BrianYan

With the official schedule of TOKEN2049 Week Dubai announced, an offline feast about the future of Web3 is about to unfold.
Unlike traditional conferences, this year's Dubai event shows a clearer trend of change:

Narrative acceleration, capital rotation, social node explosion.

From mainstream public chains to infrastructure projects, from capital institutions to emerging communities, all roles are positioning themselves in advance, seizing the next round of market narrative high ground.
🔥 Trend 1: Narrative differentiation, segmented tracks competing for user mindshare.
From the perspective of the event themes and partner layout, DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network), RWA (Real World Asset Tokenization), and the new paradigm of GameFi (Chain Abstraction and Financialized Games) have become the prominent narrative axis of this year's TOKEN2049 Week.

In the past week, the density of information in the crypto market has exploded:
Binance Wallet launched Hyperlane (HYPER) with a 69x over-subscription, making HYPER the new narrative focus for Solana's external chain assets;
Traditional giants like MoonPay, JD.com, and ING Bank have all bet on 'stablecoin issuance', sparking a new round of Web2.5 marketing wars;

Alternative assets/narratives like Zuitzerland Network State, Trump ETF, and FARTCOIN continue to grab attention;

Meanwhile, BTC breaks $90,000, accompanied by liquidity differentiation, with funds pouring into short-term hot assets rather than mainstream blue chips.

In such an environment, the biggest challenge for Web3 projects and trading platforms is no longer 'Is there a hot topic?' but rather:

In the recent global market environment, several forces are intertwining:

• U.S. presidential candidate Trump has reintroduced signals of increased tariffs, reinforcing the priority of the U.S. domestic economy, indicating intensified risks of international trade friction and capital liquidity.
• BTC continues to decline, consecutively breaking through key psychological price levels, triggering a general risk aversion in the crypto market.

• Projects like Sui and WAL are causing capital rotation, with short-term liquidity shifting from mainstream coins to hot assets, significantly increasing internal diversion within exchanges.
The turbulence of the macro economy, combined with the tightening liquidity in the crypto market, is reshaping the survival rules for Web3 project parties and exchanges.

The Web3 industry values speed, but the growth of exchanges is never an overnight game. From cold start to ecosystem expansion, the growth challenges faced by exchanges vary at each stage. Platforms that truly succeed are often not those that 'spend the most money,' but those that 'do a few things right at the correct stage.'

Today, let's talk about: How should marketing strategies be designed for exchanges at different stages to truly achieve ROI maximization?

🥚 Phase 1: Cold Start Period (0 → 1)
Keywords: cognitive establishment + seed user acquisition

From prison to the forefront of the industry, Zhao Changpeng discusses 'understanding, belief, and patience': the next phase of Web3 projects must change their growth methods.

"Achieving long-term growth and wealth requires understanding, belief, and patience."

In an exclusive interview with Foresight News, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) shed his halo and reflected on the turning points in his life over the past year with a highly rational tone—this includes four months of imprisonment, a renewed understanding of family and health, as well as calm observations on the frenzy of meme coins, regulatory games, missed opportunities with Ethereum, and the future of decentralized finance.

Binance recently received the largest equity investment in the history of the crypto industry from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund $MUBARAK. This news quickly ignited market enthusiasm and attracted widespread attention from global investors. This event not only reflects traditional capital's recognition of the Web3 ecosystem but also indicates that the market landscape of the entire crypto industry may undergo significant changes.
At the same time, the surge of scam projects, increased market competition, and rising user acquisition costs pose greater challenges for Web3 projects. In such a market environment, how can they find breakthroughs amidst industry changes, achieve user growth, and build brand influence?

Recently, the crypto market has once again become a hot topic - rumors that "Trump family plans to invest in Binance" have sparked heated discussions, while Bitcoin has fallen below 81,000 USDT in just a few weeks, and market sentiment has fluctuated.

For the upcoming Web3 projects, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Investors are becoming more cautious, user acquisition costs are rising, and traditional marketing strategies are becoming ineffective. But history shows that market adjustment periods are often windows for the rise of new models and growth strategies.

In the new cycle, token model design or product innovation alone can no longer determine the success of a project. How to build an efficient marketing system and form a long-term community consensus is the key to breaking through the market dilemma.

In the past few months, the crypto market has entered a new adjustment phase. Bitcoin prices have continued to fluctuate, and the altcoin market faces value shrinkage, with many Web3 startups feeling the pressure of tighter financing and slower user growth.
However, truly outstanding projects often give birth to future growth curves during bear markets. Historically, whether it was the DeFi explosion after the 2018 bear market or the AI + Web3 track that emerged from the 2022 market low, every market downturn presents an opportunity for new projects to shine.
For upcoming Web3 projects, the current market environment means: more cautious funding, more discerning users, and scarcer traffic. Relying solely on past strategies of 'big crypto influencers + FOMO marketing' has become increasingly difficult to ignite the market. So, how should projects plan their marketing strategies at this stage to gain attention and capture users during a market downturn?

In the crypto market, a tweet can cause a surge in coin prices, a live broadcast can sell out NFTs instantly, and a celebrity's casual recommendation can even lead to millions in trading volume.
From Trump NFTs to Musk's Dogecoin, KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing in the Web3 era has become an important force driving market growth. However, not all KOL marketing can bring success; some projects soar due to choosing the right influencers, while others fall into crisis due to misjudging KOLs.

So, how can KOL marketing be used to boost project growth in the Web3 era? How can we avoid pitfalls? Let's find the answers from real cases.

Over the past few years, the Web3 space has undergone several technological changes and market cycles, from the outbreak of DeFi and NFTs in 2021 to the large-scale adjustments in 2022, and now to the rise of AI technology in 2023, the entire industry is being reshaped by data-driven intelligent decision-making.

Today, the maturity of AI not only makes Web3 projects operate more efficiently but is also becoming an important tool for leading institutions in token issuance, marketing, operations, and liquidity management. Whether it's Chainalysis's breakthroughs in on-chain data analysis, Messari's AI-driven market trend analysis, or Binance and OKX's AI applications in user growth and trading strategies, all are pushing the industry towards a more intelligent and refined growth model.