Source: Cointelegraph
Original: (In the next four years, let’s avoid a bull market)
Author: Adam Silver, Co-founder and CEO of Plural Energy
Last month, the new government took office in Washington, promising to re-examine outdated cryptocurrency regulatory policies. Although the 'crypto czar' and the new chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are still adapting to their roles, the radical deregulatory trend had already gained industry support well before November 2024.
With Bitcoin reaching an all-time high, mainstream media frequently reports on corporate funds pouring into the crypto space, so it's not surprising that the industry cheers President Trump's promise to create a crypto-friendly regulatory era. But as industry practitioners, we must think about the critical question: Should meme coins define our industry? Or should we build a new financial system that can drive transformative change in the pillars of the U.S. economy?
Get to the essence
A bull market is coming, but it does not have to be a 'bubble bull market'—especially for those practitioners expecting institutional investors to enter. When attracting new users, assets, and use cases, the greatest historical challenge has always been how to demonstrate the true value of blockchain beyond the headlines to the public. Traditional media often portrays the crypto world as an out-of-control liberal fantasy—filled with scams, memes, and fraud. Each piece of news about exit scams, hacking attacks, and lawsuits adds bricks to the high walls of skepticism that entrepreneurs in the real asset world must overcome.
When entrepreneurs struggle to persuade traditional industries to migrate real asset use cases onto the chain, PR firms attempt to reshape perceptions through rhetoric: saying 'blockchain' instead of 'cryptocurrency'; calling it 'digital equity' instead of 'tokens'; using 'on-chain' instead of 'DeFi'; and tirelessly emphasizing 'smart contracts.' But this is not merely a public relations rhetoric problem; it is a systemic issue shaking the credibility of the transformative technology in the industry.
The question of use cases
When on-chain trading volume mainly comes from meme coins, the proposition of 'use cases' becomes increasingly complex. Nearly 13 million meme coins created in 2024 generated a market value of $120 billion. This digital game is certainly fun when prices rise, but in the end, most investors cannot escape losses. Even the volatility of well-known meme coins is 50 times that of Bitcoin. It is estimated that 30% of meme coins are essentially premeditated exit scams, and these losses are often borne by new users, creating a vicious cycle—when newcomers first enter the chain and encounter scams, it precisely confirms the worst predictions of all crypto skeptics.
While meme coins and NFTs certainly occupy a place in the ecosystem, cultural assets will always be a part of investment portfolios. But the true value of blockchain is not in a windowless casino built by code, but in the reality illuminated by the sun. Solving systemic problems in energy, healthcare, infrastructure, and other fields through financial democratization and enhanced transparency is the vast potential of this technology.
Assess the situation
Political polarization may exacerbate existing challenges. Browsing post-election social media discussions, one can see an increasingly polarized public opinion forming an echo chamber in the industry, alienating a large number of potential users. Some opinion leaders have been mocking peers supporting the Harris-Walz campaign team throughout the fall, and this deliberate creation of opposition is weakening the universal appeal of the industry. When crypto technology becomes a political football, the entire industry will fall into crisis.
Path to breaking the deadlock
Changing the industry's reputation is certainly difficult, but builders must prove to new users and the outside world that a bull market does not have to be a 'poor-quality bubble market.' We need to construct use cases that allow technology to demonstrate its value, showcasing the true treasure of the crypto field—DeFi. The results of years of cultivation in the decentralized finance ecosystem can now empower real economy industries to bypass expensive intermediaries to obtain capital and financial products. When new users gain returns from understandable products, they will stay, increase their investments, and innovate alongside blockchain natives.
In the development process, we must be wary of the industry being represented by casino culture or extreme voices. We must embrace crypto-friendly policies while avoiding the application of technology becoming a tool for partisan strife. When blockchain achieves mainstream adoption, it must genuinely represent and serve everyone.
In other words, why not have a true bull market without 'bubbles' this time? We will ultimately prevail.
Author Bio: Adam Silver is the co-founder and CEO of Plural Energy, a clean energy on-chain investment platform. He previously served as the head of financial automation products at ServiceNow and as a digital consulting advisor at Deloitte, and participated as a startup mentor in the early financing of several companies. He has an educational background from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania.
Related: AI agents and blockchain are redefining the digital economy
This article is for informational reference only and does not constitute legal or investment advice. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent Cointelegraph.
