Codatta 2025: Reflections and 2026 "Forge"
Introduction
In 2025, we laid the groundwork for Codatta after two years of building: we launched $XNY to the market and openly pressure-tested our protocol, all while refining our broader vision. Our primary focus is addressing the accelerating need for expertise data in AI—high-signal, verifiable knowledge that models can reliably learn from and enterprises can trust. This sets the stage for 2026: turning distribution into delivery.
Look-back: what we achieved and what’s still unproven
In 2025, $XNY (Codatta’s native token) entered broad circulation via major exchanges (e.g., Binance, Kraken, Bybit, etc.), with special thanks to the Binance Booster program (Codatta as the first project), which gave us distribution and attention that most infrastructure projects never get this early.
We also crossed 1M+ KYC’ed users, which is a real starting line for enterprise-grade data; importantly, we used distribution moments (e.g., Binance Booster) to recruit and train contributors rather than chase empty metrics.
Commercialization started with stable PoV workloads (e.g., CipherOwl), but the proof we still owe is harder: TNPL (Train-Now, Pay-Later) must work end-to-end (metering → lineage → settlement → royalties) without manual negotiation, and we must build a frontier expert talent pool that produces datasets that measurably move model performance (not just more labels)—which is exactly what our protocol overview is designed to enable.
Macro: what changed around us
On the AI side, the industry is challenging hype again—and the reality is that capability compounds. While GPT/Gemini/Qwen keep improving, the frontier is increasingly about how we build: LLM-native product patterns, agent workflows, and protocols (e.g., Claude Skills and MCP servers) that turn model capability into reliable, value-delivering systems. And even if transformer-based foundation models (LLMs, and multimodal variants like VLM/VLA) are still far from AGI, they’ve already delivered irreversible, high-leverage impact; tools like Claude Code/Cursor/Gemini3/ are everyday proof that coding is not going back to what it was.
On the crypto side, mainstream acceptance is increasingly institutional and shaped by policy—spot Bitcoin ETP approvals have put “Wall Street” under BTC exposure, stablecoins are being integrated into mainstream settlement (e.g., Visa stablecoin settlement), and Ethereum continues to scale toward real-world throughput (e.g., Dencun). Tokenized funds like BlackRock’s BUIDL are live, and prediction markets are entering mainstream conversation. Still, much of the “innovation” remains clustered around DeFi and speculative activity, while narrative-first projects often prevail without sustained delivery (often summarized as “altcoin season is on hold”). The bar must be higher: don’t just ship tokens—ship systems that deliver real value.
Look-forward: 2026 “Forge”
Our 2026 theme is Forge: make the hybrid protocol work end-to-end and plug into real businesses.
Why now: ImageNet proved that data can unlock algorithmic leaps, and demand is shifting from labor-intensive basic labeling toward expertise data (reasoning traces, domain judgments, adjudication, high-signal evals), which makes ownership and attribution not ideology but inevitability.
What we will ship in 2026 is deliberately practical, executed as three loops: (1) protocol loop (v1)—automated screening + anchoring, hybrid delivery (decentralized source-of-truth + cloud hot paths + secure compute), access control & metering v1, ownership & royalties v0.x, and real $XNY utility in production paths (see the protocol overview); (2) network loop—turn 1M+ KYC’ed into an activated quality engine via an identity ladder, expert tracks, 20+ regional pods, and evidence-heavy qualification/QC that enterprises can audit; and (3) business loop—scale commercialization (not pilots) by expanding from today’s proven workloads into repeatable verticals (healthcare, robotics) and closing lighthouse customers that force real-world reliability.
Closing
2025 proved distribution + verified starter; 2026 must prove delivery: turn expertise into data assets, connect them to production usage, and route value back to creators reliably and repeatedly at scale.
— Yi Zhang (PhD, CEO & Founder)