When individuals discuss crypto they are likely to discuss good times. They discuss when prices are going up, when coins are booming and when everybody is smiling. What most people forget, however, is that the crypto market is not necessarily rosy. This is a season of plenty and this is a season of dryness. In crypto, dry seasons are termed as crypto winters. This is when prices are dropping poorly, enthusiasm declines and numerous projects are killed. Investors become hopeless, developers give up their concepts and only some are able to continue. Yet it is during these chilly winters when strength is really tested. Those projects that endure such tough times are normally produced stronger, larger and more respected.
Being a Nigerian guy who observes the market, I can tell how terrible crypto winters are. Others join the market hoping to make money, but within two scouts they lose 80 percent and 90 percent of their coins. Quite a number cries, sells off and gets out of the market permanently. Nevertheless, the survival of those who survive as investors and as projects makes them eventually a winner. Then here is the big question, what has been the same with projects, what survived the past winters and emerged with blooms? Let us look at some examples.
The largest crypto winter survivor is Bitcoin as such. Since its establishment in 2009, until now, it has experienced a number of crashes. At one point it fell as low as around 200 in 2013, compared to 1,000 in 2013. On another occasion, it dropped about 20,000 in 2017 to nearly 3000 in 2018. It was dead, said many more than a hundred times. The Bitcoin was over as reported in the newspapers. But one way or another it managed to come back. The ones that believed in it and stuck to it got very wealthy later. It is what made Bitcoin the king of crypto because it can endure every winter.
Ethereium is another surviving project. Ethereium was introduced in 2015 and there was the big idea of smart contracts, decentralized applications. Many people doubted it. In the 2018 crypto winter, Ethereum fell out of the top of $1,400 to under $100. It would not come back, some said. But Ethereum did not die. The developers kept working. They fixed the system, and even began the process of Ethereum 2.0, which is energy efficient. They remained consistent and therefore Ethereum became the foundation of decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, and numerous other applications. It is currently one of the greatest projects in crypto.
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Binance is another survivor. Matter of fact, its story is highly motivating. Binance was only an exchange in 2017. It was not trusted by many people. In the 2018 crypto winter, numerous exchanges were forced to shut down, with Binance emerging as more powerful. They did not only concentrate on profit; they concentrated on creating products and serving the users. They launched the Binance Coin (BNB) that offered its users discounts and subsequently became an influential token in itself. Binance continued to grow, developing wallets, blockchains, launchpads and even charity foundations. At the time when other people had surrendered, Binance continued to construct. It is the largest crypto exchange today.
Chainlink is another project, which demonstrated survival spirit. Chainlink arrived alongside the concept of linking smart contracts to the real-world by using what it calls oracles. In 2018 when the market melted down, numerous of these projects perished. Chainlink continued to construct, and they formed alliances with leading firms. Chainlink was also the primary device of providing the DeFi platforms with accurate data later when DeFi went off-the-scale. It was so valuable because it treeved through the severe season.
Polygon (previously known as Matic) also has such example. Initially it was a small project that aimed at making Ethereum fast and cheap. It was ignored by a lot of people during the winter seasons. But the team did not give up. They continued to construct and develop. Even when gas fees were very high in 2020 and 2021 on Ethereum, Polygon already had solutions. In the present day, Polygon is used to scale many platforms. This was not possible without them surviving when the times are tough.
Out of all these stories we can learn some lessons. At first, crypto winters are not the final tests but merely tests. Weak projects fail and strong ones continue to emerge. Second, survival is not only hype based but also real use and powerful teams. Bitcoin escaped as it believed and had a community. Ether survived as developers continued to work. Binance managed to live as it was user-centric. Chainlink and Polygon managed to live since they were solving real problems.
The lesson is also clear to us the investors. When you flee in every winter you might miss the blessing of the next summer. Lessons learned was that those who purchased Bitcoin at 200 when everybody laughed ended up making a fortune of over 60,000. Those who had their hopes in Ethereum at 100, now found it over 4000. The conquerors of the next season are those who survived winter.
Crypto winters will reoccur. Actually, it is argued that we are in one already. Prices have fallen, a lot are silent and projects are not doing well. Nevertheless, this is when one must be on the lookout. What projects are in construction? Which ones are still active? Which of them are addressing real problems? The projects that will succeed in the following boom would be those.
The fact is that not all winter is bad. Winter removes noise. It wipes the weak projects out and leaves the strong ones standing. It is a kind of refining fire that heats away the dirt leaving only pure gold. To investors and builders, it is the winter that is the real test of greatness.
Thus, predicting the history of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance, Chainlink, and Polygon, we can conclude only one thing: the survival is victory. Cryptocurrency riches and fortune are not merely associated with people who get in at the correct moment but also with those who can persevere during the difficult moments. To us in Nigeria where a large number of people are yet to be convinced in crypto, the lesson is worth considering. When we can hold on to good projects, study during the lean seasons, and be patient, then we can also start up when the next summer arrives.
0.000 SRY