Castle Labs: The crypto market is shifting from "gambling" to "investment," with revenue and value feedback becoming the core competitiveness of the token

DeepFlowTech · 2026-04-10T00:32:06+00:00

The article analyzes the transformation of the crypto market, shifting from extraction-focused speculation to income-driven investment logic. It emphasizes that large-scale liquidation events and gold performance have prompted market reflection, and points out that currently only a few protocols generate actual income. Traditional financial institutions focus on underlying blockchain technology, which increases the risk of token value dilution. Leading protocols are expected to continue benefiting in the future, while tokens lacking income support face risks.

DeepFlowTech

2026-04-10 00:32:06

Abstract generation in progress

Deep Tide TechFlow News, April 10th, Castle Labs (@castle_labs) published an article stating that the current crypto market is undergoing a profound paradigm shift—speculative models focused on extraction are gradually giving way to income-oriented investment logic.

The article points out that since 2026, the overall performance of the crypto market has been sluggish, with most asset prices continuing to decline, ETF fund outflows persisting, a wave of project closures intensifying, and institutional VC investments becoming more conservative. The key events triggering this shift include the large-scale liquidation event last October and the market reflection caused by gold’s continued outperformance of Bitcoin.

In terms of revenue data, among approximately 5,700 protocols listed on DeFiLlama, only 3.5% generated over $100,000 in revenue in the past 30 days, and less than 1% of protocols actually distributed earnings to token holders. The article focuses on analyzing the market-to-sales ratio (P/S) and holder yield performance of leading revenue protocols such as Hyperliquid (HYPE), Pumpdotfun (PUMP), Tron (TRON), Sky (SKY), Jupiter (JUP), Aave (AAVE), Aerodrome (AERO), and others, suggesting that protocol revenue and its ability to return value to tokens are becoming core indicators for investors when selecting targets.

Regarding institutionalization trends, traditional financial giants like NYSE, Robinhood, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton are accelerating their deployment of on-chain infrastructure, but their focus is on blockchain underlying technology rather than existing crypto tokens, further exacerbating the risk of value dilution for most tokens.

The article concludes with the “Lindy Effect” framework, emphasizing that top protocols with proven resilience under extreme market pressure, continuous innovation, and positive cash flow—such as Aave, Morpho, Hyperliquid—will continue to benefit under the dual waves of institutionalization and AI-driven agentic finance, while tokens lacking genuine revenue support will face long-term elimination.

BTC1,41%

HYPE4,49%

PUMP3,94%

TRX1,01%

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