The next chapter of Web3: Say goodbye to the speed race and return to building foundations

Text/Alec Goh (Head of HTX Ventures)

The narrative of Web3 has long revolved around "freedom" - breaking the monopoly of intermediaries, optimizing inefficient systems, and subverting outdated rules. By 2025, this social experiment is entering a new phase: mainstream institutions and regulators are beginning to recognize its potential and pave the way for a paradigm upgrade in digital identity and asset management.

From governments around the world beginning to release signals that they regard Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, to traditional institutions accelerating their entry into the market, the current Web3 already has sufficient liquidity, mature infrastructure and global consensus. However, as a trading platform and venture capital institution deeply involved in the industry, we need to ask: How can this change truly create long-term value?

The crypto world has always been known for its “speed”: fast development iterations, fast capital flows, and faster narrative switching. Under the pressure of multiple factors, founders are easily trapped in the inertia of pursuing short-term speed. But if you want to build a truly sustainable Web3 project, the team must learn to "detach" - temporarily jump out of the code and market noise and return to the essential question: Who are we serving and what real needs are we solving?  

The history of traditional finance has long proved that the foundation of all systems that go through cycles is nothing more than risk management, transparency and user trust. Web3 also cannot bypass this triple test. To build a trusted ecosystem, project owners must focus on sustainable value creation rather than indulging in speed races or speculative games. Security and trust must become a part of our DNA, not an afterthought.  

From HTX Ventures’ observation, the industry has seen some exciting explorations: 

• Breakthroughs in the practical application of Bitcoin: For example, Babylon activated Bitcoin’s on-chain security through a pledge agreement;

• The wave of real assets on the chain: breaking the entry threshold of traditional finance and releasing the liquidity of long-tail assets;

• Stablecoin payment network: significantly reducing cross-border trade frictions and reshaping global business infrastructure;

• DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure): reconstructing traditional monopoly areas in a shared model, allowing Web3 services to truly reach physical scenarios.  

The common point of these cases is: using blockchain thinking to deconstruct real pain points and realize user value through products. To turn this trend into an industry norm, systematic efforts are still needed:

Step 1: Anchor real needs and avoid self-indulgent innovation

Project parties need to repeatedly ask: Are users willing to continue paying for solutions? Has it filled the fatal flaws of the traditional system? Whether it’s reducing cross-border remittance costs by 60% or enabling 1 billion people to access high-yield financial instruments for the first time, Web3’s killer applications will inevitably be born from “real-world interfaces.”

Step 2: Design an anti-decay economic and governance model

Token release curve, fund management mechanism, DAO governance framework - these designs need to serve the long-term health of the ecosystem, rather than early interest groups. For example: 

• Avoid "peak at opening" token unlocking rules;

• Adopt dynamically adjusted contributor incentives (such as Babylon's Bitcoin staking model);

• Reserve space for DAOs to gradually delegate power (rather than locking control through code);

• Introduce anti-black swan mechanisms (such as Shell Finance's use of DLC technology to achieve fair liquidation).  

Only when capital flow and value creation form a closed loop can a project truly accumulate network effects.

Step 3: Write risk management into the protocol’s genes

Smart contract auditing is only the bottom line. A truly robust system requires:

• De-licensed fault escape routes;

• Multiple oracle data redundancy verification;

• A crisis response protocol that prioritizes stress testing.  

With the entry of institutional funds, the ability to withstand stress will become the core criterion for distinguishing "speculative toys" from "infrastructure".

Conclusion: Speed ​​creates bubbles, value precipitates trust

When sovereign funds include Bitcoin in their balance sheets and when workers receive cross-border wages through stablecoins, the legitimacy of Web3 will no longer rely on slogans. Every token distribution plan, every governance vote, and every line of smart contract code adds to the foundation of trust in the industry.  

Web3 in 2025 will eventually belong to those “slow companies” - they use verifiable transparency, accumulative user value, and resilience to extreme market conditions to prove that beyond the technological boom, there are still more important stories worth writing.