Buy Crypto- Markets
Futures- Spot
- Copy Trade
- Earn
- More
a16z Year in Review: Hot Topics and Reads for 2024
Original Article Title: Year in review: Top pieces and themes of 2024
Original Article Author: web3 letter from a16zcrypto
Original Article Translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats
Editor's Note: This article focuses on the revolutionary impact of stablecoins, from pain points in the payments industry to technical solutions, interpreting the rise of this disruptive force. It also brings popular book recommendations and a practical gift list to add more choices to the holidays. If you want to delve deeper into the potential of web3, don't miss Professor Tim Roughgarden's video lectures.
The following is the original content (slightly reorganized for better readability):
2024 was a remarkable year in the crypto space — from stablecoins to artificial intelligence, we covered all the hot topics. Below is a summary of our most popular articles, podcasts, videos, and selected themes of the year, along with several special recommendations from the a16z crypto team's editorial board. The end of the year is a good time for catch-up, see if you missed anything, and explore the content that most intrigued everyone.
Winter Reads
The a16z crypto team is passionate about reading, and this winter, we bring you a rich list of recommended books — from spherical geometry to celebrity memoirs, from super volcanoes to a fresh interpretation of Greek mythology, here are our curated winter must-reads:
“The Caves of Steel” - Isaac Asimov
Asimov depicts the transition of humanity to a robotic world, revealing the accompanying anxieties and a new economic order, which bears similarities to today's concerns about the rapid development of AI.
— Noah Citron, Engineering Team
“Biohacking Like a Woman” - Aggie Lal
I have always been interested in biohacking, but most of the articles and books on the market overlook the uniqueness of women's bodies and hormones. This book completely changed my perspective, providing comprehensive biohacking techniques tailored specifically to female physiological traits.
— Anna Semenova, Marketing Team
《Prosperity: The End of Prosperity and Stagnation》 - Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber
This book provides a blueprint for how society can accelerate technological and scientific progress. It emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial spirit (something I've always been very passionate about) and explains how the "bubble," while often seen as harmful to society, may actually be key to unleashing innovation and global prosperity. Anyone interested in emerging technologies should give it a read!
——Daren Matsuoka, Trading Team
Holiday Gift Ideas
Still struggling with holiday gift ideas? Don't worry, last-minute inspiration can also help you find the perfect choice!
We have gathered over 80 gift recommendations covering various categories—from computer accessories and smart AI devices to beauty, health, and wellness products. Here are selected gifts recommended by our tech team members:
AI Toolkit: Mac Mini (link) + Exo Labs
The Mac Mini offers great value for its price. When paired with Exo Labs, you can perform AI inference on multiple devices through your home network. This approach is simple, fun, and perfect for those looking to easily set up an AI home lab.
——Eddy Lazzarin, Chief Technology Officer
Focus Timer Adjustable Hourglass (link)
An elegant, sand-free adjustable hourglass, perfect for allocating project time, focused writing sessions, or even morning meditation.
——Scott Duke Kominers, Research Team
Dappnode (link)
For those interested in the crypto space, looking to become independent stakers, and run a validation node at home, this is the perfect choice. I set up a node last holiday season and have already recouped my investment through staking rewards.
——Robert Hackett, Editorial Team
The Path to Stablecoin Victory
Author: Sam Broner
Stablecoins have become the cheapest way to transfer dollars—and are poised to rapidly and thoroughly replace existing payment solutions. By reducing transaction costs to near zero, stablecoins can eliminate the friction that current payment options bring. This will disrupt the payments industry, benefiting businesses hit hardest by existing payment methods, including restaurants, retailers, enterprises, payment processors, and more.
This article provides an in-depth analysis of how payment fees impact costs for small businesses like coffee shops or international transfers, and demonstrates the significant profit increase for companies like Walmart, Chipotle, and Kroger after adopting stablecoins.
This data will drive widespread adoption of stablecoins. As stablecoins become more mainstream, more users, businesses, and products will enter the on-chain ecosystem.
Learn How Stablecoins Will Eat Payments
How to Discuss Cryptocurrency During the Holidays
Cryptocurrency has been a significant political topic over the past year, even playing a role in the recent US elections. (For more details, see our 2024 Crypto State Report.) Surprisingly, there is an increasing bipartisan consensus on the importance of blockchain networks and the regulatory frameworks needed for industry growth. This helps drive innovation and also protects consumers.
To help you navigate the inevitable hot topics during holiday gatherings, we've compiled five key cryptocurrency policy areas where bipartisan consensus has been reached.
Explain Cryptocurrency in 30 Seconds
Tim Roughgarden, Columbia University computer science professor and a16z Crypto Research Lead, recently released a series of short videos, interpreting the blockchain protocol and web3's mental model. The full lecture video (53:55) explores how blockchain combines "the general-purpose computation of the computer with the decentralization of the internet—essentially becoming a globally shared computer with the internet as its hardware." Now, he provides shorter video clips to help everyone quickly understand the potential of web3:
How to explain cryptocurrency as more than just digital money
How cryptocurrency enforces property rights on the network
You may also like
Consumer-grade Crypto Global Survey: Users, Revenue, and Track Distribution
Prediction Markets Under Bias
Stolen: $290 million, Three Parties Refusing to Acknowledge, Who Should Foot the Bill for the KelpDAO Incident Resolution?
ASTEROID Pumped 10,000x in Three Days, Is Meme Season Back on Ethereum?
ChainCatcher Hong Kong Themed Forum Highlights: Decoding the Growth Engine Under the Integration of Crypto Assets and Smart Economy
Why can this institution still grow by 150% when the scale of leading crypto VCs has shrunk significantly?
Anthropic's $1 trillion, compared to DeepSeek's $100 billion
Geopolitical Risk Persists, Is Bitcoin Becoming a Key Barometer?
Annualized 11.5%, Wall Street Buzzing: Is MicroStrategy's STRC Bitcoin's Savior or Destroyer?
An Obscure Open Source AI Tool Alerted on Kelp DAO's $292 million Bug 12 Days Ago
Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.
The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.
Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.
Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.
The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:
· Choose the trading asset
· Select long or short
· Input position size and leverage
· Confirm order details
· Confirm and open the position
The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.
Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:
· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members
· End-to-end encrypted voice communication
· One-click position sharing
· One-click trade copying
On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.
By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.
Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:
· Users can join with an invite code
· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards
· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings
This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.
Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:
· Separation of transaction account and asset storage
· User full control over assets
· Platform does not custody user funds
· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure
The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.
Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.
The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.
Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.
This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."
The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.
Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.
Its core capabilities include:
· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations
· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets
· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries
· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication
Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.
$600 million stolen in 20 days, ushering in the era of AI hackers in the crypto world
Vitalik's 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Summit Speech: Ethereum's Ultimate Vision as the "World Computer" and Future Roadmap
On the same day Aave introduced rsETH, why did Spark decide to exit?
Full Post-Mortem of the KelpDAO Incident: Why Did Aave, Which Was Not Compromised, End Up in Crisis Situation?
After a $290 million DeFi liquidation, is the security promise still there?
ZachXBT's post ignites RAVE nearing zero, what is the truth behind the insider control?
App