I wonder if investors who are newly exposed to Web3 have this feeling:

I have read investment analysis reports from major institutions like t-88, t-90, t-92, and listened to popular terms like t-94, t-96, and Restaking, but... new projects emerge every day, and each project has multiple labels attached. How can I find these subdivided projects in popular tracks?

Many people think that understanding reports is enough to understand projects, but when it comes to practice, they find: concepts exist, the direction is vague, project classifications are chaotic, and it is impossible to accurately target.

If you are troubled by this, let this article help you solve the problem.

However, before looking at the popular tracks of 2025, let's first take a look at these classic tracks—many of the current tracks belong to these classic subdivisions.

Classic Web3 tracks

Web3 has developed to the point where several 'foundation-level' core tracks have formed. These tracks not only constitute the basic operational framework of the crypto world but also form the 'mother' of most emerging concepts. Understanding them can help you determine which domain a new project belongs to and see whether it truly stands on a clear narrative line.

Infrastructure

Public chains are the starting point of everything. The infrastructure track includes public chains (like Ethereum, Solana), scaling networks (like Arbitrum, Optimism), wallets (MetaMask, Rabby), oracles (Chainlink), and other technical modules. Without them, on-chain applications cannot operate, and transactions, asset transfers, and contract executions would all be impossible. Many people think that only 'issuing tokens' qualifies as a project; however, most successful infrastructure projects either rely on ecological support (L2) or data services (oracles) to establish their own moats.

DeFi

DeFi is the financial system of the Web3 world, aiming to create a financial framework free from centralized control and monopoly. After a long period of development, DeFi has also subdivided into many different functions, such as Uniswap, which allows users to trade assets directly without intermediaries, Aave, which lets you borrow and lend assets like in a bank, and Curve, which focuses on optimizing liquidity between stablecoins. DeFi has truly restructured the position of 'intermediaries' in the financial system, transferring the powers originally held by banks and brokerages to be executed by smart contracts. Because DeFi was born early, it is now the 'outpost' for new experimental tracks, where many AI and RWA projects ultimately need to integrate with the DeFi ecosystem to realize a value closed loop.

Stablecoin

Stablecoins are the part of Web3 that is closest to 'cash.' Whether it’s trading, payments, or staking and lending, stablecoins permeate almost all scenarios. USDT and USDC have become the de facto standards for on-chain dollars, while decentralized stablecoins like DAI represent another possibility for on-chain monetary systems. Stablecoins solve the problem of 'pricing anchors'—without them, the asset price system on-chain is like a bubble floating in the air.

NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

NFT expands the concept of 'assets' from divisible and standardized tokens to unique, emotional, and identity-based domains. Whether it’s profile NFTs like BAYC or liquidity incentives from trading platforms like Blur, NFTs are not just artworks; they have become foundational tools for building user relationships, membership systems, and virtual asset ownership in Web3.

GameFi

GameFi is an experimental field that connects gaming time and virtual assets. Popular projects like Pixels explore a new economic model of 'earn while playing' through the combination of on-chain assets and gaming behavior. In 2024, the TON ecosystem's mini-games ignited the Tap2Earn trend, once again making GameFi a hot track. Although the current GameFi craze has subsided, it remains one of the tracks with the most user entry value in Web3 and is the most direct scenario for testing user growth models and asset closed loops.

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)

DAOs reconstruct the organizational form of 'companies.' Structures like Optimism Collective and Gitcoin DAO coordinate human resources, funds, and governance in a decentralized way, attempting to replace the hierarchical structures in traditional enterprises with on-chain transparent rules. Although DAOs are still far from mature, they have already become a 'required course' for many projects as the core framework for governance and fund management in Web3 projects.

Exchange

They are the 'transportation hubs' connecting all assets and users. Large CEXs like Binance and Coinbase provide deposit and liquidity support, while DEXs and aggregators like Uniswap and 1inch are the main paths for on-chain trading. Want to understand why a certain asset is rising or falling? First, check where it is listed and how its liquidity is, and you will understand the underlying logic.

SocialFi

This is a new narrative that has emerged in the past two years, turning 'relationships' into assets and generating economic returns from social influence. From Friend.tech to Lens Protocol to Farcaster, they are all exploring different directions for the combination of 'content + tokens.' SocialFi is not meant to solve financial problems, but rather to address the question of 'how Web3 connects people;' it may be the key lever for large-scale user growth in the future.

As these foundational tracks gradually mature, the Web3 world has not slowed its expansion. On the contrary, every year sees a new batch of emerging directions based on classic foundations, but with entirely new narrative logic and technological breakthroughs.

In 2025, major institutions' forecast reports also provided highly consistent judgments: AI + Crypto, RWA (Real World Assets on-chain), etc., are becoming the new main lines of the crypto market. Compared to the past, they emphasize more on connections with the real world, the combination of computing power and data, and the deep optimization of infrastructure.

So, what do these seemingly new and messy trends actually refer to? What are the underlying value logic and investment focus behind them?

AI Agent

Since 2024, AI has become the key term across all investment fields, and in Web3, the narrative around AI has evolved beyond 'AI writing code.' It is evolving into a composable system capability. a16z and Coinbase have both pointed out in their reports that decentralized AI training networks, on-chain data markets, and AI wallet assistants and agents will become the landing paths for the next stage.

From an investment perspective, the appeal of AI Agents lies not only in the cutting-edge narrative but also in 'structural scarcity,' while projects that can truly run through the technical closed loop and economic model remain very limited.

RWA

Real World Assets on-chain (RWA) were proposed as early as 2021, but it wasn't until major institutions truly entered the field in 2023 that this track reached a turning point. In 2024, BlackRock issued tokenized funds, MakerDAO increased its allocation of government bonds, Ondo Finance rapidly expanded, and Maple Finance adjusted its strategy, all pointing to the same trend: on-chain finance is actively embracing real assets.

The core of RWA is not just 'issuing bonds on-chain,' but rather opening the channel between on-chain capital and off-chain revenue to allow stable income-type assets (bonds, notes, real estate shares, etc.) to circulate in token form. For the DeFi ecosystem, it serves as an 'interest rate completion tool'; for high-net-worth investors, it may become an important component of future on-chain 'quasi-fixed income' allocations.

VanEck's 2025 outlook suggests that RWA will be the next scalable track after stablecoins. Portal Labs believes that what is worth focusing on at this stage is not what assets are issued, but how the real flow and custody mechanisms of these assets are governed on-chain—whether they are compliant, transparent, and whether there are sustainable sources of income.

DePIN

DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) is a very new but highly promising concept. From its origins, it belongs to the broad category of infrastructure, but as the ecosystem grows, more and more people are discussing it as a specific subdivision track.

DePIN refers to the use of token incentive mechanisms to drive users to deploy and share real-world physical resources, such as network nodes, storage space, electricity, and location data, thereby constructing decentralized physical infrastructure.

Its unique value lies in being one of the few paths for 'off-chain value → on-chain assetization.' For investors, its risks stem from the deployability of physical devices and regulatory uncertainties, but it may also be a key part of the next blockchain 'entry into the world' process.

On-chain identity and data

From ENS domains to ZK authentication, from Soulbound Tokens to decentralized reputation systems, on-chain identity systems are becoming the 'trust bridge' connecting users and protocols. Compared to the Web2 model of 'login name + phone number,' Web3 emphasizes a verifiable, composable, and self-sovereign identity system.

The technology behind this is gradually maturing, with projects like ZK-Pass and Polygon ID exploring how to allow users to 'prove who I am' without exposing all information. This brings tremendous possibilities for future on-chain lending, social interactions, and DAO governance: when you have an on-chain identity, it is not just a simple address but a set of continuously accumulating credit assets.

The value of on-chain identity is not just speculative; rather, it may reconstruct the entire relationship model between 'people and protocols.' For high-net-worth users, what truly deserves attention is not just what certificates have been issued, but in which ecosystems these identity assets can be used and where their value can be amplified in the future.

Summary

The world of Web3 is filled with novelty, yet it is easy to get lost. Old tracks are still evolving, and new narratives are emerging. The real challenge is not in 'seeing what projects exist,' but in whether you can understand 'which direction they belong to and whether they can navigate through cycles.'

For high-net-worth investors, establishing a systematic understanding of tracks is far more important than chasing hot trends. Classic tracks are your starting point for understanding mechanisms and value logic, while emerging tracks are your guide for discovering structural opportunities.

Portal Labs always believes that truly sustainable Web3 investments come from a solid cognitive foundation and a sensitive capture of technological changes. We hope this panoramic view of the track can help you bridge the gap between 'institutional perspective' and 'project practice,' building your own investment map.

*Note: Investment carries risks; please participate in Web3 under legal and compliant conditions.