As the post-pandemic buzz around future-value investing grew and frequent references to Bitcoin by celebrities and big fund managers, the pace of crypto's integration into the mainstream seemed to be accelerating. However, the rapid contraction of global liquidity highlighted the limitations and problems of the crypto industry such as the collapse of “Terra”, an algorithmic stablecoin, and the subsequent bankruptcies of CeFi platform Celsius and the $13 billion worth US venture Capital firm Three Arrow Capital.

However, the idea that the blockchain technology revolution will come to an end is in many ways premature, as the causes of last year's events can be seen as failures of centralized platforms and organizational management, not decentralized technology itself. In the world where network infrastructure is rapidly developing, the demand to directly perform and verify transactions through the adoption of distributed ledger technology will expand over time. Blockchain networks are here to stay, it's just a matter of time before the killer application for the fledgling industry is developed. 

There is also a positive side to last year's crypto crisis, as it strengthened the consensus on the need for swift regulation. We still don't have a clear picture of how crypto technology will play a major role in society in the future. This crypto winter may be a step backwards for post-bubble progress.