Why are there no new users in the crypto market? How do project parties find new breakthroughs?
Reprinted from panewslab
03/16/2025·3MAuthor: Emily Lai, Hype CMO
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Crypto marketing is dazzling: from choosing the right channel to information delivery to team coordination. Should you invest in a campaign? Is it necessary to start the ambassador program? How should the incentives for hackathons be designed? There is always something to do.
Excellent marketers will simplify processes, make plans, and execute tasks while helping you save your budget.
Figure: An effective marketing strategy can help you clarify seemingly complex situations
However, crypto marketing at this stage is becoming increasingly challenging.
What exactly happened?
What can we do as founders, builders and marketers?
Why? There are three reasons: There are no new users! ! !
Reason 1: Intensifying competition
The entire crypto ecosystem’s chain, infrastructure and dApps (decentralized applications) are saturated, and each project is competing for attention with its own tokens.
Figure: Data source: On-chain data provided by @defilama, dApps and token data provided by @alvaapp
Picture: For example, my friend @mumufengg has never used on-chain products (no hot wallet, nor has he been exposed to dApps), but his first experience reflects the confusion of new users
According to @DefiLlama, there are currently more than 356 blockchains.
After a speech, I talked with @cattybk (from @thirdweb) and he told me they worked with over 2000 EVM chains alone. So, I looked up the data from @coingecko:
More than 8700 L1 chains
More than 5200 L2 chains
In addition, there are:
· According to @cookiedotfun, more than 1500 AI agents
· According to @pumpdotfun and @Dune, more than 50,000 tokens are added every day
@KaitoAI 44 narratives tracked
The question is, are there new users coming in to support these new chains, infrastructure, dApps and tokens?
Judging from the total value of locked positions (TVL), the performance of this cycle is comparable to the previous cycle and is consistent with the performance of the word "encryption" in Google search trends - the cyclical decline in search volume indicates that the interest of mainstream users is weakening.
Even if new users come in, they have to face the choice of hundreds of chains, not to mention hundreds of wallets. This is even more confusing than ever.
Figure: Data source: TVL trend comparison displayed by @defillama
 Picture: Google Trends Shows Global Search Trends for \"Crypto\"
Reason 2: The target audience is dispersed
The audiences in the crypto field are diversified, and each group has different motivations, which further exacerbates the fragmentation of the market.
· Developers and builders:
If you are a developer of blockchain/network/ecosystem, you need to attract developers to build applications that attract new users.
This requires developer marketing and introductory guidance. Developer motivations may include: hoping to use your technology stack to achieve unique ideas, receive development funding, or see higher opportunities for success based on network effects and distribution capabilities.
· Customers and users:
If you are a protocol, dApp, middleware or service provider, you need to attract users to generate revenue.
For the ecosystem, the dApp team may be considered as a customer.
It should be noted that users and token holders are not always the same, and the holders of the Times may just be speculators and do not really use your product.
· Venture Capitalists, Angel Capitalists and Other Investors:
These groups provide you with funds, and their motivation is to obtain a return on investment (ROI), which is usually achieved through tokens, and the performance of the token is not always directly related to the technology, number of users, or number of developers.
· Retail investors and token speculators:
These people may or may not be your users. Their goal is also to be a high ROI and make profits through token trading.
· Technology Partners:
These are usually other infrastructure or middleware projects. With the expansion of blockchain's demand for speed, security and cost, a whole field of middleware infrastructure has been created, including chain/wallet abstraction, cross-chain bridge, interoperability, modularity, etc.
In addition, there are service providers, not only limited to agencies, but also blockchain browsers, advertising technology, unlocking software, etc.
These partners are often the broad audience that needs to be targeted, which is why Business Development (BD) is so popular in the industry.
Listing partners:
Including trading platforms, startup platforms, market makers, intermediaries and KOL transactions, etc. The performance of these groups directly affects the success of your tokens, and their motivations are often associated with ROI.
· Regulators and institutional investors:
These audiences can bring a lot of liquidity and can also lead to failure of your company.
In addition to all of these audience types, the globalization of the crypto industry has further aggravated the fragmentation of the market. This means understanding cultural differences, coordinating information delivery in different time zones, and managing localized marketing efforts.
All of this makes marketing in the crypto industry more difficult. In contrast, Web2 marketing is more direct, information transmission is clearer, and motivation is more consistent.
For example:
· Sales of health products: aimed at people who focus on health, the elderly and high-income people.
· Selling winter jackets: for people, skiers, climbers and snowboarders in cold climate areas.
· Protein powders sold: for fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders, not included with vegetarians (if whey protein).
Reason 3: The technology is not yet mature and user trust is damaged
According to statistics, since the birth of Bitcoin, the media has claimed it has "death" 415 times. Apart from that, the crypto industry is notorious for scams, money laundering and crime.
Picture: Some news headlines about encryption may make your mother worry about your choice in this industry
In 2021, the NFT and the Metauniverse boom attracted a large number of new users. At that time, many celebrities entered the game. If you were working in this industry at the time, you might receive consultation information from many old friends.
However, all this came to an abrupt end after the following problems arose: high Gas fees, token prices plummeted, and painful experiences of user losses. These problems have led to reputation crises and lack of trust.
Mainstream users have left the market, and we have entered a construction (bear market) cycle, and we have also ushered in thousands of new chains and middleware.
Figure: The industry\'s focus is swinging between \"we need more applications\" and \"we need more infrastructure\". (Inspiration source: @jillrgunter\'s visual chart)
So, why are you still here?
I don't know, please take a deep breath, calm down and tell me your reasons (I really want to hear your story, which is also important for your marketing).
For me, I fell into the “rabbit hole” of Bitcoin in my 2013 university apartment because I love its sovereignty and self-sufficiency values.
Since then, I have also seen cryptocurrencies widely used in places like Argentina, Indonesia, and Türkiye.
For example, I survived primarily on crypto stablecoins in Buenos Aires, Argentina to deal with crazy inflation there:
In addition, many companies are using blockchain technology and completely abstracting it.
Saying tribute to @benLLS from @octantapp, @jia_DeFi, which he mentioned, is a company that helps emerging markets unlock capital and opportunities, while Hala Systems is committed to reducing harm, improving safety and stabilizing the community.
There are also companies like @bombocommunity that use NFT to ensure the security of music ticketing while abstracting the encryption language. @cattybk also mentioned some casual games based on blockchain that are gaining a lot of users outside of crypto Twitter.
Additionally, @mariashen (from @electriccapital) publishes developer reports every year. Although the number of developers has declined from the previous cycle, Web3 developers are still growing overall, which also indicates that we are not attracting net new users.
The reality is: Even though 16 years have passed, we are still in our
early stages
Picture: Classic diagram of early adopters from the book \"Browsing the Garrison\"
We have crossed the gap, and mainstream markets with high risk tolerance have embraced Bitcoin and viewed cryptocurrencies as an asset class.
But we haven't sent them the following message: Why thousands of blockchains are needed, let alone an app that will allow them to use every day, beyond Instagram, Temu, TikTok, WhatsApp or ChatGPT (those platforms are becoming much faster than the crypto industry).
what does that mean? Are we not building what people need? Or…it’s not mature enough.
I believe there are many kind people in this industry who are willing to promote social progress. I know some of them. For example @vijaymichalik, @arlery, @motherpredicte, @divine_economy, @alipaints, this is just a small part.
If you are building the crypto industry with good intentions, what are
the marketing foundations you need to master and apply?
Here are two slides that I often show in my speech on “What is Marketing”, which basically condense marketing strategies into four words.
You can see me explain this in more detail in my video with @modenetwork: Click to watch.
In addition, there is another version shared in the last Indian Blockchain Week (@ibwofficial), which mainly explores the background of the founder/personal brand, and takes @megaeth_labs as an example: Click to watch.
Three important tips for obtaining encrypted users
There are seven types of audiences in the field of encryption, distributed in multiple geographical areas. In addition, your internal team members (business development, products, marketing, creativity, law, etc.) also need to collaborate.
In one of @moremarketsxyz's AMOS series, hosted by @xkonjin, and I joined @reka_eth, we invited @jaambutties (CMO of @nillionnetwork) to share how he coordinated his branding campaigns.
This coordination will engage all stakeholders, amplify your marketing efforts, help break through and capture scarce and valuable attention in this field.
Ultimately, since the technology is still in its early stages and the industry is extremely saturated, we do need to do something that cannot be scaled. This includes guiding newcomers one by one, participating in person, and educating them.
Although I really like to show @pumpdotfun to friends who have never been exposed to the encryption field, I also have to give @a1lon9 a great recognition:
What's even better?
To break the diffusion, you need to keep consistent messaging and content output to maintain relevance.
That's why the founders respond to tweets, why they're involved in AMA (Q&A), and even now appear in live videos.
This is why the team records during the event.
Talk to users, developers, investors, and customers and tell their stories.
At the same time, you can also get valuable product feedback.
My friend @shayyydz chose her first crypto wallet. At the time of writing, the post received 5,200 views because she chose @rainbowdotme.
Finally, if you are the founder or builder – this is the most important thing:
Let's go back to the previously mentioned "Why are you still here?" and make self-confirm
No one knows your "why" better than you. Tell us why you are building and why this is important. These stories are not only the vision you convey to your team, but also the core of your recruitment of new members, attracting investors and building a community.
Repeat these stories constantly and try different content forms.
Thank you for reading this. If you want, please tell me your story.
jinse