After the rise of Ethereum, what is next?

Recently, the strong rise of Ethereum has attracted widespread attention in the market. As Fundstrat, led by Tom Lee, completed its strategic accumulation of Ethereum, people couldn't help but start asking: who will be next after Bitcoin and Ethereum?
The answer to this question may be hidden in the logic of capital operations.
1. Bitcoin took several years, while Ethereum only took a few weeks.
MicroStrategy started building its Bitcoin reserves in 2020, gradually bringing Bitcoin onto the stage of traditional finance. This process took several years. However, Tom Lee completed the allocation of resources for Ethereum in just a few weeks.
This is not just a difference in personal pace, but a signal that the entire cryptocurrency industry is entering a "compressed explosion" phase. The early path required years of trial and error, but now it only takes a few weeks to imitate or even surpass.
So what's next? If Wall Street continues to delve into the crypto space, besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, what else can they choose?
2. The end of the big cycle, capital needs a new narrative.
Before discussing the "next," let's take a look at a broader context:
In the past fifty to sixty years, the narrative of global capital growth has been built on the foundation of internet and mobile internet technologies. Whether it's social media, e-commerce, or platform economy and traffic dividends, almost all mainstream opportunities have been fully explored, and the playing space for traditional US stocks is becoming increasingly limited.
Capital seeks profit endlessly. When traditional narratives reach their peak, funds will inevitably seek new stories.
Currently, only two directions truly have explosive potential: AI and Web3.
AI has a very high threshold and computational barrier, making it difficult for ordinary people to participate. In contrast, Web3 has a lower entry barrier, with an open structure, making it easier to become a new generation of financial tools and asset platforms.
This is the deep motivation for Wall Street's transition to Web3: the old world finds it difficult to recreate the myth of wealth, while the new world has the potential to generate huge returns.
3. NFT: The next target for "strategic hoarding"?
So, who is most likely to become the next Bitcoin or Ethereum in Web3?
The answer may be: NFTs, especially top assets like CryptoPunks.
CryptoPunks are not just "profile pictures"; they are a type of digitally native scarce asset, with a total of only 10,000. If Bitcoin is the "digital gold", Punks are more like the "Mona Lisa on the chain".
Currently, some fund companies have started to incorporate CryptoPunks into their treasury. Once a company imitates MicroStrategy and Tom Lee's approach by treating Punks as strategic assets for centralized accumulation, the valuation logic of the entire market will be completely reshaped.
For example: If an institution intends to buy CryptoPunks at a 5% allocation, it would need to purchase 500 of them. This is precisely what Fundstrat is doing with Ethereum. Next, there might be others who adopt a similar approach to accumulate "next-generation Ethereum-level NFTs" like Azuki, Penguins, and Fidenza.
4. From liquidating to heavily investing: dividends are rapidly disappearing.
If we divide the development of the entire industry into four stages, it can be simply understood as:
Non-mainstream groups are clearing out to test the waters.
Non-mainstream groups heavily invest in their beliefs
Mainstream groups are beginning to test clearing out.
Mainstream crowd heavily invested
We are currently at a critical point in the transition from the third stage to the fourth stage.
Figures like Michael Saylor and Tom Lee are neither the most traditional mainstream of Wall Street nor purely crypto natives. Their heavy investments signify that mainstream funds are entering in large numbers, which usually means that the remaining window for profits is limited.
From MicroStrategy spending years buying Bitcoin, to Tom Lee laying out Ethereum in just a few weeks, if institutions were to layout NFTs in the future, it might only take a few days.
The dividends are disappearing in a spiral acceleration, those who missed Bitcoin bought Ether; those who missed Ether may only be able to focus on NFTs.
5. Viewing NFT Vaulting through the Logic of Collectibles
If you think that the company incorporating NFTs into its treasury sounds "absurd," why not try a different perspective.
In the real world, many publicly listed companies allocate scarce assets such as artworks and antiques as a endorsement of corporate value. NFTs are essentially digital native collectibles, and once digital native assets become part of a company's balance sheet, they can boost the company's valuation and empower market narratives, just like oil, gold, and land did in the past.
CryptoPunks may become the Bitcoin of the NFT world, while certain generative art NFTs are an extension of "Ethereum logic". In the future, it may no longer be an "innovation" for financial companies to hold NFTs, but rather a "standard configuration".
6. Planning two to three years in advance is the retail investor's winning strategy.
Entering the market only after institutions have heavily invested usually means that the opportunity for maximum returns has already been lost.
You saw MicroStrategy layout Bitcoin and only then bought Bitcoin, the rise has already narrowed; you saw Tom Lee building a position in Ethereum and only then bought Ethereum, you have already missed the undervaluation opportunity.
For ordinary people, the biggest chance of success always comes from planning two to three years in advance.
This is the value of research and the fundamental purpose of our investment research.
Conclusion
The future will not wait for onlookers. The logic of Bitcoin and Ethereum has been validated, and the next story may have quietly unfolded in the shadows of NFTs.
Is it to continue watching? Or to layout in advance? The choice is still in our hands.