This year’s crypto market crash was the worst in the short history of the asset class. That much is true, simply given how many more people were affected in the wake of it as opposed to previous crypto crashes. But is crypto dead as a result? The answer is a bit loaded. What is certain, though, is that a fundamental change will be occurring in the crypto market for years to come.

The past two years have been great for crypto’s exposure to the mainstream. At this point, everybody and their mother has at least heard of Bitcoin (BTC-USD). Last fall, countless guides cropped up in response to this, telling people how to navigate crypto questions from family members over the holidays. Celebrities started flocking to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) through Bored Ape Yacht Club as well.

Throughout 2021, the market capitalization of crypto ebbed and flowed. However, investors can see exactly the point when crypto hit the mainstream via Dogecoin‘s (DOGE-USD) bull run early that year. At that point, the global crypto market cap shattered through the $1 trillion mark. It then proceeded to climb north of $2 trillion by the end of 2021, aided by BTC’s $67,000 all-time high, the booming success of play-to-earn blockchain games, the foray of NFTs into mainstream art and the speculative wonders of pupcoins like Doge and Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD).

Indeed, crypto seemed like an unstoppable force not too long ago. But there’s a major fault line in the industry which was oft overlooked as the asset class continued to make investors rich. Crypto was simply not made to exist like it did during the 2021 gravy 

train.