BIG NEWS -Future of Disruptive Tech is being rebranded. We are changing our name to “Next Wave.” So if you see an email in your income from “Next Wave” please don’t be alarmed "(or hit spam).

_{Read Time: 10 Minutes}

Today’s Menu

• A16z's latest rankings expose the brutal reality of AI app dominance

• Ethereum obliterates Bitcoin in the most shocking ETF reversal of 2024

Markets

TODAY IN AI

A16z's latest rankings expose the brutal reality of AI app dominance

Andreessen Horowitz just dropped their fifth GenAI consumer app rankings, and the results are absolutely fascinating for anyone trying to understand who's actually winning the AI race. ChatGPT still reigns supreme at the top, but Google's Gemini is breathing down their neck at No. 2, capturing 12% of ChatGPT's web traffic—which sounds small until you realize that's still massive scale. Meanwhile, Grok has clawed its way to No. 4, proving that Elon's AI companion strategy is actually working despite all the controversy.

The mobile rankings tell an even wilder story: Chinese-developed apps captured 22 of the 50 spots, and here's the kicker—only three of them are primarily used in China. This means Chinese AI companies are absolutely crushing it in global markets while American companies are still figuring out mobile AI strategy. It's a wake-up call that the AI race isn't just about ChatGPT versus everyone else.

The rise of "vibe coding" is perhaps the most intriguing trend buried in this data. Apps like Lovable at No. 23, Cursor at No. 26, and Replit at No. 41 have all surged up the rankings, with Bolt hovering on the edge of making the cut. These tools are fundamentally changing how people think about coding—from precise technical commands to natural language descriptions of what you want to build.

This snapshot reveals that consumer AI adoption is moving incredibly fast, especially in development tools where the barrier between "I have an idea" and "I built something" is collapsing. The fact that vibe coding apps have risen this dramatically in just five months shows we're witnessing a paradigm shift in real-time, not just incremental improvement.

TODAY IN CRYPTO

Ethereum obliterates Bitcoin in the most shocking ETF reversal of 2024

Wall Street has officially chosen sides, and Bitcoin just got absolutely destroyed in the most brutal ETF performance gap we've seen all year. Over the past five trading days, spot Ether ETFs pulled in a staggering $1.83 billion compared to Bitcoin's pathetic $171 million—that's more than 10x the flows, and it's not even close. Wednesday alone saw nine ETH ETFs rake in $307.2 million while 11 Bitcoin ETFs managed just $81.1 million, proving this isn't a fluke.

The price action is telling the same story with mathematical precision: ETH rebounded 5% from Tuesday's low while Bitcoin managed a measly 2.8%. Ethereum investor Anthony Sassano nailed it when he said institutions are finally waking up to what crypto natives have known for years—Ethereum isn't just another cryptocurrency, it's the infrastructure layer that everything else gets built on top of.

The surge puts Ether ETFs close to $10 billion in inflows since July and $13.6 billion total since launch, while Bitcoin ETFs—despite trading nearly twice as long—have $54 billion in aggregate flows but clearly lost momentum. VanEck CEO Jan van Eck called Ethereum "the Wall Street token," and the data backs up his bold claim with Goldman Sachs leading institutional adoption at $712 million in exposure.

Here's what's driving this seismic shift: the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation passed in July spotlighted Ethereum's absolute dominance in stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, making it clear that when traditional finance goes digital, it runs on Ethereum rails. Bitcoin may be the OG store of value, but Ethereum is cementing its role as the backbone of digital finance, and Wall Street is betting accordingly.

Want to share The Future of Disruptive Tech with a friend, family member, or coworker? Pass this link along to them.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Damon James