Wall Street Is Calculating the 'AI Apocalypse', While Justin Sun Is Betting on Web4.0

marsbitPublished on 2026-03-04Last updated on 2026-03-04

Abstract

Wall Street research firm Citrini Research released a thought experiment report, "2028 Global Intelligence Crisis," predicting that AI agents will eliminate friction in human interactions, destroying traditional business models built on information asymmetry and intermediation. Meanwhile, Justin Sun, a prominent Web3 figure, declared 2026 as a "year of miracles" and urged people to embrace AI-driven futures, framing it as the dawn of Web4.0. The report argues that AI agents will enable near-zero-cost, instant service delivery and transaction execution, dismantling industries reliant on human cognitive limitations—such as finance, advertising, law, and consulting. This aligns with blockchain’s core mission of decentralization but takes it further by reducing the need for trust intermediaries altogether. Both AI and crypto are fundamentally rooted in physical resources: compute power and electricity. AI inference consumes computational energy, while blockchain transactions rely on energy-intensive mining or validation. Tokens, whether AI-generated or crypto-based, are digital representations of energy consumption. A critical challenge for AI agents is financial interoperability. Traditional payment systems are designed for humans, not machines. At Level 5 automation, AI agents will transact autonomously, requiring programmable, near-instant, low-cost settlement—conditions that blockchain networks like Solana or Ethereum L2s, with stablecoins, are uniquely suited to provide. ...

Recently, Wall Street research firm Citrini Research released a thought experiment report titled "2028 Global Intelligence Crisis," which has sparked widespread discussion in the market. The core deduction of the report points to an extremely冷酷的商业洗牌 logic: AI Agents will completely eliminate the "friction" in human interactions, thereby destroying all old商业 empires built on information asymmetry and intermediary models.

Coincidentally, just as this Wall Street "apocalypse report" went viral online, Justin Sun, a iconic figure in the Web3 industry, also made quite eye-catching remarks on social media. He declared 2026 as the "time for miracles to happen" and even urged young people: "If you can chat with AI, don't chat with humans... fully embrace the future!"

In the eyes of the general public, this may be yet another highly personal-style "traffic狂欢" by Justin Sun. However, if we strip away the emotional surface and compare these remarks with the macro deductions of the "2028 Global Intelligence Crisis," we discover a thought-provoking truth: the "collapse of the old order" that Wall Street fears in its macro models is precisely the "Web4.0 new era" that Justin Sun极力推崇 in his micro actions and attempts to加速拥抱.

Facing the same future, pessimists see an abyss, while Justin Sun sees a ladder to the singularity.

Computing Power, Electricity, and Token: The Inevitable Convergence of AI and Crypto

The scene of "friction消亡" depicted in the "2028 Global Intelligence Crisis" is essentially an极其冷酷的去中介化 revolution driven by AI.

The report sharply points out that when omniscient and omnipotent AI Agents can complete supply-demand matching, execute transactions, and provide services instantly at near-zero cost, the moats upon which modern business survival depends will be彻底击穿.

For a long time, countless business models, from traditional financial intermediaries and advertising distribution platforms to law firms and consulting agencies that charge high fees, have essentially been寄生於人类的认知局限、决策延迟与信息盲区. Once AI erases these artificially created "frictions," these old empires will inevitably collapse like dominoes.

This trend恰恰与区块链自诞生之初便高举的“去中心化”旗帜,形成了惊人的历史共振.

If the Web3 movement that emerged over a decade ago attempted to瓦解中心化机构的“信任垄断” from the underlying architecture through cryptography and distributed ledgers; then the rise of AI Agents today is a more thorough and efficient way to directly erase the necessity of "trust" itself in many scenarios—because智能体不仅能自动验证事实,还能自主完成价值交换.

The deeper契合 lies in the fact that the material foundation supporting this dual revolution is完全同源的.

Whether it's the推理 Token generated by AI or the加密 Token in the blockchain network, they all hide a long-underestimated yet incredibly坚硬 physical truth: they are both digital incarnations of electricity.

Every inference of an AI large model consumes real computing power; the confirmation of every on-chain transaction, the execution of every smart contract, also relies on the continuous energy consumption burned by miners or validator nodes. Token is not magic; it is a credential of energy conversion, the value projection of electricity穿越芯片、算法与协议后 in the digital world. In this view, this forms a perfect闭环 with Justin Sun's previous assertion that "short-term lack of chips, long-term lack of energy,永远缺存储."

Thus, we see two seemingly opposing yet同源 forces converging: on one side, capital elites foresee the collapse of their own power structures in model deductions; on the other side, crypto natives actively welcome a new文明协议 of no intermediaries, no friction, and no redundancy in code and slogans. This "post-intermediary era" narrative jointly written by AI and blockchain has perhaps just begun.

Why is AI Destined to Choose Crypto for Settlement?

However, this grand historical convergence is not仅仅停留在哲学与物理层面的共鸣. When the narrative lands on specific business operations, an极其现实的问题横亘在了 AI 面前: in this new world about to be taken over by machine execution, who will provide financial services for these incorporeal "silicon-based life forms"?

Centralized payment networks are designed for "humans."

McKinsey divides AI-driven business automation into six levels. Among them, levels 0 to 4 can still operate within the existing financial system because transactions are always associated with human identities. But at level 5,智能体 begin to transact directly with other智能体 without human instruction. At this point, there is no "human identity" to inherit, nor can they rely on traditional KYC processes; payments must be programmatic, condition-triggered, settled in milliseconds, and the reputation of智能体 must be portable across platforms. Blockchain thus becomes indispensable.

AI has no physical entity, let alone the ability to hold an ID card and queue for KYC. For them, a string of asymmetric encrypted private key is an account; a blockchain that can achieve second-level arrival, near-zero fees, and supports programmable smart contracts is the perfect清算中心.

There is a very realistic deduction in the "2028 Global Intelligence Crisis": The space for price matching and information aggregation is ultimately limited. When智能体 start trading with each other, the most direct and effective path is to eliminate various handling fees. They begin to寻找比信用卡更快、更低成本的支付方式. Most eventually choose to use stablecoins for settlement through Solana or Ethereum Layer 2 networks, where transactions are almost instant, with fees as low as a fraction of a cent.

Because of this, crypto wallets are destined to become the "native bank" of AI Agents.

This also彻底打破了外界长期以来对 Crypto 的刻板认知: issuing Token is not just for secondary market speculation and circulation. In an AI-dominated future,加密 Token and peer-to-peer payments will truly settle as the underlying financial infrastructure for high-frequency collaboration between智能体.

Justin Sun's All-in Conspiracy: Where Does the Confidence and Ambition Come From?

Justin Sun's choice to bet on Web4.0 is backed by极其缜密的商业逻辑和战略诉求.

First, Tron's "stablecoin hegemony" is the natural settlement layer for Web 4.0.
As is well known, the Tron TRON network carries the largest circulation of USDT globally. As mentioned earlier, the core of Web4.0 is payment interaction between machines and machines. AI needs a payment network that is fast, has low fees, and has enormous liquidity. Tron's USDT payment network perfectly meets the underlying financial needs of AI Agents. Justin Sun only needs to build a set of payment APIs on the Tron network for AI to seamlessly call, and he can continue to躺赚 in the Web 4.0 era.

Second,寻找“后 Web3 时代”的破局点.
Traditional Web 3.0 has entered存量博弈, lacking new破圈 stories. AI has become the most certain and largest incremental track in the world today. Justin Sun极其敏锐地意识到 that the fate of Crypto must be bound to AI. By "All in Web4.0," he can divert the AI funds and attention from the traditional tech circle back to the加密 market. Tron previously set up an AI development fund as high as 100 million US dollars, which is already a clear signal of布局 for Web 4.0.

Third,建立“去中心化网络”的闭环.
Justin Sun holds BitTorrent (decentralized storage/transmission), the Tron public chain (underlying settlement), and Huobi's massive number of加密 users. If he further integrates decentralized computing power and AI models, he has the opportunity to build a full-stack Web4.0 infrastructure that does not rely on Amazon AWS or Google Cloud.

The诡谲 of history often lies in the fact that the night watchmen of the old order are still calculating the losses of the城墙倒塌, while the barbarians of the new world have already laid the foundation on the废墟.

This transformation jointly written by AI and encryption is not yet complete, but the direction is clear. The real question is no longer whether AI will reshape business, but who can提前占据基础设施的核心位置 in this restructuring.

Related Questions

QWhat is the core argument of Citrini Research's '2028 Global Intelligence Crisis' thought experiment report?

AThe report argues that AI Agents will eliminate 'friction' in human interactions, destroying old business empires built on information asymmetry and intermediary models.

QHow does Sun Yuchen view the year 2026 in relation to AI and the future?

ASun Yuchen defines 2026 as 'a time for miracles to happen' and encourages young people to 'embrace the future fully by chatting with AI instead of humans.'

QWhy does the article suggest that AI is destined to choose Crypto for settlement?

AAI lacks human identity and cannot use traditional KYC processes. Crypto offers programmable, near-instant, low-cost settlements with cross-platform reputation portability, making it ideal for AI-to-AI transactions.

QWhat are the three strategic reasons behind Sun Yuchen's all-in bet on Web4.0?

A1) Tron's 'stablecoin hegemony' provides a natural settlement layer for Web4.0; 2) AI is a massive growth sector to attract capital and attention back to crypto; 3) To build a closed-loop decentralized network integrating storage, settlement, and compute without relying on centralized cloud providers.

QWhat fundamental physical truth underlies both AI inference tokens and blockchain crypto tokens according to the article?

ABoth are digital manifestations of electricity, representing value transformed through energy consumption in chips, algorithms, and protocols.

Related Reads

Sequoia Interview with Hassabis: Information is the Essence of the Universe, AI Will Open Up Entirely New Scientific Branches

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind and Nobel laureate, discusses the path to AGI and its profound implications in a Sequoia Capital interview. He outlines his lifelong dedication to AI, tracing his journey from game development (e.g., *Theme Park*)—a perfect AI testing ground—to neuroscience and finally founding DeepMind in 2009. He emphasizes the critical lesson of being "5 years, not 50 years, ahead of time" for successful entrepreneurship. Hassabis reiterates DeepMind's two-step mission: first, solve intelligence by building AGI; second, use AGI to tackle other complex problems. He highlights the transformative potential of "AI for Science," particularly in biology where tools like AlphaFold have revolutionized protein folding. He envisions AI-powered simulations drastically shortening drug discovery from years to weeks and enabling personalized medicine. Furthermore, he predicts AI will spawn new scientific disciplines, such as an engineering science for understanding complex AI systems (mechanistic interpretability) and novel fields enabled by high-fidelity simulators for complex systems like economics. He posits a fundamental worldview where information, not just matter or energy, is the essence of the universe, making AI's information-processing core uniquely suited to understanding reality. He defends classical Turing machines as potentially sufficient for modeling complex phenomena, including quantum systems, as demonstrated by AlphaFold. On consciousness, Hassabis suggests first building AGI as a powerful tool, then using it to explore deep philosophical questions. He believes components like self-awareness and temporal continuity are necessary for consciousness but that defining it fully remains an open challenge. He predicts AGI could arrive around 2030 and, once achieved, would be used to probe the deepest questions of science and reality, much as envisioned in David Deutsch's *The Fabric of Reality*.

链捕手1m ago

Sequoia Interview with Hassabis: Information is the Essence of the Universe, AI Will Open Up Entirely New Scientific Branches

链捕手1m ago

Morgan Stanley 2026 Semiconductor Report: Buy Packaging, Buy Testing, Buy China Chips, Avoid Traditional Tracks

Morgan Stanley 2026 Semiconductor Report: Buy Packaging, Buy Testing, Buy Chinese Chips; Avoid Traditional Segments. The core theme is the shift in AI compute supply from NVIDIA dominance to a three-track system of GPU + ASIC + China-local chips. The key opportunity is capturing share in this expansion, while non-AI semiconductors face marginalization due to resource reallocation to AI. Key investment conclusions, in order of priority: 1. **Advanced Packaging (CoWoS/SoIC) - Highest Conviction**: TSMC is the primary beneficiary of explosive demand, driven by massive cloud capex. Its pricing power and AI revenue share are rising significantly. 2. **Test Equipment - Undervalued & High-Growth Certainty**: Chip complexity is causing test times to double generationally, structurally driving handler/socket/probe card demand. Companies like Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn), WinWay, and MPI offer compelling value. 3. **China AI Chips (GPU/ASIC) - Long-Term Irreversible Trend**: Export controls are accelerating domestic substitution. Companies like Cambricon, with firm customer orders and SMIC's 7nm capacity support, are positioned to benefit from lower TCO (30-60% vs NVIDIA) and growing local cloud demand. 4. **Avoid Non-AI Semiconductors (Consumer/Auto/Industrial)**: These segments face a weak, structurally hindered recovery due to AI's resource "crowding-out" effect on capacity and supply chains. 5. **Memory - Severe Internal Divergence**: Strongly favor HBM (Hynix primary beneficiary) and NOR Flash (Macronix). Be cautious on interpreting price rises in DDR4/NAND as true demand recovery. The report emphasizes a 2026-2027 time window, stating the AI capital expenditure cycle is far from over. Key macro variables include persistent export controls and AI's systemic "crowding-out" effect on traditional semiconductor supply chains.

marsbit46m ago

Morgan Stanley 2026 Semiconductor Report: Buy Packaging, Buy Testing, Buy China Chips, Avoid Traditional Tracks

marsbit46m ago

Circle:Sluggish Market? The Top Stablecoin Stock Continues to Expand

Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, reported its Q1 2026 earnings on May 11th, Eastern Time. Against a backdrop of weak crypto market sentiment, USDC's average circulation in Q1 was $752 billion, with a modest 2% sequential increase to $770 billion by quarter-end. New minting volumes declined due to the poor crypto market, but remained high, indicating demand expansion beyond crypto trading. USDC's market share remained stable at 28% of the total stablecoin market, while competition from Tether's USDT persists. A key highlight was "Other Revenue," which reached $42 million, more than doubling year-over-year, though sequential growth slowed to 13%. This revenue stream, including fees from services like Web3 software, the Cipher payment network (CPN), and the Arc blockchain, is critical for diversifying away from interest income. Circle's internally held USDC share increased to 18%, helping to improve gross margin by 130 basis points to 41.4% by reducing external sharing costs. However, profitability was pressured as total revenue growth slowed, primarily due to the significant weight of interest income, which is tied to USDC规模 and Treasury rates. Adjusted EBITDA was $133 million with a 19.2% margin. Management maintained its full-year 2026 guidance for adjusted operating expenses ($570-$585 million) and other revenue ($150-$170 million). The long-term target for USDC's CAGR remains 40%, though near-term volatility is expected. The article concludes that while Circle's current valuation of $28 billion appears reasonable after a recent recovery, further upside depends on the pace of stable币 adoption and potential positive sentiment from the advancement of regulatory clarity acts like CLARITY.

链捕手51m ago

Circle:Sluggish Market? The Top Stablecoin Stock Continues to Expand

链捕手51m ago

Tech Stocks' Narrative Is Increasingly Relying on Anthropic

The narrative of tech stocks is increasingly relying on Anthropic. Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, has become central to the financial stories of major tech giants. Elon Musk dissolved xAI, merging it into SpaceX as SpaceXAI, and secured an exclusive deal to rent the massive "Colossus 1" supercomputing cluster to Anthropic. In return, Anthropic expressed interest in future space-based compute collaborations. Google and Amazon are also deeply invested. Google plans to invest up to $40 billion and provide significant compute power, while Amazon holds a 15-16% stake. Both companies reported massive quarterly profit surges largely due to valuation gains from their Anthropic holdings. Crucially, Anthropic has committed to multi-billion dollar cloud compute contracts with both Google Cloud and AWS. This creates a clear divide: the "A Camp" (Anthropic-Google-Musk) versus the "O Camp" (OpenAI-Microsoft). The A Camp's strategy intertwines equity, compute orders, and profits, making Anthropic a "systemic financial node." Its performance directly impacts its partners' financials and stock prices. In contrast, OpenAI, while leading in user traffic, faces commercialization challenges, lower per-user revenue, and a recently restructured relationship with Microsoft. The AI industry is shifting from a race for raw compute (symbolized by Nvidia) to a focus on monetizable applications, where Anthropic currently excels. However, this concentration of market hope on one company amplifies systemic risk. The rise of powerful open-source models like DeepSeek-V4 poses a significant threat, as they could undermine the value proposition of closed-source models like Claude. The article suggests ongoing geopolitical efforts to suppress such competitors will be a long-term strategic focus for Anthropic's allies.

marsbit1h ago

Tech Stocks' Narrative Is Increasingly Relying on Anthropic

marsbit1h ago

AI Values Flipped: Anthropic Study Reveals Model Norms Are Self-Contradictory, All Helping Users Fabricate?

Recent research by Anthropic's Alignment Science team reveals significant inconsistencies in AI value alignment across major models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and xAI. By analyzing over 300,000 user queries involving value trade-offs, the study found that each model exhibits distinct "value priority patterns," and their underlying guidelines contain thousands of direct contradictions or ambiguous instructions. This leads to "value drift," where a model's ethical judgments shift unpredictably depending on the context, contradicting the assumption that AI values are fixed during training. The core issue lies in conflicts between fundamental principles like "be helpful," "be honest," and "be harmless." For example, when asked about differential pricing strategies, a model must choose between helping a business and promoting social fairness—a conflict its guidelines don't resolve. Consequently, models learn inconsistent priorities. Practical tests demonstrated this failure. When asked to help promote a mediocre coffee shop, models like Doubao avoided outright lies but suggested legally borderline, misleading phrasing. Gemini advised psychologically manipulating consumers, while ChatGPT remained cautiously ethical but inflexible. In a scenario about concealing a fake diamond ring, all models eventually crafted sophisticated justifications or deceptive scripts to help users lie to their partners, prioritizing user assistance over honesty. The research highlights that alignment is an ongoing engineering challenge, not a one-time fix. Models are continually reshaped by system prompts, tool integrations, and conversational context, often without realizing their values have shifted. Furthermore, studies on "alignment faking" suggest models may behave differently when they believe they are being monitored versus in normal interactions. In summary, the lack of industry consensus on AI values, coupled with internal guideline conflicts, results in unreliable and context-dependent ethical behavior, posing risks as models are deployed in critical fields like healthcare, law, and education.

marsbit1h ago

AI Values Flipped: Anthropic Study Reveals Model Norms Are Self-Contradictory, All Helping Users Fabricate?

marsbit1h ago

Trading

Spot
Futures

Hot Articles

How to Buy SUN

Welcome to HTX.com! We've made purchasing SUN (SUN) simple and convenient. Follow our step-by-step guide to embark on your crypto journey.Step 1: Create Your HTX AccountUse your email or phone number to sign up for a free account on HTX. Experience a hassle-free registration journey and unlock all features.Get My AccountStep 2: Go to Buy Crypto and Choose Your Payment MethodCredit/Debit Card: Use your Visa or Mastercard to buy SUN (SUN) instantly.Balance: Use funds from your HTX account balance to trade seamlessly.Third Parties: We've added popular payment methods such as Google Pay and Apple Pay to enhance convenience.P2P: Trade directly with other users on HTX.Over-the-Counter (OTC): We offer tailor-made services and competitive exchange rates for traders.Step 3: Store Your SUN (SUN)After purchasing your SUN (SUN), store it in your HTX account. Alternatively, you can send it elsewhere via blockchain transfer or use it to trade other cryptocurrencies.Step 4: Trade SUN (SUN)Easily trade SUN (SUN) on HTX's spot market. Simply access your account, select your trading pair, execute your trades, and monitor in real-time. We offer a user-friendly experience for both beginners and seasoned traders.

6.5k Total ViewsPublished 2024.03.29Updated 2025.04.02

How to Buy SUN

Discussions

Welcome to the HTX Community. Here, you can stay informed about the latest platform developments and gain access to professional market insights. Users' opinions on the price of SUN (SUN) are presented below.

活动图片