A new thesis that argues that most crypto value today is captured in apps, rather than blockchains, is gaining popularity with the rise of Hyperliquid and could shift investor behavior over the next few months, a crypto executive says.
“All the cool kids are talking about the ‘fat app’ thesis. Feels like that could be a dominant theme in the coming months,” Bitwise chief information officer Matt Hougan said in an X post on Wednesday. The fat-app theory suggests crypto applications will absorb more value than the underlying blockchain protocols in the future.
“It’s the kind of thesis that I suspect will appear in the mainstream media in 1-3 months. As such, I think it’s a valuable mental model to keep in mind as folks watch crypto unfold,” Hougan explained.
A few layer-1s could stand out, but apps will dominate
The Fat App thesis, which is a relatively new idea, challenges Joel Monegro’s 2016 Fat…
