The current crypto market is a world apart from what it was before 2020. In every bull market from 2017 to 2022, both major and minor coins went crazy with gains, with any coin potentially multiplying dozens or hundreds of times. With a bit of luck, blindly buying a few hundred dollars worth could turn into tens of thousands overnight...

But the way things work in 2024 has completely shattered that bull market pattern. Last year, only $BTC saw significant gains, while even major coins like Ethereum and Solana still saw their market caps shrink.

Now it's July, more than halfway through the year, and altcoins have been consistently falling since their small rally last year, with many hitting all-time lows. Some issuers are simply clearing out their coins at rock-bottom prices and running away. Exchanges actually sensed the market downturn in the second half of last year and quickly changed their strategy, frantically issuing all sorts of fake-concept junk coins, wanting to issue 100 a day if they could. They would open at high prices and then fall continuously, selling off their coins and then issuing new ones, continuing to use the same old tricks to fleece investors.

It wasn't until early 2025 that the fleeced investors finally woke up. Some left the crypto world, and many long-time players withdrew their funds and quit. One exchange lost nearly 100,000 users in a single day, which finally curbed the frenzy of issuing new coins.

It is estimated that exchanges in 2025 also felt an unprecedented survival crisis. The crypto market lacks fresh blood, and old players are constantly leaving. Bitcoin is controlled by big capital, and the major exchanges that once had a say are now without dominance, no different from ordinary retail investors. Today's exchanges are surrounded by enemies on all sides and are full of crises. The fantasy of retail investors getting rich overnight has also been completely shattered - after all, the mental stimulant of 'getting rich overnight,' which is even more attractive than Bitcoin, has long since worn off.