The Real Dilemma of the Cryptocurrency Market: Why the Industry Needs a Tech Revolution Starting from Zero

Recently, I have been deeply involved in a hot track for several days. When I finally look up, I realize that the situation has changed dramatically. Instead of keeping it to myself, I might as well speak frankly.

The reality is in front of us: this bear market is a done deal. Since the Trump era, market liquidity has been essentially drained. The sporadic rebounds observed later are, frankly, false prosperity driven by sentiment. There is no real influx of new funds, only reallocation of existing assets.

The altcoin ecosystem has long since collapsed. From the moment the TGE launched, the entire track was burdened with debt. The once steadfast long-term believers have disappeared, and developers who diligently contributed code are rarely seen anymore. Instead, there are hordes of airdrop hunters, short-sighted VC firms, capital withdrawals from CEXs, and project teams trying to make a quick profit. Everyone wants to run away; who will take over?

MEME coins were once expected to be the last bastion for retail investors to resist high FDV VC coins. They indeed served that purpose. But with zero-threshold technology, seemingly fair launch methods, and mass production on an assembly line—these traits doomed MEME coins to never become a long-term value holder. Without the technological innovation support from VC coins from 0 to 1, the hype around MEME coins was just a game of existing assets among participants. The final outcome is the gradual erosion of the industry.

The role of exchanges is undergoing a dramatic change. In the past, they profited from facilitating on-chain innovation and amplifying liquidity. But the emergence of new platforms like Pumpfun, GMGN, Hyperliquid and their wealth-creating effects have made exchanges sense a crisis. So they launched a “self-revolution” rescue plan—this move has rendered the entire gold rush business meaningless. When the sellers of tools start digging for gold themselves, the logic of this ecosystem has already broken down.

Project teams and builders are experiencing the darkest period. Why are projects queuing up to launch? Why does the market lack patience to refine products? Why do all structural imbalances finally point to project teams and VCs? The questions are too complex, and no one can give a complete answer. But one undeniable fact is: builders and VCs in the crypto space are undergoing large-scale bankruptcy and fleeing. More terrifying than being liquidated to zero is the depletion of talent and capital in the entire industry, leaving only shells behind.

Perhaps I am rambling again, but these observations lead me to emphasize a point: our crypto industry is already sick, old, and even terminally ill.

The only way out is a complete reboot—a restart driven by true technological innovation and a renewed on-chain narrative, so that the entire industry’s healthy ecosystem can be reconstructed.