0SmFRfZSRCzWD5VVMb4h8pe9RKDGaWFq3DWVy2aWuMabNg23FIDEH7nOSX0xto0fmXZddmd9czU4gBOBAnIZZTgzzUs5ipPXaI1b_eXQ9yPk4bxs0?key=AxxiNq_JlFrtiF2i8cwol0f0\")
\n