Ethereum Strong Rebound, Analyzing the Growth Prospects of Important Ecological Projects

Recently, the price of Ethereum has surged significantly, with a monthly increase of 48%, driving the value of multiple projects within its ecosystem. Historical data shows that high-quality projects within the Ethereum ecosystem typically exhibit exponential growth during bull market cycles. One blue-chip project worth noting has recently seen an increase of 28%, and there may be further upside potential as the market continues. In addition to following the overall trend of Ethereum, this project also possesses some unique growth drivers, including potential improvements in the regulatory environment, maintaining a leading position in business data, and the structural rise in token prices.

1. Changes in Regulatory Environment

From 2021 to 2023, the regulatory attitude was unclear. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had investigated the project, focusing on its marketing methods and investor services. The SEC chairman has repeatedly stated that decentralized finance platforms may involve securities regulations and that regulation needs to be strengthened. This has sparked widespread discussion in the industry, particularly regarding whether governance tokens should be considered securities. In August 2023, the project won a collective lawsuit, with the court ruling that its agreements were primarily used for legitimate purposes.

From 2023 to 2024, regulatory pressure increased. In April 2024, the SEC issued a Wells notice to the project, accusing it of potentially operating as an unregistered securities exchange. The project team subsequently submitted a detailed response document, rebutting the SEC's allegations.

Since 2025, regulatory attitudes have begun to loosen. In February 2025, the SEC announced the termination of its investigation into the project. In April, the SEC invited it to participate in a crypto roundtable to discuss industry regulatory issues. In May, U.S. congressional members released a new draft for crypto regulation, clarifying the definition of digital asset trading that does not constitute securities. The House plans to review the crypto market structure bill in June.

Currently, the project's token economic model is no longer facing litigation risks. With the new government taking office, the direction of crypto regulation is adjusting towards a more industry-friendly approach. There may be further regulatory benefits in the future.

2. Project Business Performance

1. Leading business data

As one of the earliest and largest decentralized trading protocols in the crypto market, the project currently has a locked value of ( TVL ) at $5.12 billion, with a trading volume of $84.5 billion in the past 30 days, ranking second among similar projects. The annual revenue reaches $929 million, and if calculated using traditional valuation methods, its price-to-earnings ratio is far lower than that of centralized exchanges in the same industry and other technology companies. If it can implement a charging mechanism or expand financial application scenarios in the future, its market value may be significantly underestimated.

According to the financial report for the first quarter of 2025, the project foundation holds $53.4 million in US dollars and stablecoins, 15.8 million native tokens, and 257 ETH, with a total value of approximately $150 million. The funds are expected to last until January 2027, and the financial situation is good.

2. Innovation in Token Economic Models

The project has been trying to empower the token and has proposed to initiate a charging mechanism multiple times, but has been unable to implement it due to regulatory risks. The latest proposal will be restarted in February 2024, with hopes for on-chain voting in the second half of 2025.

In addition, the project's newly launched Layer 2 network provides new application scenarios for the tokens. This network is based on the Optimism OP Stack framework and is officially set to go live in February 2025. The network uses the project's token as the validator staking token, and validators can earn 65% of the on-chain net revenue as rewards. Although the official has not disclosed the specific staking scale, it is expected to attract more token holders to participate in staking as the ecosystem expands.

3. Token Market Performance

Currently, the circulating market value of the token is 4.2 billion USD, the total market value is 6.7 billion USD, and the staking lock-up rate is approximately 37%.

The contract open interest is 448 million, with an open interest/market cap ratio of about 10.6%. The aggregated long-short ratio is 1.02, while the long-short ratio on mainstream trading platforms is 2.16, and the long-short ratio for large accounts is 3.87, with long positions mainly coming from large traders. Since the rise of Ethereum, the open interest of this token has also been gradually increasing, and trading in the derivatives market is active.

In the spot trend, the token shows a similar trend to Ethereum, but its volatility is usually 2-3 times that of Ethereum. In this round of Ethereum's rise in April, the token's increase was slightly lower than that of Ethereum. If the market continues, it may have further rebound potential.

4. Summary

With the shift in the U.S. government's regulatory stance towards the crypto industry, this project, as a leading decentralized trading protocol, may set a benchmark for the entire industry in terms of regulatory positioning. The project team is actively participating in the formulation of regulatory rules. Combined with the ripple effect of Ethereum, this project may迎来结构性利好机会.

Considering the project's own leading business data, considerable profits, and good financial condition, along with the newly launched Layer 2 network and the potential fee mechanism that may bring new value to the token, if optimistic about the future market, this project is one of the important targets in the Ethereum ecosystem worth paying attention to.