Crypto Circle Dilemma and Restart: Why On-Chain Innovation Is the Only Way Out

Looking at the recent market trends, one judgment has become unavoidable—the bear market has basically become a fact. Since the implementation of Trump’s policies, market liquidity has been continuously drained, and the subsequent rebounds are at best just emotional-driven and lack real support.

The altcoin ecosystem is even worse. From the day of token launch, many projects have been in a state of full debt. Long-term holders who once held faith are gone, and developers who contributed time and code are also absent. Instead, there are airdrop hunters, VCs eager to cash out, exchange extraction behaviors, and project teams trying to recoup their investments over the years—who will be the next to be harvested?

MEME tokens were once seen as a salvation for the industry; they indeed became an alternative for retail investors to counter high FDV tokens. But the illusion of zero technical cost, fair launch, and mass production on an assembly line destined them not to become a channel for long-term value accumulation. Without the technological innovation support from traditional tokens going from 0 to 1, MEME is at most a PVP game of existing funds, ultimately leading to systemic erosion of the industry.

Exchanges are also in a delicate situation. In the past, the mission of CEXs was to absorb the spillover of on-chain innovations and amplify liquidity. But the emergence of innovative tools like Pumpfun, GMGN, Hyperliquid has broken this model—they not only create wealth directly but also pose a threat to exchanges. As a result, “internal marketization” for self-rescue has begun. When tool sellers start directly creating wealth, the division of labor in the entire ecosystem collapses.

Project teams and builders are also in real trouble. Queuing for TGE, rapid engineering-driven launches, and patience for product refinement have completely disappeared—the core issues are unclear, but bankruptcy and capital outflow are already the current state. Compared to liquidation, what’s more frightening is the industry being drained and talent leaving.

This is also the fundamental reason why we have been advocating for on-chain innovation. The crypto world needs a technological narrative reboot driven by innovation, a true innovation cycle starting from zero, to reshape the industry’s value foundation.