Space Review | The narrative retreat reshapes value logic, and TRON anchors long-term value with a core ecological closed loop

After experiencing a sharp cooling of the market and a series of narrative retreats, the market is gradually returning to rationality and caution. Currently, rather than focusing on "what rises the fastest," people are more concerned with "what can withstand the cycle." On one hand, BTC's status as a core asset has been repeatedly validated; on the other hand, directions such as stablecoin payments and on-chain lending that can generate "real returns" are showing resilience across cycles, while infrastructures like AI Agents are beginning to move from concept to reality.

This issue of Space focuses on this, with several senior guests engaging in in-depth discussions and exchanges to dissect the core elements that current major funds value most. When "smart money" returns to rationality, how should ordinary investors grasp the certainty of long-term layouts in this reshuffling of "removing the false and keeping the true"? The guests provided clear directions in their dialogue, and the following is a summary of the highlights from this deep exchange.

Narrative Retreat, Value Return: Analyzing the Three Core Factors Most Valued by Current Funds

As the crypto market enters a phase of cooling and initial bubble clearing, the past market driven by a single "speculative expectation" and grand narratives is quietly retreating. Against the backdrop of tightening liquidity and declining risk appetite, market sentiment is becoming more rational. In this issue of Space dialogue, several senior industry guests conducted an in-depth analysis of "the core factors most valued by current funds." The guests unanimously agreed that real demand, endogenous value creation capability, and the quality of asset liquidity have become the touchstones for measuring whether a project can withstand bull and bear markets.

In Anna Tangyuan's view, money is "starting to become smarter." In the past, during the hot market, many projects could drive up prices simply by telling stories and building narratives. But now, with liquidity tightening, she believes that current funds are rigorously examining not only whether projects have real landing scenarios but also whether they possess the "value creation capability" to continuously generate value. Having a stable income model and long-term structural support is key for a project to survive the winter and be revalued.

This viewpoint aligns closely with OxPink's perspective. He stated that the current market is in a natural process of seeking benefits and avoiding harm, removing the false and keeping the true. Many market demands that seemed large during the bull market were actually "false demands" built up by token incentives and high subsidies, which would quickly collapse once the market weakens. In contrast, those applications with essential demand that can withstand cycles, as well as projects capable of continuously generating actual cash flow and real on-chain interactions, are becoming the preferred choices for funds seeking safety and long-term layouts.

When discussing fund movements, Dama Ge pointed out from a more macro perspective that funds are shifting from "offensive" to "defensive," with investors more inclined to embrace assets with high certainty. First, current funds value whether protocols can generate real stable returns, such as lending interest and stablecoin investment returns. Second, Bitcoin's consensus status as a core asset remains unshakable; during market turbulence, its high liquidity and global consensus make it a natural "safe haven." Finally, the fit between products and markets has become particularly critical. For example, in the AI sector, funds are no longer paying for the "AI narrative" hype but are questioning whether these infrastructures truly improve efficiency and create value.

Finally, HiSeven summarized the current fund preferences with "three certainties": first, the certainty of real demand; second, the certainty of liquidity; third, the certainty of value. He emphasized that the market does not no longer believe in narratives but requires narratives to be built on verified certainties. When the tide recedes, only those projects that can retain users and funds truly possess the cards to withstand cycles.

How Does the TRON Ecosystem Perfectly Interpret "Long-Term Value"?

So, what kind of direction is truly suitable for long-term holding? Several guests also provided highly consistent answers.

First, "essential demand" is the core cornerstone for resisting the winter of the bear market. As emphasized by YOMIRGO and Wang Feng Anc, the tracks worthy of long-term layout must be based on real and lasting demand. Regardless of how market trends and narratives shift, these underlying application scenarios always exist.

Second, long-term assets must run through a commercial closed loop of "self-value creation" and "value feedback." Simply having a counter-cyclical business line is not enough; more importantly, whether the token itself can capture the dividends of ecological growth. Excellent long-term projects can empower tokens with the real profits earned by the protocol through transparent mechanisms such as profit buybacks and revenue dividends, allowing holders to clearly see the real return of value.

Finally, assets that can cross cycles often possess strong "self-iteration" capabilities. They can adapt to the development of technology and markets, continuously extending from a single foundational protocol and ultimately evolving into a rich and long-lasting large ecosystem.

Taking the currently very stable TRON and its core DeFi ecosystem JUST as an example, its development path perfectly aligns with this long-term value logic. Relying on TRON's large stablecoin payment network, the JUST ecosystem serves as a decentralized financial hub, accurately meeting the real needs of a vast number of users for yield and liquidity turnover. This ecosystem is driven by the JustLend DAO lending protocol and the decentralized stablecoin USDD, forming a "dual-drive" that builds a solid value closed loop. Feedback from the data also confirms this: currently, the TVL of JustLend DAO has consistently remained above $6 billion, while the total TVL of USDD has surpassed $2.17 billion, setting a new historical high.

In terms of the value feedback mechanism, the buyback and burn practices of the JUST ecosystem directly respond to the logic of "allowing holders to clearly see the return of value" mentioned by the guests. This mechanism uses the net income of JustLend DAO and the excess income from the USDD multi-chain ecosystem (the portion exceeding $10 million) entirely for buying back JST and permanently destroying it, with each operation being publicly traceable on-chain.

As of now, JST has completed two rounds of large-scale buybacks and burns, with a total destruction amount of 1.085 billion tokens, accounting for 10.96% of the total, and the destruction amount exceeding $38 million. According to CoinGecko data, supported by strong fundamentals, the market capitalization of JST has surpassed $530 million, achieving a doubling increase during the past six months of significant market fluctuations, outperforming BTC. More importantly, according to the "quarterly buyback" plan, this buyback mechanism will continue to advance, with the third round of quarterly buyback and burn set to begin in April, bringing further certainty to JST.

From the dual-drive of JustLend DAO and USDD to the value feedback mechanism of JST buybacks and burns, the evolution path of the TRON ecosystem precisely verifies the commonality summarized by the guests: those assets that can meet essential demand at the underlying level, achieve value feedback in their mechanisms, and continuously evolve in iteration are more likely to withstand cycles and become truly worthy long-term holdings.