I see something quite funny in this space. People still talk about PMF, revenue, and user retention rates as basic things, but then dozens of new projects keep racing to get listed, even though they don’t have any real working products.

It’s not that token unlocks or tokenomics aren’t important — they are really crucial. The problem is when the goal of maximizing short-term profits is prioritized over long-term development, you can sense the difference from afar. Projects like "kite is what" — meaning unfamiliar names, only a whitepaper but nothing concrete — keep appearing constantly.

But when the market weakens, the true builders emerge. They still focus on technological improvements, expanding integrations, and finding ways to genuinely retain their community. When conditions become harsh, it’s those projects that have found a balance between product, revenue, and reasonable tokenomics that stand out.

The rest? They just repeat the same script with new code names, hoping you won’t notice. Or worse, they get "hired" to participate in pump-and-dump schemes. It’s really exhausting, but that also makes it easier than ever to identify who the real builders are.