Recently, Forbes reported on CertiK’s alarming data on security incidents in the crypto industry in 2024: 760 security vulnerabilities, $2.36 billion in losses, and a 31% year-on-year surge. This set of figures is not only a microcosm of the industry’s pain points, but also a question to every builder: When the market breeds innovation amid fluctuations, how can technological breakthroughs and user trust truly go hand in hand?
In the past decade, blockchain technology has moved from geek experiments to mainstream vision, but security has always been a sword hanging over ones head. Whether it is the $1.4 billion attack on Bybit or the endless vulnerabilities, they have repeatedly verified a truth: innovation without security support will eventually become a castle in the air. As the article quotes the view of Professor Gu Ronghui, co-founder of CertiK - Security is not a competitive advantage, but a shared responsibility. When the speed of hacker technology iteration exceeds the upgrade of the protection system, single-point defense is no longer sufficient to deal with systemic risks. Only with all-round security construction can Web3.0 usher in the long-term development.
The following is the full report:
Market turmoil accelerates innovation in the Web3.0 industry
As the risk of a U.S. recession rises, JPMorgan Chase raised its probability of occurrence from 30% at the beginning of the year to 40%, and Goldman Sachs also raised its estimate from 15% to 20%. Since the beginning of 2025, with the weak performance of the U.S. stock market, the Trump market has clearly weakened.
After US President Trump announced Liberation Day to impose new tariffs on US imports (US President Trump announced comprehensive tariffs on US imports on April 2, which he called Liberation Day), the market fell sharply. The tech-dominated Nasdaq index has fallen 17% year-to-date, and many economists expect US inflation levels to rise.
Trump said that although his high tariff policy will reach the highest level in more than a century and may cause shocks to financial markets, it will eventually lead to a strong economic recovery.
Last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the market decline caused by tariffs was a healthy correction. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, similarly said: While there has been some volatility in the data this quarter, we remain very optimistic about the long-term outlook for the economy.
The Web3.0 market, which is highly correlated with technology stocks, has lost more than a trillion dollars in market value in the past few weeks. Senior Web3.0 practitioners know that volatility is a fundamental feature of market operation. In such a rapidly changing market, experienced Web3.0 investors and developers will return to the trenches and focus on promoting industry innovation. In fact, long-term market fluctuations often provide good opportunities for investment and building a new generation of products.
Build truly useful and secure products for average investors
Apart from Bitcoin and Ethereum, many projects in the Web3.0 ecosystem lack a solid value foundation, and liquidity often just rotates around hot narratives. The industry has not yet fully established a profit model driven by fundamentals, and capital flows often hinder sustainable development.
The total market value of the Meme coin market shrank from $125 billion in December 2024 to $53 billion in March 2025, a drop of more than 57%. In February of this year, investors transferred $485 million from Solana to Ethereum, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain. Rotational capital allocation is the main theme of the market.
“Meme coins are certainly not stocks, they’re more like lottery tickets — some people do win the jackpot,” said Byron Gilliam, market strategist at Blockworks and a veteran industry observer. He noted that meme coin issuance platform pump.fun generated $600 million in revenue in just 14 months, but there hasn’t been much return for users: of the 8.7 million tokens launched on the platform, only four now have a market value of more than $100 million.
The main participants in the Meme coin market are retail investors. The famous Dow Jones Index Investment and Gambling Comparison Chart clearly shows the continuous spectrum between expected returns and uncertainty. Most serious financial practitioners are emphasizing that Web3.0 assets need to stay away from lottery thinking.
Roshan Dharia, CEO of Echo Base, said: It is undeniable that Meme coins have played a role in attracting Web3.0 curious people. But if we want to build a sustainable financial market, the Web3.0 industry must focus on building products with real economic value and that can solve real problems. Meme coins are suitable for media publicity, but what really attracts the attention of traditional financial institutions is the efficiency improvement and transparency brought by blockchain - these new values were once difficult to reach, but now everything is changing with the help of blockchain infrastructure.
Practicality is the key to attracting users to the Web3.0 field and opening up new revenue channels for on-chain projects. Another factor that cannot be ignored is how to ensure the safety of ordinary users funds, especially after Bybit suffered a $1.4 billion attack.
According to a report released by CertiK, there were 760 security incidents in 2024, with annual losses reaching $2.36 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31%. These vulnerabilities not only expose industry risks, but also further highlight the urgency of building high-security products.
Professor Ronghui Gu, co-founder and CEO of CertiK, pointed out: Hackers are using more and more sophisticated attack methods. Now more than ever, on-chain projects need to actively invest in security construction. The Bybit incident is a wake-up call for the entire industry - security is not a competitive advantage, but a shared responsibility.
Mooly Sagiv, co-founder and CEO of Certora, also said: As the Web3.0 industry continues to mature, hackers are also upgrading their methods. Companies have a responsibility to create safer products for users. The Bybit incident has weakened investor confidence, and all participants must take action to rebuild trust together.
As the market speculation craze cools down temporarily, it is a good opportunity for project owners to focus on creating safe and valuable products. Venture capital firms (VCs) have been doing this for many years, even during market turmoil.
VC focuses on future technologies that create value
NFT and Metaverse failed to become part of the mainstream Web3.0 narrative in 2024. They are the remnants of the past Web3.0 bull cycle and have been forgotten in the craze of Meme coins and AI tokens. However, according to Galaxys report, in the fourth quarter of 2024, VC investment in NFT, Metaverse, and games will dominate.
This is not difficult to understand - people love games, lotteries and entertainment by nature. In the United States, the annual revenue of these industries has reached $65 billion, $100 billion and more than $100 billion respectively, and continues to grow (globally). Today, these huge traditional industries are being transformed by Web3.0 technology, and games are one of the most innovative tracks that VCs are paying attention to.
VCs usually do not chase public opinion heat, but explore tracks with long-term potential in advance, lay out before the industry matures, and strive for future returns. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2024, most of the funds in fields such as NFT, DAO and Metaverse flowed to early projects.
Ronald Yung of RaveDAO said: “NFTs have been viewed as tokens or digital collectibles in the last bull run, but their true value lies in their evolving utility. At RaveDAO, we are expanding NFTs beyond art to event tickets and attendance credentials.”
“While market sentiment has shifted, the technology behind NFTs remains a powerful tool for identity authentication, access control, and community interaction. This solution is not going away, it’s just constantly adapting to real-world applications.”
Similarly, VCs realized the disruptive potential of AI long before ChatGPT became popular, and AI tokens dominated investors’ attention. Funding in the AI field has grown from $670 million in 2011 to $36 billion in 2020, showing a long-term upward trend.
VC funds flowing into emerging technology sectors remain strong. In the first quarter of 2025, the total amount of financing in the AI field far exceeded Web3.0 venture capital, continuing the past investment preference for AI. But it is worth noting that blockchain-driven AI startups are also beginning to gain capital favor.
Rowan Stone, CEO of Sapien, said: While traditional AI still has a funding advantage, combining AI with blockchain technology to create new user-oriented technology products is expected to drive revenue growth and attract more new capital.
“As long as we continue to polish our products in the sub-fields of AI+Web3.0, we will be able to build a truly intelligent, user-centric global ecosystem.”
From the perspective of investment trends, VCs have identified more future-oriented sectors and strategically invested resources to help the market grow in the long term. The Trump administrations statement that the U.S. economy is about to enter a transition period is based on the strong support of the technology and information industry.
The technology and information industry is the third largest service industry in the United States, accounting for about 10% of GDP (about US$2.4 trillion), second only to health and social services (18%) and financial services (20%) - and the United States is the core of the global capital market.
Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, pointed out in his annual report that the prosperity of the US financial services industry has just begun. History shows that market changes often breed innovation. The current market turmoil is also a reminder that focusing on innovation is more important than keeping a close eye on daily stock market fluctuations.
Warren Buffett, known as the God of Stocks, once said: Remember that the stock market is a manic depressive. In a recent CNBC interview, he said: When valuations fluctuate greatly, it is even more important to focus on the intrinsic quality of the target - opportunities are found in chaos.
Always stay rational.
