Agree... Eth appreciation is just a tailwind for on chain businesses. They aren't beta.
The real appeal of defi imo is the cash flow / long term potential.
Still the most fun thing in the world to find defi gems.
Those chasing ETH beta via DeFi tokens will be let down this bull run.
DeFi summer taught us that value accrues from ETH -> DeFi projects. It's a logical conclusion, given that DeFi is the most popular sector on Ethereum.
But what's become evident is the real ETH beta is actually boomer coins (i.e., XRP, HBAR, XLM, ADA, TRX, ALGO, etc.) These are the B-tier majors, tokens with 11-figure market caps, yet no fundamentals to back it up. The primary tailwind here is the lindy effect + CEX exposure, which makes these tokens an easy buy for non-crypto natives.
What we’re seeing instead is that ETH beta now flows into large-cap “boomer coins”, like XRP, ADA, HBAR, XLM, ALGO, etc. These tokens have double-digit billion-dollar market caps, yet little to no network activity to back them up. Their appeal lies in longevity (Lindy) and accessibility for retail outside the crypto-native crowd via CEXs.
This proves two things:
1) Fundamentals still don’t matter. Revenue and usage metrics have little influence in a retail-driven bull market.
2) Unless you have asymmetric edge in medium/small caps, you're better off holding levered ETH or large-cap majors than hoping a mid-cap DeFi token will outperform.
The token landscape has dramatically expanded since DeFi Summer. With more options, selection risk increases, and picking the right DeFi token becomes harder and statistically less rewarding.
Fundamentals are not your friend in a bull market. Don't get cheeky: keep it simple and move in size on easy bets.
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