Let’s cut to the (crypto) chase. For many, “crypto research” revolves solely around earning money trading cryptos. While a make-money mindset is shared by most humans and motivates crypto enthusiasts, crypto research is far more than token trading and speculation. 📈 📉
From blockchain protocols and decentralized finance (DeFi) to real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and decentralized science (DeSci), the crypto ecosystem is vast. For entrepreneurs and founders, crypto research needs may be unique.
Read on to discover the dos and don’ts when conducting your own crypto research.
What is crypto research?
For many crypto natives and newbies alike, crypto research is primarily focused on charting patterns, tokenomics, trading volumes, and related metrics. This data-driven approach is used to predict upward and downward price movements and react accordingly.
Yet, this sort of retail investor-focused research is only a small sliver of the blockchain research space. Crypto research also includes:
- Blockchain technology
- Economic models
- Regulatory compliance
- Cryptographic security
- Algorithm development
- Interoperability studies
- Interdisciplinary research
- Applied research
Crypto research is interdisciplinary by nature and includes fields as varied as economics, computer science, law, business, sociology, and more. Oftentimes, this research is on cutting-edge technology and developments.
So, how do you get quality Web3 research on nascent crypto projects and Web3 opportunities?
Problems with crypto research
Issues with crypto research abound and include inaccurate data, biased research, missing information, and unavailable data. And that’s just the beginning. Does the research not exist? Or can you simply not find what you’re looking for?
Crypto news sites are incentivized to pump out content for clicks, with accuracy often being a casualty of the 24/7 news cycle. Crypto projects’ in-house research tends to be biased, with claims to be the “fastest, cheapest, most secure, and most private…” offering on the market.
And crypto influencers are frequently discovered to be crypto shillers that promote questionable projects for a payday.
Of course, research problems are not limited to the Web3 world. There is a well-established global confidence crisis related to research cited by corporate media, governments, and even academia.
The replication crisis sent shockwaves through academia. Even in the hard sciences, replicable studies are 153 times less likely to be cited than unreplicable ones. This is because the faulty papers are more interesting and more likely to get shared on social media.
These shortcomings are also problems with crypto research. So, what are the answers?
Crypto research: how to conduct it
If you’re looking to build crypto solutions or incorporate Web3 solutions into your existing business you need to start by asking yourself the right questions. Potential questions you could ask yourself include:
- What are the pros and cons of a crypto payroll solution?
- How can I leverage decentralized social media in my business?
- Would it be beneficial to accept stablecoin payments?
- Where will Web3 evolve and innovate in 2025?
Once you know what questions you need answered, you’re ready to dive in. Just don’t go it alone. You have several options.
First, you have a variety of crypto news sites. These target primarily crypto investors. They also typically provide breaking news on new crypto regulations and blockchain breakthroughs. While not research focused, these sites may help you get an early-mover advantage for a new business opportunity.
Many people also get their news from crypto X/Twitter. One issue is making sure you follow trustworthy people who provide accurate information. Outside of the most well-known crypto OGs, this vetting task isn’t easy.
For number and metric-focused questions, you may want to look at blockchain explorers, blockchain analytics sites, centralized crypto exchanges, and other crypto price-focused platforms. Some of these platforms — along with crypto news sites — also have a research section. These resources vary significantly in their quality and accuracy.
Then, you have research-focused sites. These premium crypto research sites often require a subscription and keep much of their content behind a paywall.
The importance of crypto research reports
When you want to dive deep into a subject, an article isn’t going to cut it. And with the rapid pace of change in Web3, a book may be outdated before it’s even released.
A quality research report strikes a good balance between timely data and comprehensiveness. At Onchain, we pride ourselves on having some of the most well sourced, comprehensive, and data-driven blockchain research reports on the market. Beyond this, we focus on giving you crypto research and Web3 insights that can be utilized now, not at some undetermined time in the future.
Our research deep dives include comprehensive comparisons, and we end our reports with actionable insights. These include the business use cases that are the most promising and the Web3 areas that probably aren’t financially sustainable or worth exploring.
Another key is providing a balanced analysis. Hardcore crypto skeptics think everything Web3 is useless, pointless, and worthless. On the other hand, some crypto proponents are overly optimistic. Failed crypto predictions on blockchain adoption, token appreciation, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and more are too numerous to list.
Onchain’s crypto research marketplace
While proud of our articles and Web3 research reports, we at Onchain realized that something is missing. This sort of research is passive. We needed a collaborative crypto research marketplace where people can be both consumers and providers of crypto research.
Our Web3 Insights Marketplace is the type of research hub we wanted — so we built it. There is a curated news feed with a points system. The feed is also populated with the latest articles and research reports. Future updates with be rolled out throughout 2025. One potential upgrade is a monetizable research marketplace that allows people to both request and provide quality crypto research.
While you can purchase individual Onchain reports, the Onchain NFT Membership gives you lifetime access to the marketplace, access to every Web3 research report we publish, and a few other special perks. Let Onchain guide you through your onchain journey. Find out more and sign up for the NFT Membership to get exclusive treats.