# Moat Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Moat", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Dialogue with a16z Crypto Partner: Privacy Will Become the Most Important 'Moat' in Cryptocurrency

In a discussion with a16z Crypto’s Ali Yahya, the argument is made that privacy will become the most critical moat in the cryptocurrency space, driving winner-take-all network effects. As blockchains become increasingly commoditized and performance differences narrow, privacy stands out as a key differentiator. Unlike social media, where users may overlook privacy, financial activities demand confidentiality—individuals and institutions will not tolerate transparent exposure of salaries, transactions, or spending habits. Privacy creates strong user lock-in due to the difficulty of migrating secrets between chains. Moving private assets risks exposing metadata, reducing anonymity set size, and compromising security. Thus, users are likely to remain on chains with the largest anonymity pools, reinforcing network effects. Several technologies enable privacy: zero-knowledge proofs (currently leading), fully homomorphic encryption (still theoretical), multi-party computation (for key management), and trusted execution environments (most practical for performance). Hybrid approaches may emerge. Despite concerns around centralization, privacy chains can remain decentralized if they are open-source, verifiable, and node-distributed. Looking ahead, quantum computing poses a long-term threat but is not an immediate risk, while AI’s pervasive data collection will only heighten the demand for privacy.

marsbit2 days ago 01:26

Dialogue with a16z Crypto Partner: Privacy Will Become the Most Important 'Moat' in Cryptocurrency

marsbit2 days ago 01:26

Penetrating the Noise of Ethereum's 'Degeneration': Why is 'Ethereum Values' the Widest Moat?

Amidst recent debates questioning Ethereum's perceived "regression" compared to high-performance blockchains, this article argues that Ethereum’s core strength lies in its foundational values—decentralization, censorship resistance, and long-term reliability—rather than short-term efficiency. While other chains prioritize speed through centralized trade-offs, Ethereum emphasizes resilience under worst-case conditions. It has never experienced a full-network outage or rollback in nearly a decade of operation. This resilience stems from deliberate design choices: avoiding hardware centralization, maintaining low node operation costs, and ensuring ordinary users can verify the chain. The concept of "Ethereum Alignment" is clarified not as blind loyalty but as a multidimensional social contract involving technical alignment (using Ethereum’s consensus and open standards), economic alignment (value accrual to ETH), and ideological alignment (public good over extractive growth). Ethereum’s slower evolution reflects a conscious trade-off: performance improvements must integrate with existing security assumptions without compromising decentralization or censorship resistance. Despite criticism, growing ETH staking numbers indicate continued trust in its model. In essence, Ethereum’s “conservative” is strategic—prioritizing sustainable trust over temporary gains, making its value proposition the widest moat in Web3.

marsbit01/09 10:40

Penetrating the Noise of Ethereum's 'Degeneration': Why is 'Ethereum Values' the Widest Moat?

marsbit01/09 10:40

Thin Profit Business? No, DeFi Lending Protocols Are the Underestimated 'King of Value'

In the DeFi lending ecosystem, protocols like Aave and SparkLend capture more value than downstream vaults and even upstream asset issuers, challenging the notion that distribution is king. Despite perceptions of thin margins, lending protocols generate higher revenues than the vaults built on top of them. For example, Ether.fi’s vault pays Aave $4.5M in annual interest fees while earning only $1.07M in platform fees. Similarly, Fluid and Mellow vaults contribute significantly more value to lending protocols than they capture themselves. Even compared to asset issuers like Lido, lending protocols often yield greater economic benefits due to their central role in the credit stack. The true moat of lending protocols lies in their position as the highest value-capture layer in the on-chain credit value chain.

marsbit12/25 11:10

Thin Profit Business? No, DeFi Lending Protocols Are the Underestimated 'King of Value'

marsbit12/25 11:10

Public Chain Moat Only 3/10? Alliance DAO Founder's Remarks Ignite Crypto Community Debate

Alliance DAO founder qw (@QwQiao) sparked intense debate in the crypto community by claiming that Layer 1 blockchains have "limited moats," rating them only 3/10 in terms of sustainable competitive advantage. This triggered strong reactions from key industry figures. Dragonfly Capital partner Haseeb strongly disagreed, arguing that Ethereum’s decade-long dominance despite well-funded challengers proves its strong moat. Others, like Multicoin’s Kyle Samani and researchers from Ethereum and Circle, questioned whether liquidity alone constitutes a real moat, with some calling it fleeting and unreliable. In response, qw elaborated on his moat rating framework, giving traditional giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Visa perfect scores (10/10) based on revenue models and infrastructure, while rating top crypto projects around 5/10. He notably rated Bitcoin at 9/10, citing its unique founding story and Lindy effect, but deducted a point due to uncertainties around security and quantum threats. The debate expanded into what truly constitutes a moat in crypto. Critics argued qw’s framework overemphasizes current revenue and undervalues network effects, trust, and technological ethos. Defenders of blockchain moats pointed to elements like developer ecosystems, brand strength, switching costs, and application diversity as core defensive attributes. The article concludes that the crypto industry is still young and small compared to traditional finance and tech giants. Rather than fixating on abstract moat concepts, the priority should be solving real user needs at scale, driving adoption, and expanding overall market reach.

marsbit12/13 03:06

Public Chain Moat Only 3/10? Alliance DAO Founder's Remarks Ignite Crypto Community Debate

marsbit12/13 03:06

Only 3 Points for the Public Chain Moat? Alliance DAO Founder's Remarks Ignite Crypto Community Debate

In a recent debate sparked by Alliance DAO founder qw (@QwQiao), the crypto community is divided over the "moat" of blockchain technology. Qw controversially rated the moat of L1 public chains at just 3/10, arguing that their defensibility is limited compared to traditional tech and financial giants like Microsoft (10/10), Apple (10/10), or Visa (10/10). He suggested that even top crypto projects only score around 5/10, with Bitcoin being an exception at 9/10 due to its unique founding narrative and Lindy effect. The discussion originated from a Paradigm researcher’s critique that "liquidity is not a moat," which drew mixed reactions. Some, like Dragonfly Capital’s Haseeb, strongly disagreed with qw, pointing to Ethereum’s decade-long dominance despite numerous challengers as proof of a significant moat. Others argued that network effects, trust, and ecosystem maturity are critical moats in crypto. The article explores seven potential components of a public chain’s moat: technical vision, founder influence, developer/user networks, application ecosystems, token market cap, external connectivity, and long-term roadmaps. It concludes that the crypto industry is still too small and nascent to focus heavily on moat analysis—instead, it should prioritize scaling users, capital, and real-world utility.

Odaily星球日报12/11 13:43

Only 3 Points for the Public Chain Moat? Alliance DAO Founder's Remarks Ignite Crypto Community Debate

Odaily星球日报12/11 13:43

Bull vs. Bear Debate: Is the Profit Moat of Stablecoin Leader CRCL Solid?

The article presents a heated debate surrounding Circle (NYSE: CRCL), the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, focusing on the sustainability of its business model following its IPO and Q3 2025 earnings report. Key bearish points, led by figures like Jiang Zhuo'er, argue that CRCL's profits are unsustainable. They compare it to a bank reliant on an interest rate spread, which is highly vulnerable to Federal Reserve rate cuts. Critics highlight that over 60% of profits are paid to distributor Coinbase, leaving CRCL with a thin margin. They warn that competition from traditional financial giants like JPMorgan could easily disrupt its model, and that its regulatory advantage is a temporary benefit, not a permanent moat. Bullish commentators, including @BTCdayu and @qinbafrank, counter that CRCL is a long-term infrastructure play, not a simple bank. They believe current profit-sharing is a strategic cost to achieve market dominance and network effects, similar to companies like Amazon in their early days. They argue that future growth from massive USDC adoption (potentially reaching trillions) will far outweigh the impact of falling interest rates. They see compliance as a powerful, long-term moat that will eliminate smaller competitors. Additional short-term concerns include a significant sell-off pressure from the post-IPO lockup expiration and a structural barrier to USDC's use in U.S. retail payments due to its classification as a taxable asset. In summary, the debate pits short-term cyclical risks (interest rates, high costs, sell pressure) against a long-term structural opportunity (market growth, network effects, compliance as a barrier to entry). The core question remains whether CRCL's current model is a fragile interest-rate play or a foundational bet on the future of digital currency.

比推12/09 20:19

Bull vs. Bear Debate: Is the Profit Moat of Stablecoin Leader CRCL Solid?