The market crash on October 11 changed money flows and also made people look at new trends in crypto. Here are 3 big narratives you should watch to catch the next wave after the crash!
1. Real World Assets (RWA)
Why watch this after the crash?
After the crash, the idea of “Bitcoin is digital gold” was broken. Bitcoin dropped hard, but real gold hit $4,000/ounce. The market needs assets with real backing, not just speculation. The RWA sector grew 4x since late 2024 to $24-25B, showing it’s a true safe haven.
Why important?
RWA helps the market be less volatile since real assets back them. It’s good for both new investors and big institutions.
Key projects:
Ondo Finance (ONDO)
Backed by: BlackRock, Pantera Capital
Description: Tokens for US Treasuries and credit products, $500M+ AUM
Catalyst: PayPal PYUSD integration announcement (Oct 14-21)
Chainlink (LINK)
Backed by: Google Cloud, Oracle, Swift
Description: Infrastructure for RWA verification (Proof of Reserve, Cross-Chain)
Catalyst: Partnership announcement with major RWA issuer (DualMint) (Oct 23, 2025)
Maker/Sky (MKR/SKY)
Backed by: $5.36B DAI market cap
Description: New ecosystem, focusing on RWA collateral for DAI minting
Catalyst: Real Estate tokenization pilot launch (November 2025)
2. DeFi Transparency & On-Chain Verification
Why watch this after the crash?
The crash exposed huge transparency problems when the Hyperliquid CEO revealed that CEXs underreported liquidations by up to 100 times. With $19B liquidated in 24h and many traders unaware of their real exposure, the market is desperate for programmatic transparency.
DEXs offer full on-chain auditability, while CEX operations are still black boxes. After the crash, both traders and institutions are demanding verifiable data and real-time transparency to prevent future shocks.
Why important?
Transparency and on-chain verification are the new trend to reduce risk, helping both individual traders and institutions.
Key projects:
Hyperliquid (HYPE)
Backed by: Community-driven
Description: On-chain order book, transparent liquidations
Catalyst: Season 2 airdrop announcement (428M $HYPE) (Oct 29)
Uniswap (UNI)
Backed by: Paradigm, a16z
Description: Leading DEX, transparent governance
Catalyst: V4 hooks launch with advanced MEV protection (Nov 15)
dYdX (DYDX)
Backed by: a16z, Polychain
Description: Perpetuals DEX, fully transparent order book
Catalyst: V5 upgrade with institutional compliance features (Oct 30)
1inch (1INCH)
Backed by: Pantera, Blockchain Capital
Description: DEX aggregator, MEV protection, transparent routing
Catalyst: NA
THORChain (RUNE)
Backed by: Cross-chain focus
Description: Native cross-chain swaps, full transparency
Catalyst: NA
3. Institutional DeFi Infrastructure
Why watch this after the crash?
The crash showed that current DeFi systems are not strong enough for big institutions. 74% of institutions want to join DeFi but only 24% are active because of missing compliance and risk management. The next trend is building better infrastructure for big money - enterprise-grade solutions.
Why important?
DeFi for institutions is the key for growth and long-term market health.
Key projects:
Aave (AAVE)
Backed by: Framework Ventures, ParaFi
Description: Top DeFi lending, Horizon initiative for institutions
Catalyst: Horizon RWA markets launch, institutional onboarding (Oct 25)
Compound (COMP)
Backed by: a16z, Coinbase Ventures
Description: Institutional lending, compliance features
Lido (LDO)
Backed by: Paradigm, Semantic Ventures
Description: Liquid staking for institutions, $27.5B stETH TVL
Catalyst: Enterprise staking dashboard launch (Nov 12)
Morpho (MORPHO)
Backed by: a16z, Variant Fund
Description: Lending optimized for institutions, risk management
Ethena (ENA)
Backed by: Dragonfly, Binance Labs
Description: Synthetic dollar, institution-level backing
Quick summary
RWA
DeFi Transparency
Institutional DeFi
