Rick

It is one of the most humbling honors that I get to share with all of you that I have started working at @MessariCrypto as a Research Analyst. A dream job at my dream company to kick off my full-time crypto journey is something I will remember for the rest of my life. Ready to spend every waking second terminally online with all of you and make a ton of money doing it. Onwards and Upwards!

@0xCryptoSam It was a pleasure working with you, Sam. You have been a great inspiration to many of us who came to Messari, and I am sure you will continue to be a thought leader in our space and help bring our industry to brighter days. Godspeed.

Unfortunately, my team got cut in the layoffs. A disappointing outcome to an otherwise fantastic experience. I’m very grateful to have been a Messari Research Analyst. What I can confidently say is that quality thought-leadership is presently the most undervalued resource in crypto. The mediocrity of AI-driven writing and reasoning has convinced many that it is a suitable replacement for a research analyst. I promise you - it isn’t. Frontier technologies today (crypto, AI, robotics, quantum) are hyper-ideological and incredibly contentious. We’re entering a new era that demands human judgement and debate. LLMs will tell you what’s consensus. Ask any LLM today if an intelligent person should pivot from crypto to AI; they all say yes. We need thought-leaders willing to play 4D chess in public and get a couple moves wrong before they win the match. Humanity is incredibly undervalued in the 21st century. Lastly, the talent density at Messari was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Any crypto companies hiring should reach out to myself, Diran, or any of the Messari folks directly to get in contact if you’re looking to hire.

Last week, I sat down with @edgeX_KF, the co-founder of edgeX, to talk through the State of edgeX Q4 2025 report. Check out the full video below!

@rektdiomedes @edgeX_KF @edgeX_exchange 🤝

@CryptoRick98 @edgeX_KF @edgeX_exchange Based man lezgo 💪

@Michie0011 @edgeX_KF @edgeX_exchange Keep on chugging

@CryptoRick98 @edgeX_KF @edgeX_exchange Work rate>>

@HitmanHorsebeer @MessariCrypto @edgeX_exchange @edgeX_KF You're welcome!

@MessariCrypto @edgeX_exchange @CryptoRick98 @edgeX_KF thanks for this!

@rektdiomedes @maplefinance @syrupsid 2026 gonna be a breakout year for syrUP

Everyone talks about crypto like its all still vaporware... But there are legit defi protocols operating RIGHT NOW at solid profit margins, and generating substantial revenue... Case in point: @maplefinance As per clip below from co-founder @syrupsid: $30M+ ARR currently... team's goal is $100M... Cashflow positive operating at solid net profit. Firmly believe that once the macro climate catches up with the shift in fundamentals across crypto (especially in defi) there are going to be a number of really solid on-chain businesses that start getting the esteem they deserve. Note: I own a ton of $SYRUP and work with the team so am including the new Nikita tag on this just to be safe :)

@0xYoussef_ Youssef with the alfa

They’re selling $1 for 54 cents on Polymarket

@0xWeiler @Kalshi @Polymarket @opinionlabsxyz @predictdotfun I wonder if kalshi is still dominated by sports betting

Prediction Market volume (last 4 weeks): 1. @Kalshi - $10.6B (47%) 2. @Polymarket - $8.6B (38%) 3. @opinionlabsxyz - $1.8B (8%) 4. @predictdotfun - $655.4M (3%) 5. Other - $731.8M (3%) Key observation: Kalshi became the first pred. mkt. to post >$2.7B in back-2-back weeks. Impressive sustainability post-NFL season. Other insights: - Polymarket crossed $2.4B in back-2-back weeks, fueled by surging crypto market volume. - "Other" topped $300M this week, led by @trylimitless, a sign that competition beyond the top 2 is heating up.

Looksmaxxing used to contain: - 8 hours of sleep - drink 8 glasses of water - 3 meals of whole-foods - moving your body for 30 minutes a day Now, it looks like: - bonesmashing - injecting peptides - ingesting appetite suppressants We have seriously lost the plot.

I added a quick note about the rise in address poisoning on Ethereum to our new @MessariCrypto Ethereum $ETH Dashboard. Our Spotlight page helps you filter through the noise, with analysts providing timely insights and curated data. Check it out for FREE today messari.io/dashboards/eth…

Onchain options have lived in the shadow of perpetual futures, but they solve fundamentally different problems. Perps give you leverage until the market takes it away. See 10/10. Options let you pay a defined premium upfront to price in future moves. Your risk is time decay, not a cascading liquidation. That opens up hedging and yield strategies that perps simply can't offer. The Derive team has been heads-down building for ~5 years, through two bear markets, and is getting its moment. No conflicting equity. If you want exposure to the growth of onchain options, buy $DRV. Plain and simple.

.@MessariCrypto research has been humming to start the year. We're now up to 5 different valuation reports in 2026: - $RAIL (@RAILGUN_Project): messari.io/report/a-valua… - $LIT (@Lighter_xyz): messari.io/report/a-valua… - $ETHFI (@ether_fi): messari.io/report/a-valua… - $CHIP (@USDai_Official): messari.io/report/a-valua… - $ZRO (@LayerZero_Core): messari.io/report/a-valua… Next up is $POLY (@Polymarket) 👀, exclusive for Enterprise subscribers.

@adreon People gonna be paying $100 to fill up their prius

we're gonna get $200 oil, $30 big macs, and...... $100k used toyotas

@Degenerate_DeFi There is a “crypto guru” on Instagram that uses this idea as a selling point for his course to get users onchain and buy tokens before CEX listings like he has the alfa. I might be in the wrong business.

Coinbase users are down, but didn't get hit as hard as Binance users Every dollar invested in Coinbase's 2025 listings is worth $0.42 today. Buying every Coinbase listing at the listing-day close was actually profitable for about 5 months (May–October), peaking at +48%. Very different from Binance, which was never once in the green. A key reason is that the exchanges list tokens at very different points in their lifecycle. Binance's median token age at listing was 21 days, and 42% were effectively TGE events. Coinbase's median was 7 months, with only 31% near TGE. You're buying at fundamentally different points in the post-launch curve.

@Degenerate_DeFi 😬

binance listings are a retail graveyard every dollar invested in Binance's 2025 listings is worth $0.29 today we simulated a fund that allocated $100 to every token listed on Binance spot in 2025 at the day-one closing price. after excluding stablecoins, the fund held 92 tokens with $9,200 in total capital deployed. today, the portfolio would be worth only $2,600.

@rektdiomedes I empathize with poor pepe, but still believe in somETHing

Could be masochism- could be insanity- But I actually think of all major crypto assets $ETH has the best r/r over the next 12 months...

@edgeX_exchange @circle Love to see it! Congratulations to the edgeX team!

Native USDC and CCTP are now live on EDGE Chain. On EDGE, USDC is redeemable 1:1 for US dollars, with CCTP enabling seamless crosschain onboarding and trading.