MEME casino, developers fleeing, Wall Street being toolized, does Crypto still have a tomorrow?

Author: Haotian

During my visit to Lijiang and Dali, while chatting with several first-line Builders, they all mentioned a common feeling: the current primary market of Crypto seems to be caught in a “dead end” multiple crisis:

1) Narrative is completely meaningless, and casino culture dominates?

In fact, what is truly terrifying is not that the technical narrative cannot be delivered, but that everyone directly abandons narrative packaging and fully embraces the MEME-ified casino culture.

The slow delivery of technical narratives is at least a matter of long-termism, covering the innovative costs of the initial VC rounds, as well as the process of project parties constructing, testing, and launching on the mainnet, etc., during which transparent presentation can help ordinary users recognize the project’s strength and form value judgments.

But what about now? Everything has turned into a game of pure community operation and behind-the-scenes financial games, with trading opportunities exaggerated to the point of being counted by the day or even by the minute. When the market no longer engages in long-term building around technological narratives, the risks of pure MEME trading are multiplied, making this market even more perilous for the vast majority of people.

2) Are developers accelerating their departure, leading to a stagnation in technological innovation?

Data doesn’t lie. According to relevant data, the number of active Crypto developers on Github has dropped by nearly 30% from last year’s peak, while the recruitment packages for engineers in AI and traditional tech companies have skyrocketed during the same period.

The logic is simple: when OpenAI, Google, and Meta are all competing in the AI arms race to build silicon-based civilization, how many developers can Crypto’s narrative of “disrupting the internet” still retain?

The key point is that Crypto has gone through two or three rounds of Build cycles, and developers are now caught in a phase of internal exhaustion where their enthusiasm for innovation is rapidly declining. There are very few true technological breakthroughs from 0 to 1. Concepts like Restaking, Intent, and AI Agent have gained traction round after round, but what about practical applications? Where is the PMF? For some reason, everyone is busy reinventing the wheel, yet they feel powerless and helpless about how far the wheel can go.

Originally caught in market noise and waste time, most people still had a belief that holding on would eventually lead to better times, but what about now? Where are the holders?

3) The lack of incremental attraction in the OTC market, is Crypto trending towards marginalization?

The attraction of crypto for off-market funds and talent is noticeably insufficient. Just look at the current situation: the real secondary altcoin season is in the US stock AI market, and the real primary innovation market is in the web2AI field. Crypto’s attraction to traditional VCs and top talents is increasingly diminishing, and it even risks being labeled as “speculative trading,” losing its dignity.

The reason is that apart from “issuing coins,” Crypto does not have any other solid backing. Although ETFs have brought institutional funds, that is more of an acknowledgment at the financial instrument level; the inflow of Wall Street funds is merely for asset allocation, which is very tenuous in its connection to the altcoin market.

What scenarios are indispensable for Crypto? In the past, the value of Crypto lay in providing a relatively free experimental space for financial innovation. However, as traditional financial institutions begin to embrace this market through stablecoins, ETFs, and other means, what irreplaceable values can Crypto bring to users, in addition to its technical characteristic of “decentralization”?

Note: Bringing up this topic is for discussion only. Although it is confusing, at least I am still willing to believe that the real way out may be not far away. Staying optimistic is the best support; otherwise, what else can we do!