Build in a Bear Market
The strength of the next cycle is being decided right now
I remember when I was in college and started lifting weights. On the first day I decided to do both arm and leg day.
I went to bed and slept on the top bunk in my dorm room. It didn’t have a ladder. I just kind of climbed up. The next morning I couldn’t get down. My arms were too tired to lower me and my legs were jello. I ended up halfway jumping off the bed and rolling on the ground. It was pathetic.
But I did get stronger.
The growth didn’t happen when I felt strong. It happened when I couldn’t get off a bunk bed.
Crypto works like that too.
The best things in this space are rarely built when everything feels strong. They are built when the market is exhausted.
Market Downturns Create the Best Software
Nobody likes to see their portfolio shrink but I love to see the crypto community build better software. When the market goes south and the lousy projects get abandoned it creates room for new software and serious projects. The “tourists” leave and the builders stay.
Crypto teams are no longer distracted by the fast money crowd chasing a quick dollar. They can build with a smaller but committed community and focus on shipping something that actually works.
Liquidity does not create demand for crypto. It chases demand. And demand only appears when something new expands what people can actually do. Bull runs are strong when winter produces true breakthroughs. They are weak when money returns and nothing fundamental has changed.
Ethereum launched in 2015 when Bitcoin was still down more than 80 percent from its 2013 peak and most people had already declared crypto dead. 1
Uniswap, the exchange that became the backbone of DeFi Summer, was built in late 2018 when the 2017 bubble had already collapsed and capital had dried up. 2
Important Layer 2s like Base launched in 2023 as a direct response to the triple-digit gas fees that made Ethereum nearly unusable for normal people during the 2021 bull market. 3
Solana launched in 2020, but its ecosystem was truly tested and rebuilt in 2023 after the FTX collapse cleared out the excess and left only the committed teams. 4
After FTX imploded, centralized exchanges were forced to strengthen transparency measures, including proof of reserves and clearer disclosures, to rebuild trust in the system. 5
Without the bear market clearing out lousy software the good stuff would never get built. And that good software paves the way for the next bull run. The strength of a bull market is determined by what was built in the winter before it.
2017 was explosive because Ethereum’s smart contract system introduced something fundamentally new.
2021 was powerful because DeFi gave people useful financial tools.
2024 was thinner because much of the cycle leaned on scaling existing systems rather than introducing new breakthroughs.
The strength of the next bull run is being decided right now by who stays and builds.
What’s Next?
Here are some areas being built right now that I believe will shape the next bull run.
Real World Assets such as tokenized stocks, bonds, and gold are already being implemented by major institutions like BlackRock and explored by exchanges like the NYSE. Capital markets are beginning to move on-chain. RWAs are the trojan horse. They will be permissioned and regulated, but they still settle on public blockchain infrastructure. That moves trillions of dollars onto crypto rails and normalizes blockchain settlement at the highest levels of finance. Once capital is native to these rails, liquidity has fewer reasons to leave. 6
AI agents are emerging that can trade, lend, borrow, and move capital on-chain without constant human input. They could manage treasuries, pay suppliers, collect revenue, and deploy capital around the clock. Crypto may become the financial infrastructure that allows AI to run businesses.
Privacy remains one of crypto’s unsolved problems. Monero proved it can be done. The next breakthrough will have to make privacy usable at scale without cutting itself off from the broader ecosystem.
Most blockchains are trying to be everything. Very few are trying to be excellent at one thing. A chain built specifically for gaming or small business could pull crypto into new use cases instead of keeping it confined to finance.
The building continues. Somewhere a small team is solving a real problem. Once they are ready to launch their code will change the world.
Final Word
Winter is when the work gets done.
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."— Chinese Proverb
Speaking of Building in Bear Market…
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Disclaimer:
The information in this publication is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research before making any financial decisions. Cryptocurrency investments carry risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. I actively invest and trade in the crypto markets, and my personal portfolio and holdings change frequently. Nothing I share should be interpreted as a guarantee of performance or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset.
https://www.fidelitydigitalassets.com/sites/g/files/djuvja3256/files/acquiadam/FDA%20Ethereum%20Coin%20Report%2012-06.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniswap?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leeorshimron/2023/08/16/layer-2-wars-heat-up-as-coinbase-launches-base/?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solana_(blockchain_platform)
https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/proof-of-reserves-these-exchanges-are-adhering-to-the-new-standard?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/06/20/real-world-asset-tokenization-hits-24-billion-as-wall-street-bets-big/?