The more I look at the crypto market lately, the more I feel—this circle is really pushed to the limit. Each track is like a squeezed sponge; trying to wring out some new stories? Difficult.

Let's talk about DeFi. Old players like AAVE have already divided the market quite well; the lending protocols have all the necessary functions, and users have formed their habits. Do you want to launch a new DeFi project now? Unless you can perform magic, it's basically hopeless. The ceiling is clearly defined.

As for MEME coins... to put it bluntly, it's just a game of passing the buck. Most projects can't even be bothered to write a white paper, relying entirely on the community's hype and memes to sustain interest. Once the trend passes, the speed of returning to zero is faster than a roller coaster. Only a few top ones can survive, and it also depends on whether the community is solid enough.

Life isn't easy for L2s either. Ethereum has upgraded and expanded itself; who still relies heavily on your layer two network? What's more awkward is that a bunch of L2 projects are surviving by draining the ETH ecosystem, which in turn drags down ETH's own value performance. This operation is indeed awkward.

How about public chains? ETH, SOL, BNB, and TRX have already occupied the turf they need. With overlapping functions and similar scenarios, how can new public chains break through? Unless you can tell a completely different story, otherwise, you are just running alongside. The market is no longer lacking underlying chains; what it lacks is real demand.

Stablecoins are even more solid. USDT and USDC, relying on compliance licenses and liquidity depth, have a firm grip on the market. Do newcomers want a piece of the pie? Sorry, without resources or background, you're basically just a marginal role trying to scrape by.

In the realm of decentralized perpetual contracts, HYPE has secured the top position with real trading volume and user stickiness. What about other platforms? Many are just inflating data to appear robust; false prosperity won't last long, and the bubble will burst with a poke.

In the end, what this industry lacks the most right now is not projects, but a new engine that can bring in incremental users and real demand. After playing the stock game for too long, everyone is tired. $AAVE $ETH $SOL