If you’re working in Web3 or looking to build in the space, the current market conditions are hard to ignore. It’s easy for newcomers to get dissuaded when projects are dying and fortunes are being lost. However, it’s in moments like these that those with true conviction hunker down and build, regardless of the short-term outlook. These are the projects that are rewarded when the markets eventually change, which is why it's so important to not get crippled by fear and remember… we’re in a build market not a bear market. 

Building out of opportunity is a much more sustainable approach than building based on market conditions, and strong projects have an opportunity to position themselves for success now. Take for example Sorare, the fantasy sports game built around NFT trading cards. It was founded in December of 2018, a year after the market began to crash and only a month after Bitcoin’s market capitalization dropped below $100 billion for the first time since October 2017. Sorare’s founders took this as an opportunity to begin building what has since raised $739.2 million in funding and acquired licensing deals with major league football and baseball clubs. 

Sorare serves as just one example of the many blockchain businesses that approached development with confidence while the markets were bloody, and were rewarded for their conviction. If you’re reading this, then you have some level of interest in blockchain technology and the transformative potential that it represents across industries. With this in mind, it's important not to get caught up in what the masses are doing and remember that a few years down the line it will be early adopters that cement their status and benefit from being one of the first. 

The reality is that NOW is the time to build, and waiting could very well make it harder to succeed when euphoria sweeps the market. 

From a fundamentals perspective, not much has changed. 81% of finance executives agree that blockchain has already achieved mainstream adoption and the global blockchain market is on track to hit $1.4 trillion by 2030. Unique crypto addresses continue to rise, with Bitcoin addresses growing by 92% since 2018 to hit 40 million and Ethereum wallet addresses are at 201.3 million, up 22.9% in only a year. The NFT market value has increased by 30x since 2020, reaching $3 billion this year with projections of over $13 billion by 2027

It should be clear that blockchain technology is on course to transform most major industries. While the volatility associated with this emerging digital asset class is definitely real, when you zoom out and focus on fundamentals the signs are all there. Looking at where venture capitalists are allocating their resources should also illuminate the macro-bullishness that exists, as they invested over $33 billion into blockchain startups in 2021 alone. 

Instead of approaching this industry with a short-sighted mentality, now is the time to reach down and tackle the work with confidence because in the long run that data is clear.

The path becomes more clear during times like these. It’s easy to get swept up in the euphoria of a bull market, with projects frantically working to take advantage of the money flooding in. However, this can become blinding and lead to irrational decisions and false perceptions of reality. Build markets cut through the noise, as projects and processes with longevity rise to the top and become easier to notice and more trusted to follow.

While every business aims to generate significant revenue, it can be beneficial to temporarily remove price action from the equation. This makes breathing room to focus on the growth of community and innovation of ideas, building a foundation for the financial growth that lies ahead. The projects that give up or fail during these markets create more room for truly dedicated and effective businesses to rise in prominence. These conditions are essential for innovation and clarity starts to take hold as the noise of bad projects and undedicated builders dissipates. 

There is a laundry list of companies that hunkered down and built incredible products during times like these. My earlier example of Sorare is just the tip of the iceberg. Anatoly Yakovenko published the Solana whitepaper in November of 2017, just as the market crash began. A few months later in February of 2018, Greg Fitzgerald started prototyping the first implementation of this whitepaper. Now, Solana has a market cap of $14 billion and over 240 million transactions a day on its network. 

Do you think the founders were worried about price action, or were they focused on the potential that their technology represented? They positioned themselves to be a major player at the start of the next market cycle, which they succeeded in achieving. What is built now will set the tone for the next bull market. Preparing by building is a much stronger approach than rushing to build when the markets shift. As Ray Dalio says, “it's just another one of those”, meaning that there are a lot of principles to be learned from these shared experiences and applied to current decisions in order to improve them. 

Looking to the past and learning from the successes and failures of those that came before you is one of the best strategies for preparing a successful future. This future will be extremely bright for the projects that understand the nature of a build market. 

As blockchain maxis push forward with no hesitation, the weak get shaken out and lose their chance to construct a strong foundation during this build market. This is nature taking its course, enabling the strong to survive because of their unwavering mindset. If you don’t take my word for it, consider the third richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, “be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” Or, look to nature where fires rid forests of dead leaves and debris, rejuvenating the soil with nutrients and opening space for young plants to thrive. While the fires spread through the crypto market and shake out the weak, the true believers are here building and preparing for the incredible opportunities that lie ahead.

If you’re working in Web3 or looking to build in the space, the current market conditions are hard to ignore. It’s easy for newcomers to get dissuaded when projects are dying and fortunes are being lost. However, it’s in moments like these that those with true conviction hunker down and build, regardless of the short-term outlook. These are the projects that are rewarded when the markets eventually change, which is why it's so important to not get crippled by fear and remember… we’re in a build market not a bear market. 

Building out of opportunity is a much more sustainable approach than building based on market conditions, and strong projects have an opportunity to position themselves for success now. Take for example Sorare, the fantasy sports game built around NFT trading cards. It was founded in December of 2018, a year after the market began to crash and only a month after Bitcoin’s market capitalization dropped below $100 billion for the first time since October 2017. Sorare’s founders took this as an opportunity to begin building what has since raised $739.2 million in funding and acquired licensing deals with major league football and baseball clubs. 

Sorare serves as just one example of the many blockchain businesses that approached development with confidence while the markets were bloody, and were rewarded for their conviction. If you’re reading this, then you have some level of interest in blockchain technology and the transformative potential that it represents across industries. With this in mind, it's important not to get caught up in what the masses are doing and remember that a few years down the line it will be early adopters that cement their status and benefit from being one of the first. 

The reality is that NOW is the time to build, and waiting could very well make it harder to succeed when euphoria sweeps the market. 

From a fundamentals perspective, not much has changed. 81% of finance executives agree that blockchain has already achieved mainstream adoption and the global blockchain market is on track to hit $1.4 trillion by 2030. Unique crypto addresses continue to rise, with Bitcoin addresses growing by 92% since 2018 to hit 40 million and Ethereum wallet addresses are at 201.3 million, up 22.9% in only a year. The NFT market value has increased by 30x since 2020, reaching $3 billion this year with projections of over $13 billion by 2027

It should be clear that blockchain technology is on course to transform most major industries. While the volatility associated with this emerging digital asset class is definitely real, when you zoom out and focus on fundamentals the signs are all there. Looking at where venture capitalists are allocating their resources should also illuminate the macro-bullishness that exists, as they invested over $33 billion into blockchain startups in 2021 alone. 

Instead of approaching this industry with a short-sighted mentality, now is the time to reach down and tackle the work with confidence because in the long run that data is clear.

The path becomes more clear during times like these. It’s easy to get swept up in the euphoria of a bull market, with projects frantically working to take advantage of the money flooding in. However, this can become blinding and lead to irrational decisions and false perceptions of reality. Build markets cut through the noise, as projects and processes with longevity rise to the top and become easier to notice and more trusted to follow.

While every business aims to generate significant revenue, it can be beneficial to temporarily remove price action from the equation. This makes breathing room to focus on the growth of community and innovation of ideas, building a foundation for the financial growth that lies ahead. The projects that give up or fail during these markets create more room for truly dedicated and effective businesses to rise in prominence. These conditions are essential for innovation and clarity starts to take hold as the noise of bad projects and undedicated builders dissipates. 

There is a laundry list of companies that hunkered down and built incredible products during times like these. My earlier example of Sorare is just the tip of the iceberg. Anatoly Yakovenko published the Solana whitepaper in November of 2017, just as the market crash began. A few months later in February of 2018, Greg Fitzgerald started prototyping the first implementation of this whitepaper. Now, Solana has a market cap of $14 billion and over 240 million transactions a day on its network. 

Do you think the founders were worried about price action, or were they focused on the potential that their technology represented? They positioned themselves to be a major player at the start of the next market cycle, which they succeeded in achieving. What is built now will set the tone for the next bull market. Preparing by building is a much stronger approach than rushing to build when the markets shift. As Ray Dalio says, “it's just another one of those”, meaning that there are a lot of principles to be learned from these shared experiences and applied to current decisions in order to improve them. 

Looking to the past and learning from the successes and failures of those that came before you is one of the best strategies for preparing a successful future. This future will be extremely bright for the projects that understand the nature of a build market. 

As blockchain maxis push forward with no hesitation, the weak get shaken out and lose their chance to construct a strong foundation during this build market. This is nature taking its course, enabling the strong to survive because of their unwavering mindset. If you don’t take my word for it, consider the third richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, “be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” Or, look to nature where fires rid forests of dead leaves and debris, rejuvenating the soil with nutrients and opening space for young plants to thrive. While the fires spread through the crypto market and shake out the weak, the true believers are here building and preparing for the incredible opportunities that lie ahead.