While researching chain specialization i found that - FOGO's single-purpose(focused on trading only)is either brilliant or riskiest
What i found interesting:
most try everything. hedge bets.
FOGO: "institutional trading. period."
40ms, oracles, batching, SVM. everything HFT.
rare. afraid specialize limits market.
cuts both ways.
flexibility nobody models:
Solana survived general-purpose adapt.
2020-21: DeFi
2021-22: NFTs
2022-23: Payments
2023-24: Memecoins
2024-25: DePIN
five narratives. caught waves flexible.
FOGO built trading. not narrative? can't pivot.
Now here's the tricky part:
trading becomes THE - HFT on-chain, regulations - FOGO wins massive. Nasdaq of DeFi.but next cycle AI/gaming/social/RWA? can't pivot.
Fogo is making bet on:
"40ms matters everyone."
"institutional trading largest, stays largest years."
bold. wrong? overbuilt niche didn't scale.
Now the ecosystem:
5-6 protocols. Valiant, Pyron, LSTs.
Solana: hundreds categories. one slows, another picks.
FOGO can't diversify. everything trading. volume misses, entire suffers.
My concerns:
specialized fail market moved.
ICP: scale nobody cared.
EOS: enterprise didn't come.
Canto: composability moved.
hard choices specific. market picked different.
HFT needs beyond speed. compliance, custody, insurance.
40ms solves latency. not "legally trade on-chain." clarity absent or CEXs, speed doesn't matter.
What they get right:
hard choice. lane, optimized.
genuine HFT solves. CEX execution without custody.
JPMorgan, Jump. TradFi. $13.5M serious.
SVM compatible. thesis proves, ports.
trading dominant? genius.
Now this worries me:
narratives 12-18 months. dominated then faded.
general survive. specialized don't.
institutions slow. 3-5 years? momentum?
62% locked. up 174%. scale faster unlocks.
focused + unlocks = risks compound.
Nasdaq or fastest couldn't pivot?
power right, fragility wrong.
watching volume before: (1) shifts or (2) pressure.
strength focused or weakness can't adapt?? 🤔
