What Opinions Should People Follow During a Bear Market?
Disclaimer: The Industry Talk section features insights by crypto industry players and is not a part of the editorial content of Cryptonews.com.
The ongoing bearish pressure continues to affect all cryptocurrency markets. Such a trend often leads to panic, FUD, miscommunication, and various opinions. Those who have weathered storms like these before will often provide more valuable insights, news, and updates.
It’s Not All Doom And Gloom
For those who were not in crypto during the 2017 bear market, the current market trend may seem rather daunting. Prices continue to go up ever so slightly before being pushed down rather violently. There is no stable price floor for any crypto asset today, and investors tend to get twitchy when easy profits remain elusive for several months. However, this industry can turn around on a dime, even if no one knows for sure if and when that will happen.
Uneasy price momentum also tends to spark a decent amount of FUD and opinions. There is nothing wrong with having an opinion on the current market conditions, yet one shouldn’t necessarily make comments without understanding the bigger picture. A lot of new people entered the cryptocurrency space in the past year or two, and they may not have seen a bear market like this one before. It is scary, but at the same time, one cannot ignore everything else that goes on besides the price momentum.
Fuse Network CEO Mark Smargon explains:
“We’re at around 200M people globally in terms of adoption. Recently we’ve seen retail plays like Starbucks, Gucci, Nike, and others entering the space. The next big cycle will be real-world adoption-led. So focus on real-world adoption during the bear market in order to be successful long term.”
It is that vision that remains prevalent among all “OG” builders and creators in the cryptocurrency space. A bear market is a good time to build, especially for projects looking to make a real-world impact. Moreover, retail interest in cryptocurrency has never been greater, paving the way for a future in which crypto becomes the norm rather than an exception.
History Repeats Itself But We Learn From The Past
The current bear market trend is not that different from the 2017 crypto winter. After setting new all-time highs, all significant crypto assets shed over 75% of their value in the following months. The 2017 crypto winter lasted roughly 18 months, and it seems the current trend will continue for a similar duration. Even so, it is essential to look back at what “OG” users have learned from the 2017 debacle and how they apply those lessons today.
Orbs VP of Business Development Ran Hammer was one of the many who witnessed the 2017 crypto winter:
“We definitely learned some real lessons during the bear market that happened between the ICO boom and DeFi summer. The main one is that in this space, you can never really know where the next thing is going to come from. While we saw DeFi happening, we were actually quite blindsided by how big, and fast NFT boomed, which took us all by surprise. We are in for more surprises now, whether they come out of Metaverse development, complex DAO governance using SBTs or something else we haven’t even thought of yet. In that environment, the best thing to do is focus on infrastructure. Devs always know how to find the best platform to build on, so getting involved with great infrastructure puts you in a position to be part of the next big innovation even if you don’t know exactly what it will be.”
Ran touches upon some interesting points here. First, it is impossible to know what the future may hold, but there are many exciting developments today in the crypto and blockchain space. Despite the 2017 crypto winter and the 2021-2022 bear market, innovation has continued unabated, and there are still many unexplored avenues. The building continues relentlessly, even if the overarching market trend is not bullish. However, all of that work will always lead to something that sparks new momentum and excitement.
Furthermore, many things have not changed, even if macroeconomic events never remain the same. Investors still need to find ways to store their wealth, and TradFi does not provide many viable options. Inflation is still a pressing threat, and cryptocurrencies remain one of the only assets not suffering from that problem. Moreover, current prices make all cryptocurrencies more affordable to everyone, creating an extra incentive for newcomers and existing stackers alike.
Keeping It Real Is The Only Way
The bear market tends to bring out empty promises by projects and teams. While overpromising can yield short-term momentum to boost asset prices, it is a terrible long-term idea. Investors will not be too happy if teams fail to deliver on promises. It is often better to keep one’s head down and continue to do what was already set in motion without attracting unnecessary or unwanted attention.
As EverdreamSoft CEO Shaban Shaame points out succinctly:
“While many things may change in the cryptocurrency world over time, core concepts will always remain in place. It is always a good time to build – as we have done and continue to do at EverdreamSoft – and a bear market should not deter one’s passion or desire to impact this industry. However, a bear market isn’t a carte blanche to start overpromising to communities and investors either. Keep it real, and if the outlook isn’t spectacular but still positive, be honest with yourself, your team, and the people willing to back you up. Honesty is the highest-value good in this industry, yet it can be in low supply during uncertain market conditions.”
Speaking of building and keeping one’s head down, IOVLabs CEO Diego Gutierrez-Zaldivar does not mince words. As a result, he has become one of the leading thought leaders on Bitcoin and the Internet of Value. Moreover, his Twitter feed contains a lot of crucial information and updates regarding Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. It is an excellent resource for matters regarding privacy, private keys, NFTs, decentralization, etc. All of these concepts remain crucial to the current and future industry and people should not lose track of these essential matters.
There is much more to the cryptocurrency industry than the price of one’s favorite asset. Growing mainstream adoption will bring forth new challenges, and it remains essential to be aware of what is going on. However, builders will keep on building, thought leaders will provide the necessary updates and news, and one BTC will always be worth 1 BTC. Everyone in this industry is a representative of sorts, and there is no excuse not to educate oneself on the bigger picture.
