I firmly believe that this round of encryption cycle is driven by the US government's policies.

Just last week, Trump signed an executive order regarding 401(k) retirement investment, allowing some retirement funds to be invested in private equity, real estate, and even digital assets. Moving forward: a few weeks ago, the GENIUS Act was officially passed, opening the way for stablecoin regulation. This month, the SEC also shifted its stance, loudly declaring its commitment to "crypto everything." From stablecoins to DeFi, from on-chain identity to tokenized assets, nearly every area is being re-integrated into the US regulatory system.

This is not a minor repair, but a redirection of the capital structure. The United States is doing one thing: incorporating Crypto into the US dollar system as the engine of financial growth in the next stage.

Today, let’s start by discussing what the US government is going to do, which sectors crypto enthusiasts should pay more attention to, and how to maximize their benefits.

What exactly is the US government planning?

The goal of this round of policies is neither to "liberalize trading" nor to "allow speculation," but rather to restructure the system : using US-led regulatory and financial frameworks to systematically integrate crypto assets into the US-dominated financial structure. This may sound abstract, but the underlying principles are clear from several recent key actions.

A key step forward was the passage of the GENIUS Act, the first federal law in U.S. history to establish a "payment stablecoin." The U.S. government personally defined the model for a "compliant dollar stablecoin" and opened the door to its inclusion in the financial system. This means stablecoins are no longer just a gray area on the blockchain, but rather financial instruments that can be incorporated into monetary policy frameworks. Backed by government bonds, stablecoins can be used by users for cross-border payments, by banks for liquidity allocation, and even by businesses for bookkeeping. This represents a true institutional authorization.

Meanwhile, the SEC has quietly shifted gears. They launched "Project Crypto," aiming not to deregulate the industry but to regulate it within the existing legal framework. They are now willing to acknowledge that not all tokens are securities and are preparing to introduce unified standards. They are also pushing for a major initiative: bringing all on-chain trading platforms, stablecoins, DeFi, and RWA issuance under a registration framework. This "Crypto Everything" initiative centers on three key priorities : 1. Unifying regulatory oversight, 2. Receiving compliant funds, and 3. Giving the on-chain world a "controllable role." This also means that in the future, you might see: DeFi protocols that can be legally licensed, RWA issuance platforms that can publicly raise funds, and exchange wallets that can integrate with TradFi.

So, what the US government truly wants isn't a surge in cryptocurrency prices, but rather to make this on-chain system a productive tool it can control. It wants to enable the circulation of dollars on-chain, the issuance of securities on-chain, and the reshaping of a new global order by American-style finance. This is why I've consistently stated that the core story of this cycle isn't the evolution of crypto itself, but rather the "digital asset absorption plan" designed by the US federal government.

The policy was implemented and the market responded quickly

From the passage of the GENIUS Act to the signing of the 401(k) executive order today, BTC once surged to $123,000 in the past few weeks, and ETH rose by as much as 54% for the entire month, with the high point approaching $4,000.

Let's look at the macro level. In July, US crypto spot ETFs attracted a total of $12.8 billion , a record high. Bitcoin-related products accounted for nearly half of this total, approximately $6 billion. ETH ETFs also saw strong inflows, attracting $5.4 billion in a single month. BlackRock's Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw its assets under management soar to $86 billion, exceeding even some S&P 500 component ETFs.

Traditional financial institutions are also frantically "taking over" on-chain. BlackRock's on-chain Treasury bond fund, BUIDL, has not only seen its assets under management grow to $2.9 billion, but mainstream exchanges like Crypto.com and Deribit are now accepting it as collateral, demonstrating its potential for liquidity within the crypto financial system. JPMorgan Chase has also upgraded its Onyx payment chain to a new on-chain settlement system, Kinexys, collaborating with clearing giant Marex to implement the first "24/7 real-time on-chain clearing." In other words, the traditional financial system, which previously took several days to process and could not be used on weekends, has been completely integrated on-chain.

Institutions aren't just "exploring"; they're truly taking the blockchain space seriously. You can continue to follow the key opinion leaders' comments, or you can observe where the money is already flowing. This round of market activity isn't driven by narratives, but rather by capital actively finding its way after the policy tone was set. Capital has already begun placing bets, targeting stocks that can "take advantage of the policy."

Which tracks will be the first to benefit from the policy dividends?

So which sectors will benefit from this wave of policy dividends? Let’s analyze it slowly.

This wave of opportunities will not be evenly distributed; they will be concentrated in a few sectors. Here's my personal prediction: stablecoins, on-chain financial infrastructure, and the compliance-driven ZK track will be the first to reap the benefits, while other sectors will follow at different paces.

The direct beneficiaries of this wave of policy dividends: stablecoins

Stablecoins are the most direct winners of this wave of US regulatory dividends. The GENIUS Act effectively grants dollar-denominated stablecoins a passport: legal issuance and a legitimate identity, finally allowing them to enter the mainstream of the US financial system. Consequently, we also see that the two sons of the Trump family entered the market before the policy was implemented, launching USD 1 through WLFI, giving them a head start at the dawn of the regulatory compliance era.

On the same day the policy was implemented, JPMorgan Chase officially announced a pilot program for issuing JPMD deposit tokens ( essentially a fractional-reserve bank deposit stablecoin) on Coinbase's Base Chain. Coinbase's own stablecoin, USDC, has also seen rapid growth driven by favorable regulatory approvals, adding $800 million in circulation in the past week. Seizing the opportunity, Coinbase also launched a crypto credit card backed by American Express and partnered with Shopify and Stripe to enable USDC payments directly at e-commerce checkout counters.

The explosion in scale is just the appetizer. The real change is the expansion of its scope of use.

Settlement networks like Visa and Mastercard have already integrated stablecoins into their global networks , using them for high-frequency payments, bypassing the slow and expensive fees of traditional card networks. Cross-border remittances, e-commerce, and in-game transactions—once compliant stablecoins are introduced, efficiency gains will be immediate. At the same time, the entry of "regular players" also means a steep rise in the barrier to entry. Regulations require issuers to be subsidiaries of regulated financial institutions, licensed trust companies, and other entities, and must undergo security assessments by the Financial Supervisory Commission.

This will almost certainly shut out small innovators, accelerating the trend toward oligopoly in the stablecoin market. The confrontation between Circle, Coinbase, and traditional banks will become increasingly pronounced. Coupled with regulatory prohibitions on paying interest to holders, stablecoins will revert to their original purpose of payment and value storage , losing the illusion of the high annualized returns of algorithmic coins.

So how can ordinary users participate in this wave of dividends?

There are actually ways to do this. For example, multiple compliant platforms already offer reasonable returns on USDC , making this a safer, more liquid, and more suitable for stable funds. Coinbase offers a USDC holding bonus of approximately 4.1% APY . Binance also recently launched a USDC flexible deposit product. In this promotion, each account can enjoy an APR of up to 12% on 100,000 USDC, with instant access to deposits and withdrawals.

From an investment perspective, these returns are not low, and they are stable, secure, and liquid, making them far more practical than simply leaving your money in an exchange. Especially for cross-border users, depositing stablecoins not only earns interest but also avoids exchange rate fluctuations and the hassles of traditional channels.

To summarize, my assessment is that this round of policies is paving the way for robust and compliant stablecoins. In the short term, USD stablecoins and their payment applications will see an influx of capital; in the long term, they will become the ballast of on-chain finance and the core bridge for the digitization of fiat currencies.

Stablecoins serve as the gateway to accelerate the development of on-chain economic infrastructure

The clarification of US regulation is paving the way for a localized financial economy. This "localization" essentially means that compliant public blockchains and protocols will host more US institutional business, and traditional finance will more actively integrate into the underlying layers of these chains, utilizing them as new infrastructure. This is also the second area I value.

The most striking example is Base . Leveraging Coinbase's regulatory advantages and seamless integration with exchanges, Base has successfully hosted a growing number of US institutions and businesses on-chain, connecting multiple sectors, including payments, applications, and asset circulation. Given this trend, I'm optimistic about the scalability of the Base ecosystem. Besides promoting tokenized securities itself, Base is also leveraging partnerships to expand its applications, such as collaborating with Stripe on on-chain stablecoin payments, making Base a hub for payment innovation. It also provides underlying settlement infrastructure for banks like PayPal and JPMorgan Chase.

In the future, American payment companies, banks, and securities firms will clearly prefer to use a local, communicative, and immediately accessible network rather than an anonymous overseas blockchain. Localization is, in fact, a regulatory compliance moat.

Base itself does not issue its own tokens; its traffic, value, and imagination are all realized through B3, its sole lifeline. Built on Base, B3's founding team all hails from Coinbase. B3 inherits Base's synced compliance system and user-centric access to the economy. This means B3 possesses an unparalleled first-mover advantage in both USD stablecoin payments, institutional settlement, and compliance-focused entry into the North American market. This underlying infrastructure for on-chain finance, once it establishes a closed loop of scenario-based and personalized features, will be highly attractive to high-quality assets seeking to be on-chain and operate efficiently and long-term on-chain. When Base experiences a massive application explosion, B3 will become the primary choice for these applications' direct implementation and scaled operations, a true super-application hosting layer and on-chain economic gateway.

I'm also quite familiar with the B3 team; they're very steady and, in addition to polishing their products, they're also continuously expanding externally. I'll keep this a secret for now. What's certain is that with the announcement of these significant partnerships, B3's position in the industry will become even clearer.

Looking ahead, I don't think this is an isolated case. As regulations continue to improve, more traditional giants will follow the path of JPMorgan Chase and Coinbase. Perhaps in the future, we'll see many major banks issuing on-chain bonds, insurance companies using blockchain to manage policies, and tech giants issuing corporate stablecoins for internal settlements... After all, every major customer is a stable source of cash flow for on-chain infrastructure.

Of course, this also raises the bar: performance must withstand massive transaction volumes, privacy must protect enterprise data, and compliance requires integrated auditing and risk control systems. Simply put, this wave of US policies is shifting on-chain infrastructure from its previous "unregulated international growth" to "localized, meticulous cultivation." This round of upgrades will benefit local compliance chains and modular innovation networks the most.

ZK: New privacy infrastructure from a policy perspective

Which tracks that were once declared "dead" may have a second chance at life? For example, ZK.

On August 13th, OKB's surge captivated Twitter and various social media platforms. The price of the coin soared from 46 to nearly 120, nearly tripling. This surge was driven not only by OKX's one-time destruction of 65.25 million historically repurchased and reserved OKB, eliminating some of the potential selling pressure, but also by the X Layer upgrade, which brought structural changes to both supply and demand. OKB became the sole gas token for the X Layer, redirecting traffic to wallets, exchanges, and payment platforms.

The combination of shrinking supply and concentrated demand instantly made the market realize the simultaneous amplification of OKB's scarcity and utility value, leading to a short-term surge in capital and sentiment. Another trading variable is compliance expectations. The market has been closely watching the news that OKX is preparing for a US IPO, leading to speculation about its potential entry into the US market. Of course, whether this will materialize depends on US regulatory policies.

My stance on this sector is clear: no Fomo, keep an eye on it. ZK may find a resurgence in the regulatory compliance era, or it may just be a short-lived resurgence. Regardless, its developments are worth keeping an eye on.

The latest US digital asset report states that individuals should be allowed to conduct private transactions on public blockchains and encourages the use of self-custody and privacy-enhancing technologies to reduce the risk of on-chain data leaks. The White House's 2025 digital asset policy report also mentions ZK as a key path to balancing privacy and compliance. This shift in attitude is interesting. Previously, privacy coins and mixers were "blacklisted" by regulators, but now policymakers acknowledge that if more traditional funds are to be brought online, the shortcoming of on-chain privacy must be addressed, and ZK offers a readily available solution.

On the enterprise side, Google Wallet has launched a ZK age verification solution based on Succinct Labs: you can prove you're over 18 without revealing any ID details. It sounds very Web 2, with both KYC compliance and privacy protection, but this time it runs on-chain.

This has also thrust Succinct, the company behind the project, into the spotlight. Its token, $PROVE, has performed well compared to other recent projects since its launch, outperforming a number of altcoins in recent market conditions. This case study demonstrates one thing: when leading tech companies and real-world business scenarios begin to adopt ZK, market patience will return.

I understand ZK's resurgence isn't just a sentimental backlash; it's an inevitable requirement in the age of regulatory compliance. With assets and transactions on-chain, businesses can't afford to have all their business details exposed to competitors, and individuals don't want their financial records to become transparent.

Regulatory requirements are clear. Audits must be auditable, and traces must be traceable. These seemingly contradictory demands are precisely the right fit for ZK: "Prove legality first, then hide the details." For example, large-value interbank settlements can use ZK to verify that transactions comply with anti-money laundering regulations without disclosing the identity of the client. Such scenarios will become increasingly common in the future: identity authentication, credit scoring, and more are all areas where ZK has the potential to reshape them. Many high-quality ZK projects have yet to launch their tokens, but the current regulatory window may accelerate their implementation.

In the last cycle, top ZK teams continued to raise funds, but many secondary markets experienced a rapid decline, bringing the ZK market's popularity to a freezing point. Is there a chance to reverse this perception of the doom of secondary ZK in this round?

I think there are two types of targets worth focusing on: teams that haven't yet launched their own tokens but have established technical expertise and operational capabilities; and projects that have already launched their own tokens but have a healthy capital structure and are making solid progress. To me, this sector is worth observing in the short term. While it's not yet time to blindly invest heavily, I don't rule out the possibility of a few winners emerging from this trend.

Policies are finalized and a new pattern begins

As a long-term investor, I'm well aware that once regulatory action takes hold, structural market opportunities will begin to reshape. The clarity of this round of US policy is significantly altering capital flows and industry order.

In the short term, capital inflows and bullish sentiment driven by favorable regulatory policies have already led some sectors to outperform the broader market . Stablecoin issuers, tokenized market capitalization, and price and trading volumes have all provided the market with very direct feedback. This is just the first wave of capital testing. More importantly, the long-term landscape will be reshaped. Only when rules are clarified and thresholds are well-defined will truly valuable sectors emerge. Conversely, pseudo-concepts that are divorced from real-world demand and fueled by speculation will increasingly lose their place in a regulatory environment, and industry resources will be channeled toward more meaningful ends.

I firmly believe that the real opportunity lies in adapting to structural changes: in the short term, we should look at policies and capital flows to identify opportunities to enter the market where they are most compatible; in the long term, we should focus on which sectors will align with future financial and technological developments. I see this phase as the "fourth phase of the internet" for the crypto industry. Those interested can check out my previous article on the development of the web 3 industry: Back then, the internet saw established rules and technological change, and while there were short-term pains, the result was a larger and healthier ecosystem.

The current crypto industry is bidding farewell to its wild, unregulated growth era and moving towards a mature, disciplined, and mature stage. Those who can seize the policy dividends during this window of opportunity will have a better chance of securing a firm position in the next phase of the landscape.

The new route has been paved, and those who go with the wind will reach the future faster.