<div id="readability-page-1"><div><div><p>Author: Stacy Muur Translator: Shan Ouba, Jinse Finance</p><p><span>Currently, a mainstream argument is circulating in the crypto world, with almost all analysts echoing the same sentiment: traditional Wall Street capital is taking over the industry, Bitcoin ETFs and stablecoins are continuously attracting funds, and capital is constantly flowing into the traditional financial system; the era of mindless riches—where blindly buying altcoins could yield ten or a hundred times the return—has been completely ended from the industry's fundamental logic. But this argument only reveals half the truth of the market.</span></p><p>While Bitcoin and stablecoins are indeed increasingly becoming mainstream financial products on Wall Street, the rest of the crypto sector has not been assimilated by capital. Some sectors are declining on their own, while others are quietly rising, becoming the core battleground where retail investors can truly profit in the next 6 to 12 months. The reason why most investors cannot see their own position is essentially because they have chosen the wrong perspective on the market.</p><h2>Key Overview</h2><ol><li>Bitcoin and stablecoins have already fallen into the Wall Street camp, becoming compliant and mature institutional-grade assets, no longer the main battlefield for retail investors to seek disruptive high returns.</li><li>The continued slump in the market for blockchain games, NFTs, and most meme coins is not due to Wall Street's entry, but rather to the complete failure of their own business models.</li><li>Prediction markets have become the core investment trend for retail investors in this cycle: Polymarket's monthly trading volume surged from $1.2 billion in 2025 to $25.7 billion in March 2026, a 21-fold increase in one year.</li><li>Prediction markets have become the core investment trend for retail investors in this cycle: Polymarket's monthly trading volume surged from $1.2 billion in 2025 to $25.7 billion in March 2026, a 21-fold increase in one year.</li> Decentralized financial investment returns are entering a stable and normalized phase: annualized returns on liquidity staking are stable at 4%-8%, and annualized returns on compliant stablecoin investments are 5%-8%. These returns are sustainable and are no longer high-speculative bubble returns. The probability of replicating the massive bull market of 2021, dominated by retail investors, is only about 30%; sideways consolidation is more likely. In this market environment, the choice of holdings is far more important than the overall market trend. I. Bitcoin and Stablecoins: Fully Integrating into the Wall Street System Since its launch, Bitcoin ETFs have attracted a total of $59 billion. The daily amount of Bitcoin purchased by institutions even exceeds the daily mining output of the entire network; MicroStrategy alone holds over 800,000 Bitcoins. Stablecoins have a deeper level of financial integration, with their total circulating supply exceeding $315 billion in the first quarter of 2026, currently accounting for 75% of the cryptocurrency market's trading volume. Once the Clarity Act is formally implemented, licensed traditional banks will be able to directly issue stablecoins. This trend is already established and irreversible in the long term, but these assets can no longer provide retail investors with tenfold or hundredfold excess returns. Allocating Bitcoin through traditional brokerage channels can only yield stable and compliant asset allocation returns; the high-profit opportunities of past bull markets, such as large airdrops, early private placements, and high-interest liquidity mining, will no longer appear within this compliant system. <p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://img.jinse.com.cn/7469031_watermarknone.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="600" height="228" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://img.jinse.com.cn/7469031_watermarknone.png"/></p><h2>II. Blockchain Games, NFTs, and Memecoins: Endogenous Decline</h2><h3>The Blockchain Game Sector Has Basically Ended</h3><p>Currently, approximately 93% of blockchain game projects have failed. As a benchmark project of the 2021 bull market, A-Crab had a peak of 2.7 million daily active users, but now only about 5,500 remain. The decline of blockchain games was not due to Wall Street capital, but rather to their own underlying design logic.</p><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://img.jinse.com.cn/7469032_watermarknone.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="600" height="193" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://img.jinse.com.cn/7469032_watermarknone.png"/></p><h2>III. The Real Profit Tracks for Retail Investors</h2><h3>1. Prediction Markets</h3><p>Prediction markets have cultivated the most stable group of retail investors in the crypto industry. The Polymarket platform has seen explosive growth in user numbers, with over 1.29 million active wallet addresses. The vast majority of traders on the platform trade less than $10,000 per transaction, indicating that the market is primarily driven by retail funds, not by institutional investors posing as investors.</p> Meanwhile, user stickiness has significantly improved, with the average monthly active transaction days per user increasing from 2.5 days to 9.9 days, indicating extremely strong user retention and repeat purchase intentions. The core reason why the prediction market can develop sustainably while meme coins are unlikely to continue is that its value is not limited to speculation; users can use it to predict the direction of various global events, market data has practical reference value, and demand is sustainable, unlike the rapid decline in popularity of meme coins. Bernstein predicts that the trading volume in this sector will reach $240 billion this year and is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030. 2. DeFi: Stable Investment Currently, the total locked funds in decentralized finance are approximately $85 billion, which, while not reaching historical peaks, is generally stable. Even though the KelpDAO security vulnerability incident briefly dampened market sentiment, the underlying infrastructure for wealth management in the industry remains mature and complete. Currently, the mainstream stable-return investment categories are: Liquidity-backed investment: Annualized return 4%-8% Stablecoin investment on compliant platforms: Annualized return 5%-8% Real-asset-backed lending investment. The era of 2020's bubble mining with its thousands of times annualized returns is long gone. The remaining investment projects offer moderate returns, controllable risks, and accessible entry barriers, making them more cost-effective for ordinary investors. 3. Opportunities in high-quality altcoins amidst Bitcoin's breakout. The current altcoin seasonal index is only 37; a full-blown altcoin bull market will only arrive when it reaches 75. The current market has not yet reached that level. If Bitcoin successfully breaks its all-time high in the third quarter of this year, altcoins are likely to experience a rotation. Prioritize investments in: Ethereum, native tokens of the Base ecosystem, and Solana ecosystem assets with real-world user bases; after in-depth research into specific sectors, early-stage projects in the AI/crypto sector and decentralized physical infrastructure offer exceptionally high risk-reward ratios. This type of investment is based on trend prediction and is not a guaranteed profit. <h2>IV. Three Major Market Trends Forecast for the Next Six Months</h2><ol><li>Bull Market (30% probability): The Federal Reserve initiates an interest rate cut cycle, Bitcoin stabilizes above $110,000, and the Clarity Act is successfully implemented. The triggering conditions are stringent; multiple positive factors must materialize simultaneously, making this extremely difficult to achieve. Sideways consolidation (45% probability, highest probability): Bitcoin's price will remain between $70,000 and $95,000. The market is predicted to continue its rapid growth. DeFi is expected to remain stable, with altcoins only experiencing localized rallies driven by independent positive factors, without a widespread bull market. Downward correction (25% probability): Inflation data rebounds, the Fed resumes interest rate hikes, Bitcoin falls to the $50,000 to $60,000 range, retail investors flock to Bitcoin ETFs for safe haven, and other crypto assets generally weaken. In summary, this market is unlikely to see a repeat of the widespread retail investor frenzy of a bull market. Sideways consolidation and differentiation will be the mainstream. Accurate stock selection is far more important than following the market trend; the investment logic is completely different from the previous two bull markets. <h2>V. Practical Investment Strategies Adapted to This Cycle</h2><ol><li>Investing in the prediction market is currently the only retail investor sector in the crypto industry that continues to grow rapidly. Real users are constantly entering the market with high repurchase rates. The application scenarios of this sector are not limited to trading, and the long-term growth logic is solid. Earn stable returns through DeFi, abandoning get-rich-quick fantasies. Rely on liquidity staking and compliant stablecoin investments to obtain a stable annualized return of 4%-8%. While the returns are not exorbitant, the risk is extremely low and the returns are stable, making it suitable for allocating idle funds. Prioritize altcoins with real-world applications. Choose projects within the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems that have actual users and implemented products. Avoid blindly buying altcoins in bulk to gamble on a bull market; this outdated strategy is no longer effective in this cycle. Completely avoid three declining sectors: blockchain games, valueless ordinary NFTs, and newly emerging meme coins. These sectors are unlikely to recover in the next 6 to 12 months. The root cause of their decline is the flawed underlying business model, not a short-term market downturn; waiting will not reverse the downward trend. The logic that &#34;traditional finance is swallowing up the crypto industry&#34; can only explain the development trends of Bitcoin and stablecoins, but it cannot explain the collective decline of blockchain games, NFTs, and meme coins—the latter's decline stemmed from their inherent flaws. This argument also ignores the industry's growth drivers: prediction markets, stable DeFi investments, and high-quality, practical altcoins. The era of blindly buying altcoins and waiting for 100x returns is over. Today's crypto investment is more sophisticated and professional, significantly raising the cognitive threshold for investors. Only by thoroughly understanding the logic of each sector can one achieve stable profits. For investors who adapt to industry changes, the next six months are not a winter for the industry, but rather a new profit model and investment landscape for the crypto market.</li></ol></li></ol></ol></div></div></div>

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<p>The crypto market is evolving, with Bitcoin and stablecoins becoming mainstream assets on Wall Street, limiting high returns for retail investors. While blockchain games and NFTs decline, prediction markets are emerging as the new investment trend, with Polymarket's trading volume surging significantly. Retail investors are advised to focus on sustainable returns from decentralized finance, as the potential for massive bull markets diminishes.</p>

- The article discusses the evolving dynamics in the cryptocurrency market, highlighting that Bitcoin and stablecoins are now integrated into traditional finance, limiting explosive returns for retail investors.  
- It emphasizes the decline of sectors like blockchain games and NFTs due to inherent business flaws, while prediction markets are emerging as the primary area for retail investment, showing significant growth.  
- Additionally, practical investment strategies are outlined, advocating for stable DeFi investments and selective altcoin purchases, reflecting a shift from speculative to more knowledgeable investment approaches.

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Tomorrow, the crypto market will witness a completely new landscape for everyone.