The rise of fat applications and their impact on the crypto ecosystem

The crypto ecosystem is shifting from "fat protocol" to "fat applications", and decentralized applications such as Uniswap and Aave are driving innovation and gaining value. Solana-based applications generated $751 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, surpassing Ethereum’s $314 million. Bitcoin is growing with ZK Rollups and institutional adoption, while private credit platforms such as Centrifuge are tokenizing assets. In the second quarter of 2025, venture capital reached $1.97 billion, and the United States dominated due to clear regulation. Institutional Bitcoin holdings reach 15% of the supply, and the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain has attracted a lot of investment.