Super-app Era is coming

Jan 29, 2026

Contents

1. It’s Time to Bet on Crypto Super-apps 2) Narrative Fatigue in Altcoins 3) Exchanges are Already Morphing into Super-apps 4) Why the Super-app War is an Exchange Game, not a Single-protocol Game 5) The Next Demand Isn’t More Tokens — It’s Real Assets. Trust and Regulation Decide Who WinsAs crypto users, here’s the reality we feel:Sectors we’re watching 1) Exchanges (CEX + perp DEX)2) Prediction markets 3) Robinhood and traditional financial institutions

1. It’s Time to Bet on Crypto Super-apps

Over the last few years, altcoins were able to move markets on narrative alone. New chains, new tokens, new stories — that was enough to attract capital. As a result, the market became flooded with countless altcoins. But today, things have changed. New projects no longer spark the same reaction they once did. Another “puzzle piece” isn’t enough to shake the market anymore. The narratives are depleted, and the altcoin cycle is exhausted. Now, capital, users, and regulation are all converging back toward a single direction: the platform layer. It’s time to bet on the super-apps that will integrate everything into one unified experience.

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2) Narrative Fatigue in Altcoins

Single-token and single-chain narratives are already saturated. Stories around L1s, L2s, DEXs, perps, and NFTs keep repeating, and from a user’s perspective, the differences in the “core experience” have become increasingly marginal. We’ve entered a phase where only small incremental improvements are endlessly reproduced.

Historically, fragmented services eventually get absorbed into larger hubs. In Web2, messengers like WeChat, Kakao, and LINE integrated payments and financial services to become super-apps, while PayPal expanded from payment rails into what is effectively a digital bank.

The same pattern is now emerging in Web3. Coinbase acquired the crypto fundraising platform Echo, and Farcaster absorbed Clanker, an AI-driven token launchpad built on the Base network.

Markets have always moved toward consolidating fragmented functions into a single portal. And today, we are entering the phase where crypto is shifting toward large platforms and super-apps. ————————————————

3) Exchanges are Already Morphing into Super-apps

Global players are already pivoting beyond “exchanges” into all-in-one financial apps.

@coinbase : Under the vision of “bringing all assets on-chain,” it’s moving toward a super-app, @baseapp that integrates tokenized stocks, RWA, derivatives, presales, and prediction markets—while actively engaging regulators like the SEC on financial product frameworks.

@krakenfx : In 2025, it began offering commission-free trading for 11,000+ U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs in 일부 U.S. states. For non-U.S. (global) users, it opened a 24/7 on-chain stock market via @xStocksFi .

@RobinhoodApp : As of 2025, it provides tokenized U.S. stocks in the EU, and is preparing to tie together prediction markets, options, and crypto under a single app front-end—bridging existing customers into this unified experience.

" Major U.S. and European players are already running toward a super-app vision that spans: trading + tokenized stocks + prediction markets + social/payments + banking."

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4) Why the Super-app War is an Exchange Game, not a Single-protocol Game

Becoming a super-app isn’t just about “building a good app.”

(Each point should be revealed step-by-step, like slides appearing as you click.)

A clear business model Sustainable revenue must exist: fees, spreads, derivatives, tokenized assets, and differentiated services that generate reliable cashflow.

Licensing & regulatory infrastructure Stocks, derivatives, tokenized securities, prediction markets, and banking all sit on different regulatory layers in each country.

Human infrastructure to win legal/policy battles You need a General Counsel, compliance team, and law-firm network that can fight—or negotiate—with regulators like the SEC, ESMA, CySEC, VARA, CFTC, and more.

This is no longer a game of “build a new token/project and ship.” It’s a multi-year campaign of accumulating global licenses and surviving regulatory warfare.

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5) The Next Demand Isn’t More Tokens — It’s Real Assets. Trust and Regulation Decide Who WinsAs crypto users, here’s the reality we feel:

First, Large capital is shifting toward BTC, ETH, total3, and real-world assets (stocks/RWA). Meanwhile, smaller altcoins are increasingly discounted.

Second, Globally, tokenized stock trading is becoming real—e.g., Kraken xStocks enabling 24/7 access for global users. The SEC and many research groups are actively evaluating the infrastructure for tokenized securities.

Third, But because of KYC/AML, securities law, and investor protection rules, it’s difficult to build a structure that is clean, legal, and scalable across every country—especially in the short term.

Lastly, So the key question becomes: Who can endure the regulation-and-trust game? And can we position early enough to capture that advantage?

That’s why we track sectors that can play the licensing game—and onboard Web2 users into their platforms. ————————————————

Sectors we’re watching

1) Exchanges (CEX + perp DEX)

@coinbase , @Backpack , and @krakenfx are evolving into global financial apps—preparing for IPOs and aligning with regulatory requirements.

@coinbase is expanding across Base chain, wallet, and social to cover the full stack.

Kraken plans on-chain expansion through its INK chain and “killer apps” like @nadoHQ

@Backpack is planning an integrated experience across wallet + one-margin: exchange, prediction market, and banking.

In crypto, after stablecoins, exchanges are among the most profitable sectors. But retail investors can’t easily own equity in giants like @binance , @coinbase , or @Official_Upbit .

As high-frequency trading infrastructure advances—and as regulation intensifies across multiple countries in parallel—perp DEXs, which can operate as global liquidity venues, may continue to occupy a major share of the market.

2) Prediction markets

@Polymarket and @Kalshi could become everyday consumer apps that normalize betting-like behavior.

But if they secure frameworks like CFTC-aligned licensing, they can also become attractive venues for institutional hedging. Beyond that, they can expand into “information oracle” businesses around elections, sports, and major events—areas where traditional finance also has incentives to participate.

This is why prediction markets may be one of the biggest beneficiary sectors in 2026.

3) Robinhood and traditional financial institutions

Robinhood is expanding access to crypto ETFs and stocks for users across more regulatory jurisdictions—and recently deployed 80+ tokens on Arbitrum.

That’s a signal: giants with massive existing customer bases can enter crypto and bridge mainstream users into on-chain markets at scale.

Next up: we’ll drop our research on how we’re investing in licensing as our long-term moat. Stay tuned! Visit our website and try our ReboundX rebate system: https://www.reboundx.net/