AI‑Crypto Wave: Distinguish Real Demands From Marketing Labels for Smarter Trading
This is a highlight summary of the Weekly Beat X Space AMA organized by WikiBit.
On October 9, the Weekly Beat X Space focused on several major topics: Q4 market outlook, AI and crypto, stablecoin adoption, regulation, and leverage trading. The guests included Cube CEO Madison, Core Chain founder Liviu, Orion Finance community manager, Elytron Chain’s Desky, and other industry builders.
If there is one sentence to summarize this AMA:
The excitement around Token2049 does not equal a bull market. The real Q4 market depends on three things: whether liquidity is expanding, whether people are actually using crypto, and whether regulations can make institutional capital comfortable entering the market.
1. Q4 Market Outlook: Watch the Tide Before the Waves
The first question from the host was:
After Token2049, market sentiment seems to have improved, but macro pressure has not disappeared. Bond yields are rising, rate hike concerns are returning — which indicators matter most now?
The guests reached almost the same conclusion:
Macro liquidity matters the most.
Core Chain’s Liviu gave a very vivid analogy:
Macro liquidity = the tide
ETF inflows = the waves
On-chain activity = how many people are actually in the water
The current challenge is that:
The tide is moving out.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield once moved above 5%. The Federal Reserve raised rates in September, and the market was still pricing in the possibility of another hike at the end of October.
When risk-free bonds offer attractive yields, every risk asset has to work harder to prove its value.
ETF inflows are certainly important.
At the end of September, Bitcoin ETFs recorded the largest weekly inflows of the year, around $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.
However, the guests warned:
ETF inflows can reverse quickly, and on-chain activity can also be distorted by incentives, farming programs, and automated trading.
So what does a sustainable recovery actually look like?
BTC can maintain key support levels even when Treasury yields remain high;
Stablecoin supply and spot trading volume continue growing together;
Funding rates remain controlled instead of relying on excessive leverage;
ETF inflows continue even during negative macro news;
On-chain activity grows without subsidies or farming incentives.
Cube CEO Madison made the point even more directly:
Industry events like Token2049 create excitement, but excitement does not equal market strength.
Bitcoin dropped nearly $4,000 shortly after the event, proving that conferences, partnerships, and announcements do not automatically bring fresh capital into the market.
She said investors should not immediately declare “the bull market is back” after seeing a few green candles.
Instead, she would rather see:
several weeks of increasing spot demand;
improving liquidity;
stable funding rates;
consistent market growth.
One sentence summary:
Do not let event-driven excitement distract you. Watch the tide first.
2. AI + Crypto: Don’t Build a Restaurant With an AI Sign and No Food in the Kitchen
AI has become one of the hottest narratives in global markets.
But in crypto, how can investors distinguish real demand from projects simply adding an “AI” label?
Core Chain’s Liviu gave another powerful analogy:
Imagine a restaurant with a sign saying “AI Restaurant,” but there is no food in the kitchen.
People may enter once because of the sign.
But they will only return if the food is actually good.
He believes the real connection between AI and crypto will come from three areas:
1. Payments
AI agents will need to continuously pay for:
data;
computing power;
digital services.
They may need small, automated payments without traditional bank accounts.
Stablecoins could become the natural payment infrastructure for this machine economy.
2. Verifiable Infrastructure
Once AI starts controlling money and executing actions, people need to verify:
what the AI did;
what data it used;
what rules it followed.
Blockchain’s strength is providing transparent and immutable records.
3. Security
AI can help:
audit code;
detect suspicious behavior;
improve security systems.
Blockchain provides the verification layer behind those actions.
To identify whether an AI project is real or just a narrative, investors should ask three questions:
1. Who is paying?
Are users paying real fees?
Or is the project only distributing token rewards?
2. Can the AI component actually be verified?
Or is “AI” simply a marketing slogan on the website?
3. Does the token have a real role?
If the token disappeared, could the product still operate?
Madison added that companies like Oracle, SpaceX, and Broadcom create AI value through:
hardware;
infrastructure;
enterprise contracts.
A crypto project adding “AI” to its website does not automatically capture any of that economic value.
She believes one of the biggest opportunities is autonomous financial activity:
AI agents managing liquidity, purchasing computing resources, and executing transactions across different networks.
However, she emphasized:
AI cannot simply be trusted with large amounts of capital without extensive testing and backtesting.
She also reminded investors:
Building a useful product and building a valuable token are two completely different things.
Investors should focus on:
whether the product generates fees;
whether customers pay;
whether users return;
whether the token is actually necessary.
Otherwise, AI becomes nothing more than a cheap label used to attract capital.
Orion Finance shared a similar perspective:
Investors should look at:
real users;
repeat usage;
revenue;
whether the product still provides value without token incentives.
If a project has attention but no users, then AI is only a label.
3. Stablecoins: Samsung USDC Integration Is Big News, But “Potential” Does Not Equal Adoption
One of the biggest discussions during the AMA was Samsung Wallet’s USDC integration, which could potentially bring stablecoin access to around 82 million Galaxy devices.
Does this represent a shift from crypto speculation toward everyday financial usage?
Core Chain’s Liviu believes this is one of the most important stories of the quarter.
Not because of the number of devices.
But because:
Users could send digital dollars without even knowing blockchain exists.
Nobody thinks about electricity grids when turning on a light.
They simply use electricity.
Stablecoins could work the same way.
Users only care about:
sending money;
receiving payments;
transferring funds quickly.
They do not care about the underlying blockchain technology.
So where does the economic value go?
Samsung controls the user entry point and customer relationship;
Stablecoin issuers earn interest from the underlying dollar reserves. With yields above 5%, this can be a highly profitable business;
Blockchains act as the payment infrastructure. Transaction fees still exist, although applications may sponsor those costs;
Networks gain from transaction volume, but tokens only capture value if the activity is large, repeated, and dependent on that network.
How do we prove stablecoin adoption is real?
The key indicators are:
monthly active sending users;
transfers beyond exchanges;
real merchant payments;
cross-border payments;
salary payments and remittances;
users returning after promotional campaigns end;
continued growth without incentive programs.
Desky pointed out:
Adoption is already happening, but adoption does not automatically mean value capture.
USDC can generate huge transaction volume, but that does not automatically increase the value of a blockchain’s native token.
Investors should watch:
recurring payments;
payment volume;
active users;
stablecoin balances;
transaction costs;
the percentage of activity representing real economic transactions.
Madison added:
The Samsung announcement is significant, but the word “potentially” is important.
Potential does not equal guaranteed adoption.
The real breakthrough will happen when:
Users start using stablecoins without even realizing they are interacting with blockchain infrastructure.
If:
merchants accept payments;
users keep stablecoin balances;
people continue using the service after incentives disappear;
then adoption is moving in the right direction.
Orion Finance summarized:
Stablecoins can make payments as simple as traditional payment apps.
However, network tokens will not automatically capture value.
The key metrics remain:
repeat usage;
real payment volume;
merchant adoption;
organic growth without incentives.
The ultimate goal?
How many people can use crypto without needing to understand crypto?
4. Regulation and Leverage: The Clearer the Guardrails, the More Institutional Capital Will Enter
The final major question was:
How will regulation reshape exchanges and perpetual futures? Will stronger protection attract institutions, or will it push trading activity toward offshore platforms and decentralized protocols?
Liviu believes the United States is moving quickly.
The CFTC has opened the door for regulated Bitcoin perpetual products and allowed regulated exchanges to transform index futures into true perpetual contracts.
He used a highway analogy:
Add speed limits, guardrails, and traffic police — then large trucks will feel safe enough to enter.
The “large trucks” are institutional investors.
They need:
predictable rules;
segregated custody;
clear margin requirements;
reliable regulatory frameworks.
Of course, some “race cars” may choose side roads:
offshore exchanges;
on-chain perpetual platforms;
markets targeting users who want higher leverage or fewer identity requirements.
But Liviu does not see this as necessarily negative, as long as those roads have lights.
In fact, decentralized platforms may even offer greater transparency:
liquidations can be tracked;
collateral levels can be monitored;
open interest can be viewed in real time.
The truly dangerous situation is:
No regulation + no transparency.
Orion believes regulation will push exchanges toward:
greater transparency;
better leverage management;
stronger risk controls.
Institutional investors want:
clear rules;
reliable custody;
protection against market risks.
However, if regulation becomes overly restrictive, some traders may move toward offshore or decentralized perpetual platforms.
Exchanges should not compete only on:
“Who offers the highest leverage?”
Instead, they should compete on:
liquidity;
security;
execution quality;
user experience.
High leverage may attract users in the short term, but excessive leverage makes markets more fragile over time.
Desky believes Q4 regulation will force major exchanges to clean up their perpetual futures businesses.
Expected improvements include:
higher margin requirements;
stronger risk engines;
clearer liquidation rules;
position limits;
better funding rate disclosures.
These changes may not look exciting, but they are exactly what could make traditional institutions comfortable entering the market.
The market may become less flashy:
deeper order books;
tighter spreads;
genuine hedging demand;
less pure directional gambling.
The platforms that survive the next market stress test will prove their real strength.
Madison offered an even sharper perspective:
Regulation will expose how dependent the industry has become on leverage-driven activity.
Perpetual contracts have real value:
hedging;
liquidity;
price discovery.
But if exchanges rely only on:
excessive leverage;
aggressive incentives;
artificially boosted trading volume;
the model is not sustainable.
She hopes major exchanges will provide more transparent disclosure around:
liquidations;
insurance funds;
margin requirements;
extreme volatility risk controls.
Institutions care more about:
reliable execution;
counterparty risk management;
rather than simply offering 100x leverage.
5. What Could Change the Market Most by Year-End?
The host’s final question was:
Among tokenized assets, 24/7 trading, stablecoin payments, and AI-driven activity, which trend will define the next crypto market?
Most guests chose:
Stablecoin payments.
Orion’s View: Stablecoins Could Bring Crypto Into Everyday Finance
Orion believes stablecoin payments could have the largest long-term impact because they bring crypto into daily financial activities and attract people who never planned to buy crypto.
The key milestones are:
real payment volume continues growing;
repeat users increase;
users continue using the product even without incentives.
Madison’s View: Stablecoins Have Something Many Crypto Narratives Lack — A Clear External Use Case
Madison believes stablecoins have a unique advantage:
People outside the crypto industry already have a reason to use them.
Businesses can use stablecoins to complete international settlements within minutes:
without waiting for banking hours;
without unnecessary banking restrictions;
with fewer traditional payment barriers.
Partnerships with companies like Samsung could help the industry eliminate useless or fraudulent projects.
The ultimate goal remains:
How many people can use crypto without needing to understand crypto?
Liviu’s View: Stablecoin Payments Are the Only Sector Bringing in New Users
Liviu also selected stablecoin payments because they represent the only sector capable of attracting:
people who never intended to buy crypto.
He believes:
tokenized assets will be the next major development;
24/7 derivatives mainly serve existing traders.
The hard adoption metrics he wants to see are:
stablecoins used for payments, salaries, remittances, and merchant purchases;
monthly active users continuing to grow after removing exchange-related activity;
trends continuing without incentive campaigns;
tokenized government bonds becoming institutional collateral while institutions do not own the issuing companies.
However, Liviu also highlighted a major risk:
The biggest challenge is not only regulation.
It is trust.
One major stablecoin depeg event,
one large custody hack,
or one private key compromise
could seriously damage confidence across the entire ecosystem.
That is why Core Chain has implemented post-quantum signatures for every native transaction.
Markets can recover from a bad quarter.
But recovering from a loss of trust is much harder.
6. The Four Real Wealth Opportunities in the Next Crypto Cycle
Based on the AMA discussion, the next market cycle may revolve around four major themes:
1) Stablecoin Payment Revolution
Keyword: Digitalization of the U.S. dollar
Opportunities:
payment infrastructure;
cross-border finance;
commercial settlement.
2) AI Agent Economy
Keyword: Machines begin using money
Opportunities:
AI payments;
automated trading;
decentralized computing.
3) RWA Tokenization
Keyword: Traditional financial assets moving on-chain
Future possibilities:
Stocks, bonds, funds, and other financial assets may gradually migrate onto blockchain networks.
4) Regulated Crypto Financial Infrastructure
Keyword: Institutional capital entering the market
Future winners will not necessarily be the platforms with the highest risks.
They will be:
the platforms users and institutions trust the most.
Conclusion: The Next Bull Market Will Not Belong to Storytellers, But to Problem Solvers
The AMA reached a common conclusion:
The future of crypto will not be defined simply by price appreciation.
The real drivers will be:
Are users increasing?
Are products actually being used?
Is revenue growing?
Does technology solve real-world problems?
As the host summarized:
The next stage of the market will be shaped by:
measurable adoption, trust-building regulation, and real value created by AI and stablecoins.
Crypto is entering a new era:
From:
“Finding the next explosive token”
to:
“Finding the next generation of financial infrastructure.”
The real wealth opportunities may no longer be hidden inside a single trending coin.
They may exist in the infrastructure connecting:
AI, finance, payments, users, and real-world demand.