Watching Berachain's TVL drop from its peak and reading the discussions about it in the community, I feel a bit emotional. The rise and fall of this project is almost a textbook case of the iterative nature of crypto narratives.

Looking back at that top-tier industry event last year, Berachain was an absolute star. Luxurious marketing, top-tier PR teams, the halo of fundraising—its TVL once surged to $3 billion. At that time, enthusiasm and capital were abundant, and market sentiment was high. The party atmosphere made everyone think this could be the next legend.

And now? The reality is in front of us. TVL is down to $184 million. Daily revenue has plummeted from hundreds of thousands to just a few thousand dollars. The spotlight has faded, leaving behind cold, on-chain data.

This isn’t just Berachain’s story. The crypto market periodically sparks new narratives that ignite the scene. DeFi Summer, NFT frenzy, Layer2 racing, AI + blockchain—each wave features projects attracting massive capital through top-tier marketing, lavish events, and endorsements from big influencers. But when market sentiment reverses and liquidity shifts, only those with real products, users, and revenue survive.

This is the underlying logic: marketing can make you visible, but only products can make you memorable.

So when evaluating projects, don’t just focus on TVL and price. Daily active users, protocol revenue, developer activity, on-chain interaction frequency—these are the true heartbeat. Has the project continued building in a bear market? Is it still working seriously after the parties are over? These are the things worth paying attention to.

The crypto market always rewards new concepts, but in the end, only genuine value pays off. We’ve seen Berachain’s story many times, and I believe we’ll see it many times again. The key is whether we can find those things that still shine after all the parties are over.