Winter is here.

The challenges of the current markets and overall attention on crypto is more bad than good - but we continue to push forward thru the winds.

Winter is here

One of the challenges launching a business powered by crypto is the expectation there will be cycles. For those who have followed crypto for the past 5 years, have been through a “crypto winter”, and understand the massive swings in value.

Since DOOR is a decentralized business, it has additional challenges to continue to grow its user base and spread the word. The growth is heavily dependent on its users to share and use the app. Without an active user community, projects can slow down dramatically during the winter, because there is lack of attention or interest due to the market receding.

Cryptocurrencies themselves aren’t the only things suffering in this climate either. The people and companies behind cryptocurrencies are facing difficulties as well. Many crypto and blockchain companies have seen profound losses and witnessed significant layoffs. On Aug. 19, crypto lender Hodlnaut announced it laid off 80% of its staff.

Robinhood (HOOD), which allows crypto trading on its platform, let 23% of its staff go in August, saying its earlier 8% job cuts in April didn’t account enough for the crypto crash and overall bear market.

Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea cut its staff by 20% in July. This came after trading on its platform fell 99% from an all-time high in May.

Crypto exchanges have seen similar downsizing. Exchanges Crypto.com and BlockFi cut a combined 400 employees the month before OpenSea saw its layoffs. At the same time, Gemini laid off 10% of its workforce during the same period.

Regulations and Reality Checks

Another aspect that makes this Crypto Winter different is the actions being taken by the SEC on regulating cryptocurrency, and also the reality checks related to how we value projects (especially NFTs).

For example, trading volume in Opensea (NFT Platform) is down 99% from peak traffic in May. The slowdown in NFT transactions on OpenSea comes amid warnings of a crypto winter in the second half of the year, with some analysts even forecasting the burst of the NFT bubble.

Even Ethereum Volume has decreased to 2021 levels. This shows the decrease in general interest in trading any crypto based on the ethereum chain. Not because of the projects themselves, but general macro trend of people moving away from crypto due to dropping values.

What does it mean for DOOR and other crypto projects

Projects like DOOR that depend heavily on its users to use and share our app will suffer due to the waining interest during the downturn, but like any recession, we will continue to push forward one new user at a time. The good news is our app is live, being used by thousands of people, and we will continue as a community invest our time to push the project forward.

There is very little we can do to exponentially grow interest during the crypto winter (the macro trends are too hard to overcome) - however, we do believe that many projects that did not have the fortitude to build and launch products will ultimately fade away, and there will be very few projects left standing once the next bull market begins.

Until then, we will keep pushing forward day by day.