Less than two months after Trump took office, the crypto market has turned bearish. After recently hitting a six-digit all-time high, Bitcoin has fallen to around $80,000, down nearly 25% from its peak in January. This sudden and recurring trend highlights a key reality: Web3 is still dominated by market speculation and hype.

Market sentiment is generally anxious and pessimistic at the moment, but after a recent successful trip to ETHDenver with my team, I still maintain a certain optimism. As one of the largest annual events in the Ethereum and Web3 fields, ETHDenver combines hackathons, conferences, and community-driven innovation to truly showcase the latest developments in the industry.

ETHDenver prioritizes innovation, not hype

ETHDenver, like other places, discussed AI (especially decentralized AI) extensively. The difference is that this time I was more convinced of the direction we are building. At the very least, it proves that we are very clear about our position.

Over the years, I have traveled around the world to attend various crypto events and have experienced a lot. Sometimes, I am confused and surprised by the way some projects and investors operate - they rely entirely on narrative hype rather than actual innovation or realizable products. It is shocking that exaggerated concepts often take precedence over pragmatic execution.

If we look at the evolution of the crypto industry from a longer time perspective, more than 50% of the more than 24,000 cryptocurrencies listed on CoinGecko from 2014 to the end of 2023 have died. 2021 was the worst year: more than 70% of the projects listed that year are now out of business. A 2022 study showed that less than 50% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization actually have usable products. A similar situation was revealed in an analysis as early as 2018: only 36 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies at the time launched publicly available products.

The lack of more recent data directly reflects the chaos in the industry, and in-depth research and due diligence are almost impossible. In addition, the recent suspected pump-and-dump scam by politicians has affected millions of retail investors. The overall speculation of the industry far outweighs the actual value and fundamentals.

Focus on practical implementation rather than empty talk of innovation

For years, I have been advocating for a more grounded approach to innovation, especially in the field of AI. The key to sustainable progress lies not in chasing flashy concepts or crafting the perfect investment pitch, but in thoughtful execution and finding real-world applications that turn ideas into viable business models.

Fortunately, the atmosphere at ETHDenver was completely different. This time, my team met many outstanding people who were truly focused on "building" rather than chasing market hotspots. We saw many innovative projects with clear use scenarios and practical implementation plans, rather than just conceptual hype. To further promote this meaningful innovation, we held a Hackerhouse hackathon competition, which attracted outstanding developers from all over the United States to participate. The projects in this competition make me full of confidence in the future-they prove that some real builders are moving forward firmly and driving the development of the industry.

The DeAI project gives us hope

The first prize was won by the LabsDAO team, who developed LabsMarket, a decentralized AI marketplace that connects real-world contributors with the AI economy. The platform supports secure data upload, intellectual property registration, and MLOps (machine learning operations) integration.

The second prize was awarded to the Thousand Monkeys Thousand Typewriters team. Their project Frost is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and token issuance platform built specifically for the DeAI Layer-1 blockchain, aiming to lay the foundation for the combination of AI and DeFi (decentralized finance).

The third prize went to the OORTCAPTCHA team, who developed a fully on-chain, decentralized data annotation and reinforcement learning protocol. This solution ensures that AI data verification is resistant to Sybil attacks, making it an important tool for AI data annotation.

These teams are not just imagining the future, they are already actively building it. Their commitment to decentralized AI, blockchain real-world applications, and infrastructure construction makes me believe that despite the ups and downs of the market, truly valuable projects will eventually win.

Ethereum’s current challenges and long-term development direction

Meanwhile, despite ETHDenver showcasing many pragmatic innovators, the broader crypto market — and the Ethereum community in particular — is facing a new round of trust crisis. Ethereum and its founder Vitalik Buterin have been increasingly questioned for their token economic model and long-term vision. Intensified discussions about Ethereum’s staking centralization, scalability trade-offs, and governance models have exacerbated market pessimism and raised more doubts about its future.

This is another reminder that the cyclical changes in the crypto market will ruthlessly expose those projects that rely on hype to survive. Many projects that were sought after during the bull market are now experiencing an existential crisis and find it difficult to justify their high valuations. However, history shows that true builders will persist through these troughs, constantly improve their products, and ultimately prove their long-term value.

“Slow is fast”: moving forward steadily amid the hustle and bustle

Despite the current negative sentiment in the market, ETHDenver has reinforced for me that slow, steady, and thoughtful development is the only path to long-term success. The real breakthroughs in AI, blockchain, and Web3 will not come from projects chasing short-term hype, but from teams willing to solve real problems and build the future one step at a time.

So, even though the market is down, my confidence remains strong. The future of AI and decentralized AI is being built by people who value real value, not just flashy things. That’s where the real value lies, and so I remain confident in the future.

Author: Dr. Chong Li, founder of OORT and professor at Columbia University

Originally published in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/03/18/optimism-in-a-crypto-bear-market--key-insights-from-ethdenver/