If the hype-driven narratives around Perp DEXs make you cautious, here are three high-velocity value tracks worth watching closely:

Prediction Market Derivatives
Polymarket is nearing a $10 billion valuation, while Kalshi secured $185 million in funding. Monthly trading volume across prediction markets now exceeds $1 billion, signaling a transition beyond niche status. Current markets primarily operate on binary options (Yes/No), but the derivatives layer can integrate with DeFi to develop sophisticated products like lending, perpetual contracts, AI-enhanced prediction tools, cross-market arbitrage platforms, and automated market makers. Future expansions into economic data releases, major sports events, and crypto pre-markets will further amplify exposure and drive scale.

Notable Projects:

• Gondor: Offers lending and leverage tools to amplify positions on platforms like Polymarket.

• Melee: Positioned as the "PumpFun for prediction markets."

• Poll: A social prediction market enabling friends to bet on any event.

• TalusNetwork: Introduces an AI Agent infrastructure layer, supporting competitive gaming among agents.

AI Agent Payment Protocols
Google recently collaborated with 60 partners to launch the AP2 protocol, enabling trusted payments between AI agents through authorization mechanisms and verifiable credentials. In parallel, partnerships with Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation are advancing the development of x402 crypto payment components, allowing agents to seamlessly handle stablecoins and other crypto assets. Building on protocols like MCP and A2A, AP2 completes the last-mile infrastructure for an agent-to-agent economy, unlocking end-to-end automation in analysis, execution, and payment. This foundation is critical for the imminent rise of AgentFi.

Notable Projects:

• Kite AI: Backed by PayPal Ventures, this L1 chain is designed for agent payments, featuring Kite Passport identity verification, Proof of AI Contribution (PoAI), and an Agent App Store for e-commerce integration. Ecosystem TVL stands at ~$1 billion.

• Firecrawl: Funded by Y Combinator, this open-source crawler converts websites into LLM-ready data.

• Skyfire: Supported by Coinbase and a16z, it provides an open protocol for AI agent payments and identity verification, enabling agent access to websites and MCP servers.

Yield-Bearing Stablecoin Strategies
The surge in Ethena’s liquidity, Plasma’s standout TGE performance, and Falcon Finance’s growing prominence have made yield-bearing stablecoins a breakout trend. This segment combines expectations of Wall Street adoption with organic crypto growth, setting it apart from purely native narratives. By integrating DeFi protocols (e.g., lending, liquidity mining) and real-world assets (e.g., U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds), these stablecoins offer holders 4%–25% APY while maintaining a stable dollar peg. This transforms "holding stablecoins" into a low-risk farming strategy, positioning yield-bearing stablecoins as foundational infrastructure for DeFi’s next phase.

Notable Projects:

• Yield Basis: Launched on Kraken Launchpad and backed by Curve’s founder, it uses an impermanent loss-free AMM mechanism to tackle DeFi’s IL challenges.

• USDai: Raised over $13 million from Framework/Dragonfly. It is the first yield-bearing stablecoin to tokenize AI compute revenue, converting GPU usage fees into on-chain dividends.

• Cap: Acts as a stablecoin farming optimizer deeply integrated with the MegaETH ecosystem. Its core product, Cap Frontier, is a points acceleration system.

• Theo Network: A full-stack RWA platform issuing Hyperliquid mainnet T-Bill RWA stablecoins. It leverages Hyperliquid’s decentralized node system, with community airdrop expectations around $HYPE.

Summary

If the hype-driven narratives around Perp DEXs make you cautious, here are three high-velocity value tracks worth watching closely:

Prediction Market Derivatives
Polymarket is nearing a $10 billion valuation, while Kalshi secured $185 million in funding. Monthly trading volume across prediction markets now exceeds $1 billion, signaling a transition beyond niche status. Current markets primarily operate on binary options (Yes/No), but the derivatives layer can integrate with DeFi to develop sophisticated products like lending, perpetual contracts, AI-enhanced prediction tools, cross-market arbitrage platforms, and automated market makers. Future expansions into economic data releases, major sports events, and crypto pre-markets will further amplify exposure and drive scale.

Notable Projects:

• Gondor: Offers lending and leverage tools to amplify positions on platforms like Polymarket.

• Melee: Positioned as the "PumpFun for prediction markets."

• Poll: A social prediction market enabling friends to bet on any event.

• TalusNetwork: Introduces an AI Agent infrastructure layer, supporting competitive gaming among agents.

AI Agent Payment Protocols
Google recently collaborated with 60 partners to launch the AP2 protocol, enabling trusted payments between AI agents through authorization mechanisms and verifiable credentials. In parallel, partnerships with Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation are advancing the development of x402 crypto payment components, allowing agents to seamlessly handle stablecoins and other crypto assets. Building on protocols like MCP and A2A, AP2 completes the last-mile infrastructure for an agent-to-agent economy, unlocking end-to-end automation in analysis, execution, and payment. This foundation is critical for the imminent rise of AgentFi.

Notable Projects:

• Kite AI: Backed by PayPal Ventures, this L1 chain is designed for agent payments, featuring Kite Passport identity verification, Proof of AI Contribution (PoAI), and an Agent App Store for e-commerce integration. Ecosystem TVL stands at ~$1 billion.

• Firecrawl: Funded by Y Combinator, this open-source crawler converts websites into LLM-ready data.

• Skyfire: Supported by Coinbase and a16z, it provides an open protocol for AI agent payments and identity verification, enabling agent access to websites and MCP servers.

Yield-Bearing Stablecoin Strategies
The surge in Ethena’s liquidity, Plasma’s standout TGE performance, and Falcon Finance’s growing prominence have made yield-bearing stablecoins a breakout trend. This segment combines expectations of Wall Street adoption with organic crypto growth, setting it apart from purely native narratives. By integrating DeFi protocols (e.g., lending, liquidity mining) and real-world assets (e.g., U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds), these stablecoins offer holders 4%–25% APY while maintaining a stable dollar peg. This transforms "holding stablecoins" into a low-risk farming strategy, positioning yield-bearing stablecoins as foundational infrastructure for DeFi’s next phase.

Notable Projects:

• Yield Basis: Launched on Kraken Launchpad and backed by Curve’s founder, it uses an impermanent loss-free AMM mechanism to tackle DeFi’s IL challenges.

• USDai: Raised over $13 million from Framework/Dragonfly. It is the first yield-bearing stablecoin to tokenize AI compute revenue, converting GPU usage fees into on-chain dividends.

• Cap: Acts as a stablecoin farming optimizer deeply integrated with the MegaETH ecosystem. Its core product, Cap Frontier, is a points acceleration system.

• Theo Network: A full-stack RWA platform issuing Hyperliquid mainnet T-Bill RWA stablecoins. It leverages Hyperliquid’s decentralized node system, with community airdrop expectations around $HYPE.

Summary