Bear markets have a way of revealing the truth. When prices fall and attention disappears, projects built on hype struggle to stay relevant. What remains are the ones focused on real problems and real usage.
That’s why I’ve been paying attention to @Plasma lately. Instead of chasing every trend, Plasma is positioning itself around payments, stablecoin flows, and efficient value transfer—areas where demand doesn’t vanish just because the market turns red.
In a bull market, users tolerate high fees and unstable performance because profits cover inefficiencies. In a downtrend, that tolerance disappears. Reliability, predictable costs, and consistent throughput suddenly matter much more. This is exactly the environment where infrastructure-first projects have a chance to prove themselves.
If adoption grows steadily, $XPL could end up being tied to real network activity rather than short-term narratives. And historically, that kind of foundation tends to matter far more over time than any temporary hype cycle.
Bear markets don’t just destroy value—they also build the foundations of the next cycle. The question isn’t which projects are loud today, but which ones are still building when nobody is watching.
