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In July 2022, Vitalik Buterin delivered the keynote address at the Ethereum 4 Community Conference (EthCC) in Paris. While Buterin is a strong believer in decentralized finance (DeFi), he stressed that this bear market is an opportunity to push the banner of decentralization further.

I sat down with crypto marketing expert Arnaud Labossière for a short interview. We discuss his take on the cryptocurrency bear market and who benefits from it.

Bear markets are an opportunity for builders

The cryptocurrency market as a whole has been in a tailspin since the end of 2021. Throughout 2022, we have seen prices drop sharply and project after project plunge. Terra, Celsius, and Voyager are some of the biggest names in that group, but many lesser blockchains have followed in their footsteps.

Unsurprisingly, the faint of heart have largely withdrawn from the field. However, those passionate about building the next stage of Web3 see this for the opportunity that it is.

Cryptocurrency is not the only place where fortunes can be made while the sails are red.

Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb are household names, and all made big gains during bear markets. Facebook was launched in 2004 after the dot-com bubble burst, while Uber and Airbnb were founded during the global economic downturn of 2008.

With examples like that, Labossière sees similar successes in store for cryptocurrencies. When asked about the importance of community, he was emphatic. He pointed out that bad fundamentals with a strong community behind the project can lead to success, while anything good without the community is doomed to failure.

“Everything is a community. Even Bitcoin has a cult following…with its own code, influencers, gurus like Max Keizer or Michael Saylor. The success of a project depends on the community… and the project has to value, empower and respect the community in order for it to last.”

He went on to point out that Do Kwon’s public blunders on Twitter contributed to Terra’s fall from grace. And other leaders in the crypto space have faced the same type of consequences when they became disconnected from their community.

Bear markets are for innovators too

It doesn’t take an innovative mindset to know that a bear market equals selling prices. However, investors who were not driven out of the market tend to flee to the safe harbors of blue chip coins like Bitcoin and Ether.

Labossière reminds us that countless opportunities arise every day, but you have to be vigilant. There are still tokens going to the moon, ICOs being overlooked, and NFT projects thriving.

However, according to Labossière, there are still many challenges. “FUD is everywhere. And holders prefer to invest time and resources in bluechip tokens rather than uncertain moon launches. But from a crypto builder’s perspective, it is much more profitable to start building during the bear market and capitalize on the next bull.

“Retail money is leaving the space while institutional money or smart money is massively investing.And he’s right. Venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, raised $4.5 billion earlier this year for crypto projects. Other, more recent funding includes $200 million for Limit Break to build blockchain games and $56 million for ReadyPlayerMe to develop its cross-play avatar platform.

keep grinding

Whether you are a builder or an investor, one thing is certain. Like so many things in life, you will get out of this what you put into it. The bear market is separating the wheat from the chaff. To know which is which, you have to get down to work.

To get started, do your own research. At the best of times, there are a lot of scams and carpet pulls out there, and these are not the best of times. Also, keep learning about crypto trends and web3 technologies. It is a professional investment that always pays big dividends.

Anyone can buy bitcoin and HODL. The real winners of this bear market will be the crypto investors and web3 creators who can find the success stories hidden in the wreckage of the failures.

To sum up

We are in the middle of a crypto winter. If this is anything like the latter, we still have a ways to go. Still, this is a good time to build, and not just in DeFi. Finding investment capital can be challenging, but that only reinforces the need for a project to add value to the Web3 space.

The bear market is as good for investors as it is for project developers. Blockchains are still running, NFTs are growing, and new projects are coming online.

To stay in the game, you need to do the work. Investigate, find the diamonds in the rough, and reap the rewards. It’s a fabulous space, but also a rough one. As Bilbo told Frodo,

It’s dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You get on the road and if you don’t stay on your feet, you don’t know where they can take you.