One should not forget the original reason for setting out just because one has gone too far.
In the clamor of market frenzy, MEME coins have become popular, short-term speculation is rampant, FOMO sentiment has inflated the bubble, but the Builders who truly drive the industry forward are struggling in the cracks. Capital is pursuing profits, founders are leaving, and even the most steadfast developers are beginning to waver.
When innovation is hijacked by traffic and speculation, and the market becomes a "hot potato" game, do we still remember the original faith of this industry?
Dissolution of the Long-term Narrative: From "Changing the World" to "Gambling Casino"
Looking back on the early days of the crypto industry, long-term thinking was the core driving force behind innovation. In 2017, foundational projects such as Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cosmos were born. At the time, countless Layer1 and DeFi projects were seen as pieces of the puzzle for the next generation of financial infrastructure, and the 2021 bull market even pushed this narrative to its peak: the DeFi Summer frenzy and the explosion of NFTs allowed projects like Uniswap, Aave, and Solana to emerge.
However, the crypto market has now taken on a different look. The pace of innovation has slowed, and the industry's focus has gradually shifted from infrastructure building to short-term profit-driven areas. Jocy, the founder of IOSG Ventures, said bluntly: "If the ultimate result is the loss of talented people and the transformation of Web3 into a gambling casino, is their success really shining?"
This change is already evident in the startup community. Crypto KOL Chen Jian Jason pointed out that high-quality entrepreneurs in the Crypto field are leaving en masse, in stark contrast to the prosperity of 2021. AI can accommodate more talents and capital from infrastructure to the application layer than the crypto circle, and entrepreneurs who are respectable and not short of money have no motivation to stay and build a big casino. "Compared to these emerging industries, blockchain seems to have become the most boring one."
More worryingly, this short-term speculative mindset is eroding the industry's long-term development momentum and affecting the entire industry's positive feedback mechanism. Jocy pointed out that "once you get used to making quick money, who still wants to focus on polishing products and driving growth? If the entire industry leans towards speculation, the crypto market will ultimately self-consume and lose its true innovative drive."
The crypto industry once carried the dream of reforming the financial system, but now it faces the risk of being swallowed by the speculative tide. The current market is more democratized and fragmented, but also lacks a sense of direction.
PVP Wave Dominates the Market: "Speed-through" and "Watering" Become the Norm
According to CoinGecko data, MEME coins accounted for 31% of market attention last year, with their total market value soaring from $20 billion in 2023 to $140 billion, an increase of 600%. But beneath the bubble, the bubble remains.
CoinWire's statistics show that 76% of KOLs have promoted "dead" MEME coins, of which 2/3 have gone to zero, and 86% of MEME coins have plummeted 90% within 3 months. This "rapid launch, quick pump, and short-term cash-out" model seems to have become the standard growth path for MEME coins.
Projects go from birth to explosion to rapid decline, with the cycle being greatly compressed. Stories of hundredfold gains constantly stimulate investors' FOMO emotions and attract a flood of capital. However, as the hype subsides, "watering" becomes the ultimate destination for most MEME coins.
We reviewed some of the once-glorious MEME coins of 2024 and examined their historical highs and current status, and the result was no surprise - they all ended up "watered".
Furthermore, Pump.fun, which was once hailed as the wealth-creating MEME coin of the Solana ecosystem, saw its weekly revenue soar to $27.92 million, but has now shrunk significantly to $8 million. Its weekly trading volume has also plummeted from $2.2 billion to $536 million. More notably, the Pump.fun platform has seen consecutive days where only 1 token can break the $1 million market cap within 24 hours, and even "zero-point-zero" tokens have appeared.
At the same time, capital and attention are turning to the BNB Chain and TRON. Each time the wind rises, it may bring a brief frenzy; but each time the wind stops, what's left may be "a mess". In a market environment where "speed-through" and "watering" have become the norm, how long can this wind blow?
The Traffic Competition of Top Trading Platforms
As the crypto industry has fallen into a "casino" mode, the competition between trading platforms seems to have begun to be about who can list MEME coins faster and more accurately. As the "locomotive" of the industry, Binance has also "gone with the flow" in this traffic chase, following the flow of traffic and attention.
According to ChainCatcher's statistics, since 2024, Binance has listed 36 MEME coins on its futures and spot markets, a significant proportion in its listing landscape.
Recently, Binance founder CZ and He Yi have personally taken to the community and X (Twitter), playing memes, posting pictures, catching memes, and creating meme hype materials, grabbing traffic dividends. Jocy, the founder of IOSG Ventures, said bluntly: "The most reputable individuals and organizations in the industry are focusing their attention on MEME, and to be honest, what's the point of doing well in this battle?"
Currently, most MEME coins lack substantive empowerment and are more like a "hot potato" game. They have no self-sustaining ability and lack sustainable value support, relying only on social media hype and celebrity effects to maintain short-term heat, a model that is unsustainable.
Once, the technical strength, ecosystem building, and innovation capabilities of projects were the focus of market attention, but now, short-term gains and social media heat have become the key to success or failure. The voice of long-term thinking is gradually being drowned out by the clamor of speculation, and the development trajectory of the crypto market is deviating from its original intention, becoming increasingly short-sighted and frenetic.
Do You Still Remember the Original Intention of Crypto?
As speculative sentiment runs high, the living space for true value investors and quality projects is shrinking. Crypto KOL Rick Awsb pointed out that the MEME trend has exacerbated the phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money", and PVP has made true value investors fewer and fewer, and the "desertification" of the industry in the short term has become an undisputed fact.
Developers focused on technological innovation and ecosystem building are gradually marginalized, and the luster of technology and innovation is obscured by the clamor of the market. Lurpis, a builder of Bifrost, said bluntly: "In the Web3 field, it is far more effective to pump a project than to build an excellent product."
Nevertheless, there are still developers, investors, and builders who believe in the long-term value of Web3, and although their voices seem weak in the din of the market, these steadfast ones keep the industry moving forward even in the turmoil. As Crypto KOL Blue Fox said: "The industry is like a caravanserai, with comers and goers. It is indeed very difficult now, but there is still a small part that is holding on, and even if it is a small part, they will weather this winter."
Although the winter is cold, the footsteps of spring have never stopped.
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