Maelstrom co-founder Arthur Hayes predicts the next market cycle will favor established DeFi protocols that generate real cash flow over new projects. Hayes emphasized that market confidence should be built on yield returned to token holders from paying customers, specifically targeting time-tested protocols that have remained profitable since the 2020 DeFi Summer despite significant price declines. Hayes expects AI agents to utilize these proven protocols, highlighting assets with reasonable P/E ratios and strong composability as prime candidates for appreciation. He stated that tokens capable of tenfold returns are already tradable and that future opportunities will stem from existing infrastructure rather than novel launches.