2026-01-05 05:24:46

A review of several directions worth paying attention to in 2026.

**Decentralized Computing Power** — The key is who can become the underlying layer of the inference supply chain, making verification sufficient and capable of scalable operation.

**Data Networks** — Those with high-quality data will dominate. Whether a strong entry point can be used to capture data sources, and then turn delivery and quality control into genuine business capabilities, is the watershed.

**Agent Payments** — Payments should move toward machine-readable APIs, but there are practical frictions such as identity, reputation, discovery, and compliance. Those who can break down these issues one by one will have the opportunity.

**Prediction Markets** — Agent participation changes the game rules. Whether continuous AI involvement can keep the heat alive and make markets more stable and user-friendly is the real breakout opportunity for prediction markets.

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ChainDetective

· 01-07 19:43

Data networks are the most competitive; whoever first turns quality control into a moat wins. But to be honest, the friction with agent payments is even harder to tackle, and compliance is truly a game-changer.

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CryptoTherapist

· 01-05 17:58

ngl, the data network angle hits different. whoever consolidates that quality data moat? they're basically holding everyone's psychological resistance levels hostage. been there before with similar market structures

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AirdropHermit

· 01-05 05:52

The computing power race has been intense for a while; I feel the real watershed moment will be who can reduce costs to the most terrifying level. The data network angle is quite aggressive. High-quality data is indeed a scarce resource, but preventing data from being exploited is a problem. Agent payments sound very appealing, but it seems full of pitfalls. The two big hurdles—identity verification and compliance—are hard to overcome in the short term. Prediction markets combined with AI? Isn't that just giving gamblers another reason to throw money in? Haha

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PrivacyMaximalist

· 01-05 05:46

The underlying computing power still depends on who has lower validation costs to run faster. Right now, everyone is just burning money to expand their territory. I'm optimistic about data networks, but the real bottleneck is quality control—many projects sound good but their deliverables are all fake. The compliance issues with Agent payments are too deep; if identity problems can't be solved, everything else is pointless. Using AI in prediction markets is indeed innovative, but will it just turn into a game where robots keep scamming each other...

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FloorSweeper