Velo Protocol: When TradFi Old Money Meets Crypto Alpha gm anons, today we’re going to talk about a project that might make you rethink the narrative of crypto in Asia. In the current market environment filled with countless forks and copy-paste projects, opportunities with genuine structural Alpha are becoming increasingly rare. From the Memecoin supercycle to the AI Agent asset issuance frenzy, and then to the stablecoin/RWA Summer, crypto Degens and the new generation of Gen Z are chasing the same narrative, with their money-making strategies converging and unifying. As a result, few people in the market are paying attention to the ongoing technological paradigm revolution and the shift in business paradigms. Velo is an Alpha that is mispriced by the current market vibe. Of course, this is not to say it has any revolutionary technological paradigm innovation, but rather because it represents a new way of doing business in crypto: a way for Old Money to seriously engage with crypto. 1⃣ Velo's Core Investment Logic: What does it mean to "Win at the Starting Line"? Let’s start with the conclusion: We are at a critical turning point in the development of crypto. In previous cycles 🔁, the main theme was "the decentralized revolution disrupting traditional finance," but now the narrative has quietly shifted to "traditional finance and crypto moving towards each other." And Velo is a textbook case of this new narrative: ❌ Not just another DeFi fork, but a Crypto Avatar of traditional capital. ❌ Not in opposition to the existing system, but building a seamless bridge. ❌ Not a grassroots movement, but a top-down strategic deployment. So, how solid is Velo's background (here comes the key point)? Let’s get straight to the facts. The CP Group behind Velo is the owner of over 20,000 7-Eleven stores in Asia and a close ally of the Thai royal family (for those who understand what this means in Southeast Asia, you know). It’s a diversified business empire worth hundreds of billions of dollars. To translate: Velo possesses what 99.9% of crypto projects dream of but can never obtain—real-world distribution channels and a regulatory moat. While other projects are writing code in garages, the Velo team is mapping out territories in boardrooms. Imagine this: while you’re still worrying about how to acquire your first user, they’re already sitting in a conference room, with the entire financial landscape of Southeast Asia on the table, discussing "which banks, payment companies, and exchanges to integrate first." 2⃣ Deconstructing Velo's Product Ecosystem: Not Just Another DeFi Aggregator Universe Hybrid Perpetual DEX Universe is a multi-chain perpetual contract protocol across NovaChain, BSC, and Solana. Recently, Universe has deeply integrated with Bitget Wallet, allowing users to open positions on Universe directly from Bitget Wallet without gas fees. This is similar to the collaboration between Hyperliquid and Phantom Wallet. Although Bitget Wallet is a level lower than Phantom Wallet in terms of capability, it has a massive user base in Asia, providing Velo with a direct channel to reach millions of precise users. PayFAI Settlement Layer: AI-Driven Financial Infrastructure The PayFAI settlement layer is the core innovation of the Velo ecosystem in this cycle. It is not just another simple payment medium token, but an AI-driven cross-border settlement infrastructure. This system supports foreign exchange trading, merchant payments, and achieves seamless integration from TradFi to PayFAI. NovaChain: EVM-Compatible Settlement Layer NovaChain, as the underlying blockchain of the Velo ecosystem, is not trying to become an "Ethereum killer," but focuses on serving as a bridge between TradFi and DeFi. Its EVM compatibility ensures seamless connection with the existing DeFi ecosystem. RWA and Stablecoin Aggregation Velo's layout in the RWA (Real World Assets) field is also worth noting. Through products like PLG Gold, users can directly access real assets like gold and institutional-level liquidity on-chain. This tokenization of real assets provides a friendly entry point for traditional investors into the crypto market. 3⃣ When Consortium-Level Players Decide to Seriously Build a Web3 Empire While others are building products, Velo is building an empire. Velo's approach is on a completely different dimension: -- Deeply bound with Bitazza - not just a simple technical integration, but a joint dominance of the wallet ecosystem. Bitazza, as one of Thailand's largest digital asset platforms, means Velo has direct access to Thai crypto users. -- Protocol-Level Integration with Lightnet - the key word here is "protocol-level." It’s not just API calls or simple cooperation, but deep integration of underlying architectures. Lightnet itself is a cross-border settlement network invested in by CP, which means Velo inherently has the genes for cross-border payments. Seamless connection between traditional banks and DeFi - while other projects are still thinking about how to "disrupt" banks, Velo is already "co-building" a new financial infrastructure of CeDeFi with banks. The power of this approach lies in: ❌ Ordinary projects: first build the product → find users → seek cooperation → wait for regulatory approval. ✅ Velo model: first have relationships → then build the product → users come with it → regulatory friendly. The result is: while others are still struggling with cold start issues, Velo already has ready-made distribution channels, a ready-made user base, ready-made regulatory relationships, and ready-made business scenarios. Velo's ambition in this era of technological acceleration is to build a one-stop new paradigm financial platform that monopolizes the region (Thailand and Southeast Asia) covering all financial needs from payments, settlements, wallets, trading to asset management, from 0 to 1. It aims not just to add a new piece to the existing financial business puzzle, but to become the core hub connecting all the pieces.