Crypto Isn’t Dead. But Something Else Is.

Thank you. so is crypto dead or is it just growing up um this is a question i think that comes up almost in every other cycle but this time it feels different not dramatic not explosive just quiet and i think that's what making people really really uncomfortable because silence and crypto feels like death. I've been building in this space for more than a decade. And usually even in downturns, there's noise.

There's always something that's pumping, some narrative that is taking over, some new shiny thing. But the last 12 months, they have felt selective at best. almost like the market is asking a harder question now. Why should this exist at all?

So why does crypto feel dead right now? I think there are very few real reasons. But namely at the top of my mind I think first people got burned whether it was exchanges collapsing projects going to zero or just bad timing A lot of people lost a lot of money And when that happens, they don't just leave the market. They, you know, lose trust.

There is trust erosion. And that kind of takes away those folks away from the space. Secondly, there is no easy narrative right now. Earlier it was DeFi, then it was NFTs, then there were meme coins.

You didn't need to understand anything. You just needed to follow the wave. Right now, there isn't a clear wave. And without the narrative, the attention has dropped.

The guys who were just sort of following FOMO and building are not there anymore. Third, the user experience is still very bad. I've been running on and on about this. ad nauseum since I think I've started working in this space.

Let's be honest, right? Wallets are confusing. Gas fees are very unpredictable. Onboarding is still very, very clunky.

For a space that talks about mass adoption, we still haven't made it easy for normal users to really understand crypto, to understand Web3, to understand how to get into it and to actually use it. The fourth reason, I think, would be that AI kind of has taken center stage. It has taken over the conversation. AI is easier to understand as well.

You type something, you get an output. Image it valued. Crypto still needs explanation. So naturally, attention shifted.

And finally, I think a lot of products just didn't stick. They did not click with the users. They worked in a bull market. But when the incentives dropped, users left, which tells you something important They weren there for the product in the first place They were just there for the upside So yes crypto does feel a little dead and a little sad but I don think it dying I think it's being forced to grow up because what's not working anymore is launching without a real roadmap, relying only on token incentives or confusing speculation with adoption.

That particular phase is over. It is so over. And in its place, something more interesting is happening. Builders are being forced to focus on real users, not just wallets.

Retention, not just onboarding. Distribution, not just technology. And this is a huge shift because earlier tech was the vote. Now attention is the mode.

And this is where I think most things really get interesting because if attention is the mode, then platforms where people actually spend time become incredibly important, not just as social layers, but as economic layers. So no, crypto is not dead. It's just less forgiving. And maybe that's exactly what it needed because the people who stay through this phase, they're not chasing hype.

They're building something that can actually survive without it. They're building in trenches. So this is why I am restarting this podcast to explore exactly that. what is real, what is working, and what's actually changing in this space.

If you're still here, you're probably not here for the hype either. So yeah, let's figure this out together. So keep tuning in for more deep, insightful conversations with builders who are still digging the trenches who are still building and laying the foundation of solid products If you are someone who doing that please do DM me and we can have an excellent conversation If you want to share with the world what you building again you know just reach out and I be happy to sort of throw a limelight on the particular product alongside you And I'm really grateful that you're still tuning in and listening in and hearing me yap.

this is very humbling and I'm very grateful for all the support and all the people who've reached out to me wondering you know where I had kind of disappeared off to I was just looking to recharge and now I'm back and raring to go so to say so yeah thank you so much once again for tuning in and until next time here is your host Tarusha signing off Please keep living on blockchain. I'm going to go to the next video.