Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen, on Hyperliquid, How to Find Winning Blockchains, and Nansen Points | Ep. 452

Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik breaks down why blockchain revenue is the new meta, how Hyperliquid could dethrone legacy chains like Cardano, and why Nansen Points may redefine crypto loyalty programs.

“Revenue is the new meta—and it should be.”

For years, crypto has been fueled by narratives, not numbers. But according to Alex Svanevik, co-founder and CEO of blockchain analytics platform Nansen, that’s starting to change.

“If I had to pick one metric to define a winning blockchain, it’s revenue. That’s what people are actually paying to use your chain.”

In a wide-ranging conversation, Svanevik argues that revenue is harder to fake than inflated user counts or TVL and is a more reliable signal of product-market fit.

“Crypto has horizontal inflation. Sure, each token has a cap—but we can create infinite tokens. Revenue cuts through all that noise.”

Hyperliquid: “The inverse of XRP”

Svanevik is bullish on Hyperliquid, a low-profile, high-performance trading chain that’s growing rapidly—despite having fewer than 20 people on staff.

“Hyperliquid is like an inverse XRP. Lean team. Clear product. No hype, just real usage and real revenues.”

He predicts that Hyperliquid will overtake Cardano in market cap by the end of summer:

“Hyperliquid should flip Cardano. It already has more users and revenue—it just hasn’t been priced in yet.”

On-Chain Popularity ≠ Cool

Crypto networks live and die by their communities. And in Svanevik’s view, coolness is a major driver of chain loyalty.

“Hyperliquid is authentically cool. Solana’s cool. Ethereum lost some of that edge. XRP? Still a mystery how it stays top 5.”

He compares the appeal of L1s to cults of personality. Ethereum has Vitalik. Cardano has Charles. Hyperliquid has Jeff.

“Jeff is universally loved. That’s rare. He just builds all day. No ego, no distractions—just Hyperliquid.”

Base, Solana, and the Battle for Activity

Svanevik also dives into on-chain data, pointing out how Base surpassed BNB Chain in active addresses, though he admits a portion may be inorganic.

“Base had 13 million active addresses last week. Sure, some are bots or farmers. But Coinbase’s distribution is real.”

Still, Solana remains the king of activity:

“Solana has twice as many active addresses as Base. That gut instinct many people have—it’s backed by data.”

The XRP and Cardano Conundrum

Despite low on-chain usage, XRP and Cardano remain in the top 10—a puzzle even Svanevik admits he can’t fully explain.

“XRP has maybe 50,000 daily users—one-tenth of other chains. Cardano has around 20,000. It doesn’t make sense.”

His theory: large treasuries and tight supply control may allow these networks to sustain inflated valuations despite weak fundamentals.

“They might just have enough capital to will their way into relevance.”

Nansen Points: A New Standard for Loyalty in Crypto

While many projects rush to launch vague points systems ahead of token drops, Nansen is taking a different approach.

“We wanted to build the most valuable loyalty program in crypto. Points aren’t just points—they have real utility.”

Users can earn points by:

• Subscribing to Nansen
  
• Staking with Nansen’s validators (now over $2B TVL)
  
• Referring others
  

Nansen Points unlock:

• Nansen Rewards: discounts, alpha Discord access
  
• Partner Rewards: perks from Bybit, Ledger, TokenTerminal
  
• Permissionless Rewards: on-chain visibility for high-value users
  

“You reach the green tier, and you can permissionlessly receive airdrops or VIP status. It’s like Amex points for crypto.”

“We’re multi-cycle builders—not here for one airdrop.”

Svanevik stresses that Nansen isn’t running a pump-and-dump scheme:

“We’re not some single-cycle project. We’ve been building since 2019. This isn’t a cash grab—it’s a compounding strategy.”

He criticizes projects that give away worthless tokens only to hurt retail buyers on the secondary market:

“It’s actually nefarious. You create fake value, airdrop it, and some poor soul buys it later thinking it’s real. That’s wrong.”

Final Thoughts—and One Bold Prediction

Svanevik ends with a hot take:

“Hyperliquid is going to flip Cardano this summer.”

He also calls on former users to revisit Nansen and claim their points:

“If you’ve used Nansen before, check your points. This is the best time to come back.”