Do you remember those people last year shouting "SOL will drop below 100 and then I'll go all-in blindly"? Now look at the market, those guys probably don't even have the energy to type on the keyboard and curse. This is the cruelty of the crypto world—no matter how hype the meme, once the bubble bursts, you won't hear a sound. It comes fast, and it goes even faster.

Thinking back to 2023 when I first entered the scene, SOL was only in the $60s. At that time, I was constantly investing in Solana's primary market, convinced that this chain had fast transaction finality and a vibrant ecosystem, so I kept riding the wave. Until it hit $170, I got scared and took my profits, not daring to keep playing. As everyone knows, it then skyrocketed past $200. I even broke my leg at the time, feeling I had missed the next big era.

But who would have thought that after two years of twists and turns, the mountain is still the same, and SOL has fallen back to the familiar dozens of dollars. This correction is not just a price retreat but a collapse of the logic. Thinking carefully, besides hype around meme coins and pump-and-dump schemes, what has Solana really left behind in these two years? Its so-called "high TPS and low fees" are no longer a solid moat under the siege of emerging public chains.

Looking at the current SOL, I vaguely see the shadow of the next Ethereum. Isn't ETH also in this awkward state now? Constantly talking about grand narratives and big visions, but apart from flashy derivatives, how many killer apps truly support its massive market cap? Technical upgrades are dragging on, and L2 solutions are continuously eroding the mainnet’s value. Once the market loses its liquidity premium, ETH is likely to follow SOL’s old path—what goes up, must come down.

In this rapidly changing circle, public chains without core competitive advantages are doomed to be eliminated. Whether it’s SOL or future ETH, as long as they can't find their "irreplaceability," the prosperity built solely on capital pools and retail FOMO is ultimately a house of cards. Don’t keep placing your faith in mere "traffic." When the tide goes out, those who are not prepared will be left freezing.