Crypto’s age of hype is over, making way for the real infrastructure to be built

The author agrees with the premise that crypto's "rock 'n' roll era" of hype is ending, drawing a parallel to the music industry's transition during the torrent era. When rock and roll died, the loud culture faded, but the boring infrastructure (like streaming services) became dominant, eventually being absorbed and rebranded by established players like Universal Music. Similarly, institutions like JP Morgan are now wrapping digital assets into traditional products, leading to bigger audiences and better infrastructure, but less interesting culture. Crucially, the author notes that the music industry's true innovation migrated to the edges—bedroom producers building niche ecosystems that corporations couldn't replicate. In crypto, this means the quiet development of essential plumbing like stablecoins, tokenized assets, and self-custody tools, which will enable the next wave of builders in places where traditional finance hasn't reached. This shift to building necessary infrastructure is seen as the most bullish development for the industry, as it brings in capital and sets the stage for future, unimaginable innovations from the edges.

(Source：CoinDesk)