In 2022, the crypto market experienced a thorough reshuffle. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem triggered a chain reaction, with a $40 billion market cap vanishing in a short period, followed by the FTX crisis which further plunged the entire industry into a liquidity crisis. These black swan events prompted a rethinking of the future direction of blockchain.

Interestingly, during this winter, Layer2 solutions grew against the trend. The daily active users of scaling solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum surpassed 500,000, and more importantly, transaction costs dropped by 90% compared to the mainnet—such improvements provided real incentives for user retention. While most projects struggled in the bear market, these Layer2 protocols became one of the few sectors maintaining growth momentum.

This shift is not just about numbers but also signifies an upgrade in industry understanding. Previously, everyone was caught up in a binary choice between decentralization and efficiency; now, the focus is on exploring modular expansion—splitting and optimizing functions across different layers to achieve true efficiency while maintaining security. Mainstream assets like BTC, ETH, and BNB, despite experiencing setbacks, have laid the groundwork for the next wave of growth through innovations at the infrastructure layer.