“Bring your friends
It’s fun to lose and to pretend”

– Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit

So, for the first time in a long time (well not that long), say 6 months, we’re in a crypto-bear market.

In 30 days:

– Bitcoin, down 13%

– Ethereum: down 20%

– Solana: Down 17%

…

So, we’re starting to hit a crypto bear market — where the inexorable and inevitable price rises have not only abated, but reversed.  It’s less fun.  No one like losing.  No one talks about losing.  No one tells their friends about the hot coin that dropped right after you bought it.  The discord channels dry up.  Volumes drop.

What to do?

One good friend told me that crypto requires patience and belief.  If you don’t have it, you’ll sell at the first pull back and maybe be happy that either you cut your losses, or locked in your gains.  For those who have stuck with it, they have been handsomely rewarded over time.  So, it comes down to you.

The blockchain enables fundamentally new use cases, more of which are popping up every day.  In the past few years, we have seen the emergence of DEXs, lending, a huge NFT market, new L2s and L1s, plus the continued growth of Bitcoin.  If you believe that these changes portend a greater future and see the long term, then the answer may be clear to you.  If you do not believe, well then, the answer is also likely just as clear.

At Concert, we look at the new applications that are enabled by the blockchain and are overwhelmed with the potential and possibility. That’s why we chose to develop on the blockchain from day one.  In addition, we have seen many of the challenges that we initially had to overcome, starting to be solved.  For example, the L1s are getting better and new L2s are emerging.  This will result is faster processing times and substantially lower fees, all of which are a very good thing given the world at the moment and for anyone who has had the (mis)fortune of trading on the Ethereum L1 recently.

We see a new world and are still at the beginning.  Bull or bear is short term and we see the long here.  But, hey, we were convinced a long time ago.  And, it wouldn’t be honest to at least acknowledge that this is not as much fun to lose and pretend, vs. gaining and winning.