1. The birth of Ethereum (ETH)

Let’s start by talking about the central target of these contenders.

The concept of the Ethereum network dates back to the end of 2013. Founder Vitalik Buterin proposed in the whitepaper a decentralized platform that is “open-source, blockchain-based, allowing developers to create and deploy smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).”

In July 2014, Vitalik Buterin and his team began a 42-day presale for Ethereum (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. This presale aimed to raise funds for the development and maintenance of the network and garnered around $18 million.

In August 2015, the Ethereum mainnet was launched, primarily targeting developers for the development and testing of smart contracts. ETH initially traded at around $0.3 per unit. Shortly after, it gradually climbed to the second position in terms of market capitalization, where it has remained stable to this day.

The year 2017 witnessed the rise of ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) as a popular fundraising method for numerous blockchain projects and startups. Many projects chose to conduct their ICOs on the Ethereum platform, leading to a surge in Ethereum’s market capitalization.

The main reasons for selecting the Ethereum network as an ICO platform can be attributed to several differentiating features:

1. Smart Contract Functionality & ERC-20 Standard:

1. One of the core features of the Ethereum network is its support for smart contracts. Smart contracts are self-executing protocols based on predefined conditions, enabling developers to create complex applications such as decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, blockchain-based games (GameFi), voting systems, and more, with fast transaction confirmation times and lower fees compared to Bitcoin.

2. Among these innovations, the ERC-20 standard provides a unified set of rules for token creation and issuance through smart contracts. Tokens following the ERC-20 standard can integrate seamlessly with Ethereum wallets and exchanges without the need for additional development, making it easier for projects to issue their own tokens on Ethereum and providing crucial convenience for fundraising during ICOs.

3. Mature Ecosystem & Active Community:

1. By 2017, the Ethereum network had developed a mature ecosystem to onboard more developers, including tools like the Solidity programming language for smart contracts and user-friendly wallets like MetaMask. These developments provided necessary infrastructure and services for deploying and issuing new project tokens, significantly lowering the barriers to entry for project teams.

2. Additionally, Ethereum boasted an active community, particularly comprising developers and technical experts, who voluntarily tackled technical challenges for many projects and provided innovative ideas, driving project development. Having the backing of a high-quality community and practical developer support played a crucial role in the success of new projects.

3. Market Recognition & Liquidity:

1. As the second-highest cryptocurrency by market capitalization at the time, Ethereum had gained market recognition, making it easier for projects conducting ICOs on Ethereum to attract investor attention and trust.
2. ETH, as the native token of the Ethereum network, was in high demand for both project developers deploying tokens and users engaging in transactions. High liquidity enabled investors to easily enter and exit the market, providing ICO projects with favorable liquidity. As a result of the ICO frenzy on the Ethereum platform, there was a significant demand for ETH itself, driving its price to skyrocket to $1400 by the end of 2017.

Overall, the ICO frenzy on the Ethereum platform brought about a surge in demand for ETH itself among project teams and investors, leading to a substantial increase in ETH’s price.

2. Attracting killers, what is Ethereum’s “crime”?

As Ethereum has journeyed forward, it has seemingly been the chosen one in the crypto world since its inception, attracting significant attention. It continuously innovates and improves the blockchain world, particularly with the introduction of smart contract protocols, which have unleashed limitless imagination in the cryptocurrency industry. It laid the groundwork for landmark events like the “DeFi Summer” in 2020 and the explosion of NFTs in 2021, fostering a fertile ground for popularity and prosperity. These events propelled the practical application and development of blockchain technology, drawing in more investors and developers from around the world.

However, as the saying goes, “The tallest trees are often the first to be hit by the wind.” When something garners too much attention and praise, there are inevitably opposing voices. Ethereum indeed faces several major criticisms from users, likened to obstacles one might encounter while swimming in a pool:

Similar to a swimming pool with limited capacity, the more people that flock in, the pool becomes overcrowded, and people are unable to smoothly and swiftly swim within it.

1. Scalability Issues:
2. As the number of users and applications grows, the Ethereum network becomes congested, resulting in longer block times and slower transaction speeds. When the demand for high transaction volume cannot be met, it negatively impacts many projects, especially in time-sensitive areas like gaming (GameFi), decentralized finance (DeFi), and NFT trading.
   

1. (Source: Nervos column article)

When the summer peak season arrives, this pool has to accommodate a larger user base than ever before. To smoothly navigate through this crowded scenario, it requires utilizing “financial capacity” to summon staff, allocate some users who entered with “early bird prices” or “discount coupons” to wait in line first. After the “financial players” ahead finish their round and come out of the pool, they slowly return to progress.

   2. Network congestion and high Gas fees:

1. During specific periods (such as rushing to mint NFTs or swiftly trade airdropped tokens), it can lead to severe congestion on the Ethereum network, causing delays or even unsuccessful transactions, greatly affecting user experience.

2. To quickly resolve network congestion within a short time frame, users need to pay higher transaction fees (Gas fees).
   

3. (A sky-high mining fee in 2019: the handling fee was as high as 10,668.73185 ETH, while the transfer amount was only 350 ETH, which is 3% of the handling fee.)

The swimming pool has lockable storage lockers for you to store personal belongings. While most of the time it’s convenient to access them instantly, there might be that one unlucky instance when you find your valuable items stolen from the locker.

Alternatively, perhaps you’ve cautiously placed your belongings on the shore within your line of sight, using clothing to cover them. However, upon returning from swimming, you discover that while your clothes are still there, the valuable items beneath them have been swapped with worthless objects.

When seeking assistance from the swimming pool staff to review surveillance footage, all you see is the thief leaving with the stolen goods, turning right, and opening Doraemon’s Anywhere Door, disappearing into an untraceable parallel world.

Complaining to the swimming pool management proves futile, as you had signed an agreement upon entry, absolving them of any responsibility for your belongings.

1. Security Issues：
   1. Security, it can be said that it’s the red line in the world of blockchain. With the development of blockchain technology, an array of hacker techniques constantly evolves, making it unpredictable. Throughout its history, the Ethereum network has also experienced several significant security attacks.
   2. In 2016, The DAO crowdfunding project fell victim to an attacker who exploited a recursive call vulnerability in the smart contract, resulting in the theft of approximately 3.5 million ETH from the fund pool (valued at around $60 million at the time). This attack directly led to a split within the Ethereum community and ultimately prompted a hard fork of Ethereum, creating two separate chains, ETH and ETC. This event exposed the potential security risks inherent in smart contracts and the entire network, revealing hidden unknown security vulnerabilities.

Of course, encountering issues in a swimming pool is highly unlikely; however, transaction problems as described do occur more frequently on the Ethereum network.

In summary, conducting small transactions on the Ethereum network becomes uneconomical, hindering its widespread adoption, especially for applications requiring frequent and real-time transactions.

As a result, many project teams have found new opportunities in addressing these poor user experiences. They actively develop tailored solutions and alternative platforms, launching their own public chains to capture the traffic that Ethereum cannot handle.

3. The “Ethereum Killers” who are generally optimistic in 2021

In order to make a splash in the crypto world where attention costs are particularly high, many media outlets tend to use the gimmick of labeling many prominent blockchains as “Ethereum killers” in their promotional press releases to attract attention.

Here, I came across an article from “Forkast” at the end of 2021 titled “The top 5 ‘Ethereum killers’ of 2021,” which lists the following 5 “Ethereum killers”:

Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), BNB Chain (BNB), Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT).

The author, Lachlan Keller, is an Australian journalist who focuses on the cryptocurrency industry. While one person’s opinion may not represent everyone’s views, it can indirectly reflect the sentiments at the end of 2021, when some people were optimistic about potential alternatives to ETH.

It’s interesting to observe the developments of these five prominent “Ethereum killer” blockchains mentioned in the article over the past couple of years. (The following list is not in any particular order.)

Price trend is the best explanation of an underlying fundamentals

*Data from Messari

**Data recording deadlines are 2021/12/20 and 2024/03/24 respectively

According to the data in the table, after experiencing a bear market, the prices of various cryptocurrencies have all declined. Among them, BNB has experienced the smallest decline. After the recent bull market correction, its price has remained relatively stable, and the gap from the all-time high (ATH) of $690 in 2021 is gradually narrowing.

Next is SOL. Although today’s price is slightly lower than the price at that time, there was a pre-sale frenzy of several popular meme projects on the Solana network in mid-month, which also drove up its price, reaching as high as $208. Compared with the end of 2021, the price has increased.

It is worth noting that SOL is the only cryptocurrency among these five “Ethereum killers” that has increased in market value, with a growth rate of +31.85%. For a period of time, its market value even surpassed BNB and ranked fourth.

As for the other three cryptocurrencies (ADA, AVAX, DOT), their prices have experienced declines of more than 50%, with the native token DOT of the Polkadot chain experiencing a decline of over 71%.

In 2021, when Lachlan wrote the article, it was a year of great prosperity in the cryptocurrency market, and the future seemed limitless:

Bitcoin reached a new high of $69,000, Coinbase went public on the Nasdaq, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF, and the concepts of NFTs and the metaverse rapidly gained popularity, bringing infinite increments…

However, with the cyclical fluctuations in the industry, as well as global pandemics, U.S. interest rate hikes, and the Luna black swan event, a large amount of funds accelerated their exit from the crypto industry. As a result, the crypto world entered a bear market, and assets that were generally optimistic at the time experienced comprehensive deep corrections.

In such a market full of randomness and volatility, fluctuations are normal. But how can one navigate the ups and downs of the market over time, smoothly landing on the shore and rushing to the next sea area, rather than being scattered by the sea, leaving almost nothing behind?

Perhaps we can glean some insights from the performance of these “killers.”

4. In a bear market, the market value does not fall but increases. What is Solana’s “ trump card ”?

First, let’s briefly introduce various information about Solana——

• Founder’s background：
  • The founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, previously served as a core engineer at Qualcomm in the United States, bringing with him extensive experience in performance optimization.
• Project background:
  • Initially, they wanted to create an order book trading platform on the blockchain but found that Ethereum couldn’t handle large-scale on-chain transactions. In early 2018, Anatoly decided to build a smart contract platform together with Raj Gokal.
• Financing and cooperation project parties:
  • According to Crunchbase statistics, Solana has conducted 13 rounds of financing so far, raising approximately $320 million in total. The largest single financing round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in June 2021, raising $314 million.
  • In the remaining rounds of financing, Multicoin Capital (which stood by the founding team since the overlooked seed round), Jump Crypto, and Alameda Research also provided significant support.
    
    

• Differentiating features：

The most proud performance label of a public chain is often prominently displayed on the official website page. One striking sentence introduction on the homepage reads— (Powerful for developers. Fast for everyone.)

From this official slogan, it’s clear that Solana is very confident in its underlying blockchain technology, and its vision is relatively straightforward and pure. It mainly targets two groups——

1. Developers: Solana empowers developers to push the boundaries of functionality on the blockchain through innovative capabilities.

2. Every user: Transactions on the Solana blockchain are fast, truly fast, catering to the needs of every user.

Keyword 1: Communities of Millions

• More than twenty million active addresses.

• Over 200 million NFTs have been minted on the chain.

• Solana Hacker House has 20,000 participants.

• 48,000 developers participated in project creation during hackathons.

Keyword 2: Mass Adoption

• “Economic”: The average cost per transaction is 0.00064 (in contrast to Ethereum’s gas fees, which can reach tens or hundreds of dollars per transaction).

• “Fast”: Block time is 4 seconds, capable of processing approximately 3,170 transactions per second (compared to Ethereum’s block time of approximately 15 seconds, processing 25 transactions per second).

• “Decentralized”: Verified by 1,717 independently operated nodes, ensuring the security and censorship resistance of your data. (Ethereum currently has 8,188 nodes.)

• “Energy-efficient and low-carbon”: Introducing an innovative combination of PoS (Proof of Stake) and PoH (Proof of History), which is a new timing method for distributed systems. This mechanism allows the network to achieve consensus without the need for traditional block time intervals, thereby improving transaction speed and significantly reducing energy consumption. (Ethereum employs a single PoS consensus mechanism.)

Keyword 3: Growth (Growth in All Aspects)

• “Payments”: The Solana Pay protocol integrates with entities such as Visa and Shopify, allowing users to make real-time payments using SOL or any other Solana-supported tokens (such as the stablecoin USDC). The fees are extremely low, and there’s no need to involve banks or third-party payment processors.

• “Gaming”: Leveraging robust technology to support the smooth operation of multiplayer online games on-chain, achieving fast response times and low latency, as seen in projects like Star Atlas and Aurory.

• “NFTs”: Utilizing state compression technology to reduce the minting cost of NFTs to $0.00011, enabling project creators to issue collections on-chain at scale and low cost. For instance, minting thousands or even millions of NFTs may only cost a few hundred dollars.

• “DeFi”: The total value locked (TVL) on the Solana chain has exceeded $11 billion, with an average 24-hour trading volume of over $400 million. Its robust infrastructure enables the chain to support various DeFi applications that are super fast, simple, and economically efficient.

Summary:

As the frontrunner in the “Ethereum killer” reserve team, Solana’s trump card is “I have what you have, and I have what you don’t.” Like Ethereum, Solana deeply understands that robust infrastructure technology is the cornerstone of a thriving blockchain.

Therefore, it places extremely high importance on cultivating a positive and active developer ecosystem. It hosts hackathons to attract talented developers, actively courts investors to fund and support various high-quality young entrepreneurial teams on its chain. Solana has incubated top-tier DeFi applications such as the Phantom wallet (a smooth and user-friendly browser wallet), Raydium (DEX), Magic Eden (NFT trading platform), StepN (M2E fitness game), and many others.

To maximize performance, Solana introduced a unique consensus mechanism combining PoS and PoH to enhance scalability, accommodate high throughput, reduce transaction latency, and lower transaction costs, thus optimizing user experience.

Of course, every coin has two sides. Solana has also experienced several major outages and security incidents, including large-scale hacks. Particularly noteworthy was the bankruptcy of FTX in 2022, tarnishing the reputation of its founder, SBF (an early supporter and active investor in Solana). This incident led to a sharp drop in Solana’s token price to single digits. FTX/Alameda Research still holds a significant amount of SOL tokens waiting to be unlocked, and the gradual liquidation of these assets may potentially impact the market, which remains to be seen.

However, what is worth appreciating is that even without the halo of the previous big bosses’ protection, Solana did not sink into obscurity or be forgotten during the bear market downturn. Instead, it firmly charted its own path.

Lily Liu, the chairperson of the Solana Foundation, actively explored development opportunities in other countries. Developers did not give up on further research and cultivation in the ecosystem; instead, they became even more active in innovating.

（Solana developer retention rate increases significantly in 2023）

During this period, Solana made significant strides in various areas. They introduced state compression technology to facilitate the issuance of NFT projects, a move that streamlined the process and reduced costs for creators. Additionally, Solana ventured into the hardware space with the release of the SAGA smartphone, which aimed to integrate seamlessly with the Solana ecosystem. The expansion of Solana Pay to include Visa and physical merchants marked a crucial milestone in enhancing the platform’s utility and accessibility for everyday users. Furthermore, Solana continuously worked on optimizing its cross-chain bridge performance, particularly with projects like Wormhole, to ensure interoperability with other chains and maximize connectivity within the broader blockchain ecosystem. As a preferred choice in the DePIN sector, Solana played a pivotal role in bringing more DePin projects, such as Helium Mobile’s token MOBILE, to the forefront, showcasing its potential for innovation and growth in decentralized finance. Alongside these developments, Solana also experienced waves of meme culture on-chain, further highlighting its vibrant and dynamic community. These efforts collectively reinforced Solana’s position and demonstrated its resilience amidst challenges, instilling confidence in investors and positioning Solana for a triumphant return to the forefront of the blockchain space in 2024.

Excellent as Solana galloping back into the user’s field of vision, what about the other players in the “killer” pool, how are they doing now?

5. Briefly review the ups and downs of other “Ethereum killers”

BNB Chain (BNB, initial total supply of 200 million tokens, with multiple burn events scheduled).

Pros:

1. As the leading exchange in the universe, the rapid growth in trading volume and user base has given investors hope. Binance has also launched the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), compatible with Ethereum smart contracts, providing a low-cost, high-efficiency decentralized application development environment, attracting numerous projects and developers.
2. Unlike Ethereum’s infinite issuance, Binance employs a unique token burning mechanism. A portion of the profits is used quarterly to repurchase and burn BNB, reducing circulating supply and thus increasing the value of BNB.
3. BNB is not just a medium of exchange; it can also be used for liquidity mining and IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings), earning it the nickname “golden shovel” from many users. For example, PancakeSwap on the BSC chain introduced IFOs, allowing users to stake BNB to acquire CAKE tokens and participate in new token offerings.

Cons:

1. In October 2022, BNB Chain was attacked by hackers, involving a total amount exceeding $566 million at the time, making it one of the largest security incidents in the cryptocurrency field to date.
2. In November 2022, the bankruptcy of FTX exchange had a significant impact on the entire cryptocurrency market, causing market panic and a crisis of trust. Although Binance and FTX are separate entities, the panic sentiment spread to other exchanges and their tokens.
3. The competition in the exchange market is intensifying, with platforms like the Mingdao Exchange gaining popularity last year, and OKX taking the lead by launching a Web3 wallet and attracting a large wave of users and funds, indirectly affecting Binance’s market share and the performance of BNB.
4. As the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and with its roots in the Chinese community, Binance faced intensified regulatory pressure during the last bear market. Facing criminal charges from the SEC, it ultimately concluded with a $4.3 billion fine and founder CZ stepping down as CEO.

Cardano (ADA, maximum total supply 45 billion)

Pros:

1. Cardano adopts a novel algorithm called Ouroboros, essentially a Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism, aimed at providing high energy efficiency, security, and scalability. It operates using a dual-layer system: the settlement layer (CSL) handles transactions, balances, and smart contracts, while the computation layer (CCL) manages data storage for future applications. Each layer can be upgraded independently without slowing down transactions on the other layer, thereby increasing transaction processing speed (TPS) and reducing transaction fees.
2. Regarding interoperability and fork issues, Cardano/ADA address them through sidechains and smart contract technology, allowing secure conversion of different mainnet coins and avoiding fork events, thus providing an example for industry development.
3. Since its ICO in 2017, Cardano raised a substantial amount of funds, making it one of the largest ICOs at the time, and has garnered loyal recognition from many early adopters. Cardano is driven by three teams with clear division of labor:

• IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong): A Hong Kong-based company led by founder Charles Hoskinson and composed of hundreds of elites, responsible for technical development.
• EMURGO: A Japanese company responsible for the project’s ecosystem layout, supporting and incubating other project teams within the ecosystem, and addressing funding issues (much of the early financing came from Japanese retail investors, leading to Cardano being nicknamed “Japanese Ethereum”).
• Foundation: The foundation is responsible for fund supervision, ecosystem regulations and standards, community development, promoting the Cardano protocol, and liaising with governments regarding regulations.

(In 2021, public investment interest in Cardano surpassed that of Bitcoin. Source: 2021 Investor Sentiment Survey Report released by Voyager Digital)

Cons

1. Development progress has been slow, with no “killer apps” developed over the years, and the operational team’s marketing language is not grounded enough, making it difficult for users to understand due to its overly technical nature.
2. Cardano, as the foundation of the network, is built on the Haskell programming language, with smart contract programming languages such as Plutus, Marlowe, and Aiken. Compared to other projects using languages like Solidity, Rust, or Move, these languages are relatively niche and require higher-level software engineers, resulting in a high barrier to entry for developers.

(Image source: Binance Square, Cardano user’s blog post content)

Avalanche (AVAX, maximum supply 720 million)

Pros:

1. Avalanche is a blockchain built on Layer 0, with a protocol consensus mechanism that is a new type of consensus algorithm combining the advantages of classical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (CBC) and Nakamoto Consensus (PoW). It achieves scalability, security, and high speed through random subsampling. (For detailed explanation, refer to this article compiled by Lu Dong: https://www.theblockbeats.info/news/28137)

1. Avalanche Chain consists of three subnets: the Exchange Chain (X Chain), the Contract Chain (C Chain), and the Platform Chain (P Chain). This innovative mechanism enhances the overall transaction speed on the chain, with the official claim of each subnet supporting throughput of up to 4500 TPS.
2. The foundation launched the $180 million liquidity mining reward program, Avalanche Rush, aiming to attract more DeFi projects and users to join the ecosystem. This program significantly boosted DeFi activities on Avalanche and increased the Total Value Locked (TVL) on the chain.
3. Avalanche not only supports sub-second confirmations but also provides support for various virtual machines such as EVM and WASM, making it a blockchain compatible with Ethereum. Through cross-chain bridges, assets can be easily transferred to Avalanche for trading, providing more choices for DeFi users.
4. In the gaming industry, the subnet technology allows each game to build a customized chain according to its specific requirements, giving game developers great flexibility to optimize the blockchain’s performance parameters. Game developers can even offer gas-free transactions, lowering the barrier for players to participate in games.
5. Avalanche actively seeks other growth opportunities, such as launching the “Avalanche Vista” program to support the tokenization of off-chain assets; achieving interoperability between Uniswap and Avalanche through LayerZero; collaborating with Morgan Stanley and Evergreen Subnets to build a proof of concept demonstrating the potential of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and tokenization in automated portfolio management; partnering with AvaCloud and Citigroup to test the feasibility of using blockchain infrastructure for forex trading; and assisting Amazon in providing computing power and storage, among others.
6. Towards the end of last year, Avalanche actively embraced the hype around NFTs, with transaction volumes exceeding tens of millions of dollars in minting and trading NFTs within a week.

Cons

1. AVAX的流通供应量相对较低（约48%），这可能导致潜在的价格抑制和过度波动。
2. 与此同时，Avalanche的生态系统与AVAX代币并没有紧密联系。目前的代币经济模型并不要求子网为其在AVAX中的活动付费。

Polkadot (DOT, unlimited inflation token)

Pros

1. Polkadot is a project of the Web3 Foundation built on Layer 0, founded by one of Ethereum’s co-founders, Gavin Wood.
2. Polkadot adopts the Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS) mechanism for electing validators, along with the GRANDPA mechanism for finalizing blocks, ensuring decentralized network decision-making and robust security through a dual-governance model.
3. Polkadot is referred to as a “multi-chain network,” aiming to seamlessly integrate various blockchains, allowing communication and data transfer between chains. Parachains are a unique structure within the Polkadot network, connected to the Polkadot main network through the Relay Chain, aiming to achieve parallel interoperability and scalability among multiple blockchains while maintaining their independence and security, and enhancing network throughput.
4. The invention of Parachain Auctions is notable. To connect to the Relay Chain, parachains need to acquire a slot through auction. The auction process is decentralized, with participants bidding DOT tokens to compete for slots.
5. The developer ecosystem is active. According to the 2023 Developer Report released by Electric Capital, developers contributed a total of 22,232,604 lines of code to the Polkadot network in 2023, accounting for 10.5% of all code submissions in the Web3 domain. Polkadot has the second-highest number of full-time developers, surpassing all but Ethereum, with 792 developers.

Cons

1. The Polkadot ecosystem is complex, and the workings and technical details are difficult for ordinary users to understand, increasing the learning curve and participation threshold.
2. Although the decentralized governance model OpenGov has been introduced, voter turnout and proposal participation are minimal in practice, leading to centralized decision-making processes and a lack of community involvement.
3. Activity waned after the first round of parachain auctions, necessitating new narratives to re-engage users. Additionally, the limited number of supported parachains and the auction system are not friendly to small startups and innovators with limited funds.
4. There is a disconnect in information dissemination and feedback between Polkadot officials and users. The latest updates are not promptly synchronized with the community, and the communication lacks straightforwardness and clarity.
5. In terms of the economic model, the relatively high inflation rate and the limited use cases of DOT tokens raise doubts among some users and investors about the token’s practical utility and long-term value.
6. According to Chainalytics Labs’ May 2023 statistics on mainstream public chain activity, looking at “user activity,” “developer activity,” “financial status,” and “social activity,” Polkadot lags significantly behind BNB and Solana in all aspects except developer participation, with user activity ranking even lower, resulting in an overall third place ranking.

(Source: Chainalytics Lab)

Summary:

Looking back at the timeline, it’s somewhat surreal to see the rise and fall of these renowned public blockchains. The booming cryptocurrency market in 2021 made these star chains shine brightly, but now, over two years later, many are still recovering from the impact of the previous bear market.

Reflecting on the journalists who wrote articles during that time, many stopped writing as early as last year, and their social media accounts are no longer updated with content related to the cryptocurrency industry.

The stories of high-performance public blockchains are plentiful. While they initially dazzled everyone, the actual delivery results often fell short of expectations, making people less likely to buy into such narratives easily.

5-1

Each blockchain almost always presents “high throughput” and “low transaction fees” as its “killer feature” ticket, but they also have their own unique highlights——

BNB Chain (BNB): As the first in the universe, its inherent attributes as a centralized exchange (CEX) platform bring in a large number of users, naturally boosting the token’s value. BNB also has leverage in participating in liquidity mining and IEOs, making it a “golden shovel” that can leverage more benefits. The long-term demand for BNB from investors and users is evident.

Cardano (ADA): The unique and detailed division of labor within the team accumulated a large following and investor attention in the early stages. However, slow development progress over the years and the lack of closeness to the community have led to some users quietly exiting the platform.

Avalanche (AVAX): Its pioneering protocol consensus mechanism and the distinct roles of its three subnets have significantly optimized transaction speed. Its low latency and low fees have contributed to Avalanche’s notable achievements in the gaming industry, such as collaborating with games like “MapleStory” in Korea and launching a Web3 version called “MapleStory Universe.” Avalanche also actively seeks various marketing strategies, embracing hot narratives such as NFTs, collaborating with Web2 companies, and striving to become the preferred platform for traditional enterprises to issue encrypted assets on-chain.

Polkadot (DOT): Its multi-chain structure and extremely active developer ecosystem are its strongest assets. However, perhaps due to focusing too much on technical development, Polkadot may have neglected internal community education and external marketing. When the bear market halved the token’s value, Polkadot struggled to retain users who lacked a deep understanding of the technology and had wavering beliefs.

5-2

In the process of gathering information, what impressed me the most was actually a 30,000-word-long article from the “Polkadot Ecological Research Institute“: “Strategic Report: How Polkadot Can Break Through Its Growth Dilemma and Find a Future Path.” (I highly recommend everyone to read it, you will truly be moved by its sincerity and dedication.)

This organization has been focusing on researching Polkadot and the development opportunities and prospects within the Polkadot ecosystem for the past five years. It has received support from the Polkadot treasury six times in a row and is considered an OG team within the community.

In the article, the research team not only sincerely acknowledges the widespread negative sentiment among users within the community but also analyzes in detail the current situation of Polkadot, its technological achievements, issues with social media account management, and the obvious strengths and weaknesses of the public chain.

Furthermore, the team also shares some thoughtful insights, such as “What innovations have there been in public chain development in recent years?” and “What is the growth logic of public chains?”

In addition to focusing on Polkadot itself, the researchers also identify highlights and improvement points from other public chains that have performed well or poorly in the market. By leveraging these insights, they further contemplate how Polkadot can break through its current challenges.

5-3

Combining the viewpoints presented in the report with my own insights gained from traversing through a sea of information, I can offer the following perspectives:

5-3-1

In the crypto world, one phrase that cannot be avoided is “riding the trend.”

During a bear market where overall development is sluggish, funds become conservative and tend to withdraw, while user participation enthusiasm also wanes. The unstable price trends, or even continuous declines, coupled with teams’ development progress or actual applications not meeting expectations, bring uncertainties to investors, developers, and users alike.

At such times, if a project fails to come up with innovative narratives that capture attention or launch phenomenon-level applications, allocating a large portion of the budget to simple monetary incentives may not yield significant results. Users are more inclined to sell off in a precarious environment, making the “half the effort, double the result” phenomenon more evident compared to bull markets.

When the positive feedback mechanism fails to operate, it directly leads to a decrease in activity and a downturn in ecosystem development. External investors become more hesitant to enter the market, pushing projects into a downward spiral.

Most likely, many project teams feel they are facing a bear market at a time when they should be vigorously developing.

The industry itself is famous for its “cyclical” nature, and it is precisely because of these cycles that there is room for “arbitrage.” “Profit” for ordinary users may be buying low and selling high, but for project teams, it’s about using the less valuable time in a bear market to build a ladder that can effortlessly climb to the bull market.

With cycles come ups and downs, and with fluctuations come rhythms. If the focus is clearly on doing things that are in line with the trend at the right time, and even preparing contingency plans for the next cycle, perhaps the journey forward will be filled with small stumbles but not stumbling to the point of being unable to move.

5-3-2

In a market where resources are scarce, the rise or fall of a blockchain often depends on the development of DeFi (Decentralized Finance) applications on it.

When DeFi flourishes, the tokens on that blockchain are often regarded as native assets of the platform. As the variety of DeFi applications increases, the usability of tokens also expands. This playability and positive feedback mechanism make users more willing to hold tokens long-term, thereby attracting more people to join the ecosystem.

The amount of tokens locked in a DeFi application often reflects the liquidity, activity, and user participation of the ecosystem. As mentioned by the Polkadot researchers, the slow technological development of the Polkadot chain and the late introduction of DeFi applications led to the dissipation of dividends at the end of the bull market, resulting in a significant loss of market value during the bear market.

“DeFi can empower other projects on the blockchain in the same way traditional finance empowers entities. It can bring more composability and higher asset utilization to the assets of other projects, and leverage more funds for the entire blockchain.

DeFi, like traditional financial institutions such as banks in cities, is an important financial infrastructure. Therefore, given limited resources and time, prioritizing the development of DeFi is the primary goal of a blockchain.”

5-3-3

Investors are most attracted to projects with strong team capabilities. It’s important to acknowledge that every boom comes with a bubble. When cyclic retractions occur, it’s often these bubbles that burst first.

Only genuine user retention and continuous attraction of new users can sustain the appealing bubble at the top of a beer glass, attracting investor attention. When the focus shifts to “people” during bear markets, project teams tend to cherish their existing developers and users, share every step of their plans, and foster a sense of collective participation.

This pressure also encourages project teams to innovate more diligently, devise new narratives to attract more people, and be more attuned to scenarios where there are people. While the mantra “buy new, not old” is a rule of thumb in crypto, stalwarts like Solana continue to thrive through quiet cultivation and robust marketing efforts, constantly introducing new features to retain users and create new entry points for growth, such as DePIN, RWA, AI+Crypto, and actively building payment channels with web2 merchants.

Solana resembles a well-rounded student, disciplined and knowledgeable in every aspect, while also being akin to a Doraemon with a pocket full of surprises, keeping people curious and excited about what it will offer next.

6. Conclusion:

There is no doubt that despite the emergence of numerous strong competitors, Ethereum still holds some unique and irreplaceable advantages in this bull market cycle.

It was the first blockchain platform to implement Turing-complete smart contracts. Ethereum boasts one of the most mature blockchain ecosystems in the crypto world, with the most active developer community and continuous technological development and iteration capabilities, all managed by the Ethereum Foundation.

The chain hosts thousands of decentralized applications (DApps) and has pioneered explosive growth trends such as DeFi Summer and the NFT craze, opening the Pandora’s Box of exponential growth for the crypto world.

This vast ecosystem has provided developers with rich tools and resources over the past few years, attracting a large number of users and developer communities.

With the anticipated approval of Ethereum ETF applications, ongoing technological upgrades, and the increasing strength of Layer 2 capabilities, the market can expect even more unforeseen benefits in the future. However, these developments often require years of observation to draw conclusions.

And I increasingly feel that the notion of some prominent public chains harboring a “covetousness” towards Ethereum is nothing but a fanciful gimmick. Perhaps from the very beginning, these project teams did not see Ethereum as an insurmountable mountain.

I remember a quote from Zhang Xiaoyu, “Be cautious in choosing your competitors, because in the end, you may end up looking very similar.” These so-called “Ethereum killers” each have their own decisive strategies and unique narratives. They identify the limitations and chronic issues of Ethereum and offer their own solutions. They also learn from Ethereum’s strengths and advantages, but they do not envision themselves as Ethereum 2.0.

They disdain being labeled as killers of Ethereum; instead, they aim to blaze a new trail and chart their own course. I still anticipate that during this bull market cycle, they and other high-quality public chains will climb higher on their own ladders, bringing more surprises to the entire crypto market.

When the original intention of all project teams is to better utilize blockchain technology to achieve decentralization and safeguard the supreme financial sovereignty of freedom, then even the most rugged paths will eventually converge to rebuild the consensus tower in everyone’s minds.

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