I think these three stories actually connect, and the bigger picture is more interesting than any one of them.
On one side, the market is getting flooded with new tokens. On the other, Bitcoin and Ethereum are getting hit with a short-term risk-off move. And at the same time, Ethereum is quietly preparing for a much bigger problem that could matter years from now.
That combination tells me something important: crypto is growing faster than the quality of the market itself.
THE TOKEN FLOOD IS GETTING CRAZY
The first thing that caught my attention was the latest CoinMarketCap data showing around 59.68 million tracked cryptocurrencies.
The screenshot making the rounds claims 109,000 tokens were created in just 24 hours.
Whether you focus on that exact daily number or the bigger trend, the message is obvious: there are now an insane number of tokens fighting for the same liquidity.
Back in 2013, there were only around 500 tokens.
By 2017, around 3,000.
By 2021, around 20,000.
Now we are dealing with tens of millions.
That changes the game.
There is simply too much supply.
Every day, hundreds or thousands of new coins can launch with a story, a meme, an influencer push or a few screenshots.
And most of them are fighting for attention before they even have a real reason to exist.
For me, this is one of the biggest problems in crypto right now.
THEN BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM DROP
While the number of tokens keeps exploding, the major assets are dealing with the opposite problem: money is becoming more selective.
Bitcoin recently slipped below $78,000 while Ethereum moved below $2,450. The broader market is also seeing heavy long liquidations, with more than $100 million in longs wiped out in a recent 12-hour period.
And the timing makes sense.
The market is waiting for the Fed decision on September 16, while inflation data is coming this week. Stronger employment data has already pushed rate-hike expectations higher, and rising oil prices are adding another inflation concern.
So I’m not looking at the current weakness as some random crypto crash.
The macro environment is simply making traders less comfortable taking risk.
And when liquidity gets tighter, the weakest tokens usually feel it first.
BUT ETHEREUM IS DOING SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT
This is where the third post becomes interesting.
The Ethereum Foundation has now set December 2029 as its target for making Ethereum’s Layer 1 resistant to quantum attacks across its execution, consensus and data layers.
That sounds like something from a science-fiction movie, but it is a real problem Ethereum is planning for.
Quantum computers could eventually threaten some of the cryptography used by blockchains today.
Ethereum is basically saying: we would rather prepare years too early than discover we waited too long.
The Foundation is even planning around a worst-case scenario where quantum computing becomes powerful enough to break current cryptography around 2030, while admitting that most estimates place that much later.
That is why I find this more important than the headline makes it sound.
Ethereum is trying to build infrastructure that can still exist decades from now.
AND THERE IS MONEY BUYING ETH TOO
At the same time, institutions are still building serious Ethereum positions. BitMine recently bought another 28,086 ETH, taking its holdings to 5.93 million ETH. That is roughly 4.9% of the entire ETH supply. Even more interesting, around 5.07 million of those ETH are already staked.
So while retail traders are watching ETH fall below $2,450 and worrying about the next liquidation candle, some large players are continuing to accumulate the asset for the long term.
That does not mean ETH cannot fall further. It means the story underneath the price is not nearly as simple as the chart makes it look.
THIS IS THE PART I FIND MOST INTERESTING
Crypto is becoming massively crowded at the bottom while becoming more serious at the top. Millions of tokens are being created. Most will probably disappear.
At the same time, Bitcoin is becoming more connected to macro markets, Ethereum is preparing for quantum computing, institutions are accumulating billions of dollars worth of ETH, and blockchain infrastructure is becoming more important.
So I think the market is splitting into two very different worlds.
One side is attention. Memecoins, launches, hype, narratives and thousands of new tokens competing for liquidity. The other side is infrastructure. Bitcoin, Ethereum, institutional adoption, tokenization, security and long-term development.
And both are happening at the same time.
MY TAKE
I don’t think the answer is to panic because Bitcoin dropped below $78,000. I also don’t think every new token deserves attention just because it is pumping.
The market is becoming too crowded for that.
When there were 500 tokens, finding the next big project was relatively simple. With nearly 60 million tracked cryptocurrencies, the hard part is no longer finding something to buy.
The hard part is figuring out what deserves to survive. That is probably the biggest change happening in crypto right now. And honestly, I think that matters far more than the next 10% move in Bitcoin.