Has the market crashed? Let's talk about the "collective suicide" dilemma in the crypto industry

These days, I’ve been fully immersed in the x402 track, outputting crazily. Today I opened my eyes and—good grief—the market has completely collapsed. Having kept my thoughts bottled up, I might as well speak openly:

Liquidity Has Long Been Exhausted

Stop fooling yourself—the bear market is already here. After the TRUMP wave, market liquidity has been drained almost to zero. Those small rebounds afterward? Purely emotional support.

Altcoins Owe a Massive Debt Since Day One

Where did those believers of dead projects go? How many developers who genuinely contributed code are left? What remains now? Airdrop hunters are everywhere, VCs are rushing to cash out and run, exchanges are siphoning liquidity fiercely, and project teams have been holding on for years just to make a quick buck and leave. Everyone wants out—so who will take over?

The Dream of MEME Coins Should Wake Up

MEME was once touted as the savior of altcoins. Honestly, it has fulfilled its mission—offering retail investors an alternative to high-FDV VC tokens. But look at it now, zero technical barriers, assembly-line replication, and so-called fair launches are just a facade. Without VC tokens’ from 0 to 1 technological innovation support, MEME’s shine and heat are only enough for internal battles among players. Long-term, it’s just slow self-destruction.

Exchanges Are Starting to Mine Their Own Gold

Previously, exchanges had a clear positioning: to host on-chain innovation traffic and amplify liquidity. But once platforms like Pumpfun, GMGN, Hyperliquid started creating wealth effects, exchanges panicked and began pushing “internal trading” to save themselves. And what happened? The shovel sellers started mining on their own, and the entire gold rush ecosystem’s significance was hollowed out.

Builders Are Going Through the Darkest Hour

Why are so many projects lining up for TGE? Why has the market lost patience for product refinement? Why are all the blame ultimately placed on project teams and VCs? This issue is complex, and no one can give a definitive answer. But one thing is clear: The builders and VCs in the crypto world are going bankrupt and fleeing in batches. What’s even more terrifying than liquidation and zeroing out? It’s this industry being gutted from the bottom up, leaving everyone empty.

Writing this, I almost end up ranting again.

But that’s precisely why I’ve always emphasized on-chain innovation—Our crypto industry is no longer the energetic young kid it used to be; it’s sick, old, and even terminally ill.

Want to revive it? There’s only one way: start from zero, and reshuffle with on-chain narratives driven by technological innovation. Anything else is merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause.