Original author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Original editor: TB, ChainCatcher
Dont forget why you set out just because you have gone too far.
In the frenzy of the market, Meme coins are all the rage, short-term speculation is prevalent, and FOMO sentiment pushes up the bubble. Builders, which are truly driving the industry forward, are struggling to survive in the cracks. Capital is chasing profits, founders are leaving, and even the most determined developers are beginning to waver.
When innovation is hijacked by traffic and speculation, and the market becomes a game of pass the parcel, do we still remember the original beliefs of this industry?
Dissolving the long-termism narrative: from “changing the world” to “speculative casino”
Looking back at the early days of the crypto industry, long-termism was the core driving force behind innovation. In 2017, foundational projects such as Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cosmos were born. At that time, countless Layer 1 and DeFi projects were seen as the puzzle pieces of the next generation of financial infrastructure. The bull market in 2021 pushed this narrative to its peak: the DeFi Summer craze and the outbreak of NFTs brought Uniswap, Aave, Solana and other projects to the fore.
However, the crypto market has changed. The pace of innovation has slowed down, and the industrys focus has gradually shifted from infrastructure to short-term profit-driven areas. Jocy, founder of IOSG Ventures, said bluntly: If the end result is the loss of excellent talents and turning Web3 into a speculative casino, is their success really shining?
This change has already been seen among entrepreneurs. Crypto KOL Jason Chen pointed out that high-quality entrepreneurs in the Crypto field are leaving in large numbers, in stark contrast to the grand occasion in 2021. The talent and funds that AI can accommodate from the Infra to the application layer far exceed those in the cryptocurrency circle, and decent entrepreneurs who are not short of money have no motivation to stay and build a big casino. Compared with these emerging industries, blockchain seems to have become the most boring one.
What is more worrying is that this short-term speculative mentality is eroding the industrys long-term development momentum and affecting the positive feedback mechanism of the entire industry. Jocy pointed out, After getting used to making quick money, who is willing to settle down and polish products and promote growth? If the entire industry leans towards speculation, the crypto market will eventually consume itself and lose its real driving force for innovation.
The crypto industry once carried the dream of transforming the financial system, but now faces the risk of being swallowed up by the speculative trend. The current market is more popular and fragmented, but it has also lost its sense of direction.
PVP wave dominates the market: speed pass and pouring become normal
According to CoinGecko data, Meme coins accounted for 31% of market attention last year, and the total market value soared from US$20 billion in 2023 to US$140 billion, an increase of 600%. But the bubble remains.
According to CoinWire statistics, 76% of KOLs have promoted dead Meme coins, 2/3 of which have returned to zero, and 86% of Meme coins have plummeted by 90% in 3 months. This model of quick launch, rapid pull-up, and short-term cashing out seems to have become the standard growth path for Meme coins.
The cycle of a project from its birth to its explosion and then to its rapid decline has been greatly compressed. Stories of hundreds of times increase in price constantly stimulate investors FOMO emotions and attract a large amount of capital to flow in. However, as the heat fades, pour becomes the final destination of most Meme coins.
We reviewed some of the Meme coins that were once very popular in 2024, taking stock of their historical highs and current status. The results were not surprising - they all ended up in a pour.
In addition, Pump.fun, which is regarded as a wealth-making tool for Solanas Meme coin, once soared to $27.92 million in a single week, but has now shrunk significantly to $8 million. The weekly trading volume also dropped sharply from $2.2 billion to $536 million. What is more noteworthy is that for many consecutive days on the Pump.fun platform, only one token could exceed the market value of $1 million within 24 hours, and even a phenomenon of zero-subscription coupons occurred.
At the same time, funds and attention are turning to BNB Chain and TRON. Every time the wind blows, it may bring a short-lived carnival; and every time the wind stops, what is left may be a mess. In a market environment where speed pass and pouring have become the norm, how long can this wind blow?
Image source: Deflama
Traffic competition among top exchanges
The crypto industry has fallen into a casino mode, and the competition between exchanges seems to have begun to see who can list Meme coins faster and more accurately. As the locomotive of the industry, Binance has also followed the trend in this battle of traffic chasing, and has been running with traffic and attention.
According to ChainCatcher statistics, from 2024 to date, Binance has launched 36 Meme coins in the futures and spot markets, a number that accounts for a significant proportion of its listed coin portfolio.
Recently, Binance founders CZ and He Yi have been active in the community and X (Twitter), playing memes, posting pictures, connecting memes, creating memes, and creating MEME hype materials to grab traffic dividends. In this regard, Jocy, founder of IOSG Ventures, said bluntly: The most prestigious individuals and organizations in the industry are focusing on Meme. To be honest, whats wrong with winning this battle?
At present, most Meme coins have no substantial empowerment, and are more like a game of pass the parcel. They have no self-generating ability and lack sustainable value support. They can only rely on social media hype and celebrity effects to maintain short-term popularity. This model is difficult to sustain.
In the past, the technical strength, ecological construction, and innovation capabilities of projects were the focus of market attention, but now, short-term gains and social media popularity have become the key to success or failure. The voice of long-termism has gradually been drowned out in the clamor of speculation, and the development trajectory of the crypto market is deviating from its original intention, becoming more and more short-sighted and impetuous.
Do you still remember the original intention of encryption?
Speculative sentiment is high, and the living space for real value investors and high-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 reduced the number of real value investors. The desertification of the industry in the short term has become an indisputable fact.
Developers who focus on technological innovation and ecosystem construction are gradually marginalized, and the brilliance of technology and innovation is overshadowed by the noise of the market. Lurpis, the builder of Bifrost, bluntly said: In the field of Web3, creating an excellent product is far less effective than pumping the market.
Despite this, there are still developers, investors, and builders who believe in the long-term value of Web3. Although their voices seem weak in the noise of the market, these persevering people keep the industry moving forward in the turmoil. As the crypto KOL Blue Fox said: The industry is like a hostel, and everyone who comes and goes is just a passerby. It is indeed difficult now, but a small number of people are still holding on. Even if it is a small number, they will survive this winter.
Although winter is cold, spring never stops.
