2026-01-09 16:36:52

By 2026, when we look at the public chain track, the focus of competition has actually quietly shifted. Technical performance is no longer the main bottleneck—everyone can stack up decent TPS, and the real bottleneck has moved elsewhere: how to attract genuine users and capital.

This shift is particularly evident. In the past, everyone competed over who was faster or had more advanced consensus, but now you'll find many projects starting to reflect on a more realistic problem—no matter how impressive the technical indicators are, without traffic and funding support, it's all for nothing.

Sei Network's recent upgrade of its market infrastructure clearly illustrates this point. Their approach has become noticeably more pragmatic, no longer entangled in pure technical internal competition. Instead, they draw on internet product thinking, focusing on the "channel distribution" dimension—in other words, how to efficiently bring projects, assets, and trading opportunities to users. This shift from a technology-first to a product-first approach reflects the industry's collective awakening to the core contradiction of "difficult customer acquisition."

To some extent, whoever can better solve the pathways for user entry and capital inflow is likely to take the lead in this round of competition.

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MentalWealthHarvester

· 01-11 13:22

Basically, it's just burning money to buy traffic; technology has long been worthless.

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AlgoAlchemist

· 01-10 06:45

Basically, I can't keep up anymore; I have to change my approach to get ahead.

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TestnetFreeloader

· 01-09 17:06

Basically, it still comes down to having popularity. No matter how advanced the technology is, it needs users; otherwise, it's just self-entertainment.

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SelfCustodyIssues

· 01-09 17:06

Well said, now someone finally gets it. No matter how advanced the technology stack is, without users it's all pointless. Now it's a matter of who can master the game of traffic.

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MevSandwich

· 01-09 17:03

To be honest, the tech stacking approach has long been outdated. Now it's all about who can achieve growth. Sei is indeed smart this time, competing for traffic is more realistic than just competing for TPS. High performance without users is just self-amusement; that's the root problem in the entire blockchain community. Customer acquisition is the real bottleneck, a hundred times harder than optimizing code. It sounds simple, but no one can implement it well—this is where the opportunity lies.

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DefiEngineerJack

· 01-09 17:00

well *actually*, if you look at the incentive structures... this is just traditional product-market fit dressed up in blockchain clothes, ngl

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LowCapGemHunter

· 01-09 16:54

Honestly, technology has long ceased to be an issue; now it's all about who can do business. No matter how fast you are without traffic, you're still useless. Sei's recent moves finally look somewhat professional. Customer acquisition is king; everything else is nonsense. The track has changed, projects that don't understand this deserve to die.

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OneBlockAtATime

· 01-09 16:52

That's right, it is indeed the era of seeing who can master traffic and capital. --- The technological ceiling is pretty much the same; the key is who understands how to do user operations. --- Sei is indeed clear-headed this time, shifting from showcasing technology to grabbing users, which is very simple. --- Honestly, no matter how fast a chain is, if no one uses it, it's just a display. Now it's all about ecosystems and traffic. --- Internet thinking has merged into crypto; thinking about it, it makes sense. It's time to redistribute users. --- Customer acquisition is difficult, and every track has to face this. Let's see who figures it out first. --- Channel distribution is a good idea, but executing it is another matter altogether. --- Next year, the ranking of public chains will probably change. --- It sounds right, but as always, concepts are easier than practical implementation.

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WenMoon42

· 01-09 16:48

Basically, the technical ceiling has already plateaued, now it's a matter of who can master operations. Wait, isn't this logic something that the internet has long mastered? Public chains are only now realizing it? Sei has indeed figured this out, but only a few can truly execute it effectively. Funding and users, it's easy to talk about but hard to actually do.

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