Chuxiao Chain has been in the cryptocurrency market for 2 years and 9 months, and recently there has been strong anxiety and doubts.
Entering the market during the bullish phase of 2021, I watched the price of BTC rise from 47k to 69k, fluctuating almost every day. I bought 0.0089 BTC for $500 for the first time, and now I have lost half of it.
As a newcomer to the cryptocurrency world, I often reflect on whether blockchain is a revolution or a scam due to price fluctuations.
After 13 years of blockchain development, specific applications are still not visible to the naked eye. As a retail player, I can only gain some profits in the ups and downs of the cryptocurrency market. Due to the huge market uncertainty, I return the profits back to the market, and even the principal is trapped. Some contract players have already lost everything. 
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BTC price trends since 2011
Since 2021, the price of Bitcoin has dropped to $15,476, which is a historic low for a period of time. However, the market is not discouraged, and everyone believes that it will rise again. There are also old players who continue to cheer and recharge their faith;
Entering 2023, especially in the second half of the year, the market has continued to decline, and users have gradually left. As the bear market deepens, more and more people lose confidence, and the on-chain activity and trading volume continue to reach new lows. 
Many cryptocurrency projects have laid off employees and stopped operations
Old players in the community and social media are also inactive.
In a bear market, it is normal for the community to be quiet, and individual players to be inactive. The lively scene of receiving 999 unread messages per minute is gone.
But many early players have gradually stopped speaking. I don’t know if they have lost everything, or if they have made value investments, or if they have lost confidence in the market. The old players have become quiet, and the newcomers are even more anxious.
Some time ago, when the price was falling, the big shots were shouting about value investment and holding, but now it is getting quieter and rarely see related remarks.
Some time ago, the Mixin wallet that was regularly invested was hacked, and the investment has not paid off. The wallet has been emptied, and some people have lost several BTC. 
Mixin wallet being hacked
Wallets that received airdrops have been emptied.
Players who used to interact and receive airdrops in the bear market are also unhappy. In the past few days, the web3 task platform Galxe was hacked, and some users who interacted and logged in found their wallets emptied and their assets stolen.
In a bear market with a lack of liquidity, hackers are more active. Contract vulnerabilities, project bugs, project rug-pulls, if you’re not careful, you’ll be chopped as a leek.
The socialfi project friendtech, which was hot recently, a clone of Stars Arena, was hacked within 7 days of its launch.
The project team announced that due to a contract vulnerability, more than $270 million was stolen. It’s unclear whether the project team left a backdoor or if the hackers were just too powerful and discovered the bug all at once.
In the bear market, wallets are often stolen and emptied, and more and more people are being exploited. Sometimes, someone in an interactive group shares a link or QR code, and if someone quickly acts on it, their wallet may be stolen. It’s hard to prevent.
In the bear market, those who avoid unnecessary actions are more likely to preserve their principal and avoid bankruptcy in a short period of time. 
The friendtech imitation platform Stars Arene was hacked.
In 2023, airdrop projects have little wealth effect.
During this period, only a small number of projects conducted airdrops, but the airdropped tokens did not generate much wealth, and the methods of realizing the value are too limited.
For example, WLD and ARKM, which were launched not long ago, have had a mediocre performance, and the airdrops did not generate much profit.
Recently, various popular L2 projects require continuous interaction and gas fees, but there have been no airdrop announcements. It is unknown whether the gas fees for the interactions will be wasted. Many airdrop studios have already closed down.
It is not only difficult to sustain the continuous gas investment, but also to wait for the uncertain airdrop announcements that may never come. 
zkSync has interacted with several ecological projects.
The web3 scene in Hong Kong is not as lively as imagined.
During the National Day holiday, I went to Hong Kong and found a BTC ATM, which was indeed convenient to use. I could directly exchange BTC for Hong Kong dollars, or use Hong Kong dollars to directly purchase BTC.
There are about 1,600 cryptocurrency ATMs in Hong Kong, which do facilitate the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies for ordinary users.
However, the exchange rates are relatively high due to the differences in rates among platforms.
Almost all ATMs are hidden in various streets and alleys, without dedicated counters or storefronts. Some are next to restrooms in shopping malls, while others are inside 24-hour laundromats.
It feels like cryptocurrencies are also a niche project in Hong Kong, only a game participated by a small number of people, and not as open as imagined. 
BTC ATMs on the streets of Hong Kong
During this period, I feel lost and anxious, mainly because of the uncertainty about the future, and more so because of my own limited ability to cash out.
Having been in the industry for over 2 years, I have spent a lot of time and energy, but the results are uncertain. If the overall environment remains unfavorable and there is no return and a deep bear market, it becomes difficult for everyone to persist.
As these emotions spread, doubts about the market become stronger, and those who can’t persist choose to leave proactively.
In the long history of the crypto market, the current situation may just be a flat line without fluctuations, but whether the future is upward or downward, no one can say for sure. Opportunities are destined to belong to only a few, and success is accidental, while failure is the norm.
I wonder how you are enduring this difficult period in the bear market, where there is no passion but many crises?
Above is just my personal opinion, not investment advice. I am Chu Xiaolian, and I am following the cryptocurrency market and web3.
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