The Bear Market Isn’t Just About Prices
The term “bear market” is a very misleading concept. It’s often uttered when prices or entire markets face an uphill battle. As a result, values of assets go down over longer periods, and people tend to lose interest in the industry. That is the fate of speculative assets, and most people consider cryptocurrencies to be speculative more than anything else. However, this mindset makes them lose track of the much bigger picture.
A 10% price dip for cryptocurrencies is not unusual and can occur at any tie. Markets might even lose 50% or more over a multi-month period, making many investors and speculators wonder what comes next. There is always sunshine after the rain, although a bear market will help cull the wheat from the chaff. Any project not pulling its weight will be either forgotten or disappear off the radar by other means. It is a dog-eat-dog industry, and competition has never been fiercer.
For investors and speculators, the price of bitcoin, Ether, or DOGE is the difference between a bull market or a bear market. Those concerns become even more outspoken when dealing with smaller projects or more obscure currencies. Any asset with low liquidity or no immediate plans will struggle for survival during the bear market. Investors speak with their wallets, and seeing a token dump by over 90% is not out of the question.
That being said, many blockchain projects will thrive during a bear market. Their price performance might not be impressive, but that is not the primary metric to look at. Regardless of market conditions, it remains crucial to determine overall developer activity. It is always time to build and build, and prices are not too relevant to the people making the next-generation infrastructure.
Developers Are The Real Value
The success of blockchain projects is based on overall developer activity. Having more people contribute to a project’s code confirms interest in taking the ecosystem to the next level. A report by Electric Capital, published in January 2022, analyzed the overall developer activity across top-tier blockchain projects. Whereas one would expect decreasing activity due to the bear market, the report indicates something else entirely.
Over 18,000 developers commit code to open-source crypto and Web3 projects every month. That is the average figure, not the total number of coders looking into crypto and blockchain today. Over 34,000 new developers committed code in 2021, marking the biggest year-over-year increase. Considering how H2 2021 has been very bearish for all projects in the price department, that growing developer interest proves invaluable.
Diving a bit deeper into the statistics. the following things stand out:
- Ethereum has thousands of monthly open-source developers, whereas Bitcoin has roughly 700.
- More than one in five new Web3 developers joined the Ethereum ecosystem in 2021.
- Almost half of the full-time Web3 developers joined the fray in 2021 despite the bear market.
- Looking beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, there is tremendous activity across Polkadot, Solana, NEAR Protocol, BNB Chain, Cosmos and Avalanche.
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway is the correlation between developer activity and market conditions. As expected, more developers commit code during bullish conditions, but the numbers don’t drop off during a bear market. Even an 80% price drop will not deter developers from exploring and contributing to open-source blockchain and Web3 projects.
Gaming Communities Show Potential During The Bear Market
The importance of development comes into play when dealing with the many Web3 games hitting the market. Players need a solid reason to try out a game and stay committed to it. Integrating play-to-earn mechanics is only one part of that equation, as that is “the norm” nowadays. Players will bail on a game pretty quickly without engaging gameplay and constant progression.
Communities can make Web3 games stronger, and Apeiron has struck a chord with its supporters. The first god-game on the blockchain combines simulation with roguelike elements and card battling. Players are Godlings who perform miracles, raise their civilization, and have the power to wipe out entire planets to start over. Moreover, there is PvE World Exploration, PvP Progression, and Galactic Progression. There is a ton to do, and players can always wipe the slate clean and become stronger.
The Apeiron community continues to grow because of these various gameplay modes but also benefits from the interactive story creation. Integrating mythology with known brands and franchises unlocks tremendous potential when the game releases in Q4 2022. Like popular blockchain infrastructure projects, the Apeiron team continued to build during the bear market.
Their game is now close to production-ready, whereas other games are behind schedule and may not be able to catch up again. In addition, the commitment to continue building ensures investors remain committed to the project, enabling future growth for the broader Web3 industry.
Building Is Priceless
Any blockchain project with a long-term value will retain value by attracting more developers. While prices may rise and fall, codes will stand by the projects they firmly believe in. It is no surprise the established projects in Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to attract talent far and wide. Moreover, other ventures with a long-term vision, like BNB Chain, and Polkadot, continue to note strong developer commitment.
Bear market or bull market, the prices of crypto assets do not reflect the real value of blockchain projects. Instead, developer activity is where the viability of blockchain projects can be gauged, even if it is metric many people often overlook.
The importance of developers cannot be understated, whether one engages in building blockchain infrastructure, establishing a new Web3 game, or anything else related to decentralized technology.
