A wave of Web3 layoffs sweeping the globe is shattering the industry’s once-popular get-rich-quick myth. Leading firms such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com have successively begun large-scale workforce reductions. Numerous public blockchains, NFT companies, exchanges, and project teams are cutting business lines and downsizing, while many small and midsize projects have announced that they are shutting down altogether. Many industry insiders lament that the sector has rapidly moved from a frenzied era of abundant funding and high salaries to attract talent into a sober cycle of contraction, consolidation, and reshuffling. These layoffs are not an isolated incident caused by short-term market fluctuations, but an inevitable consequence of the industry’s bubble being deflated.
As the industry separates the wheat from the chaff and the bubble bursts, it is also undergoing a structural transformation. In the past, the industry focused on token issuance, secondary-market speculation, and hype-driven marketing. In the wake of the layoffs, resources, capital, and talent are increasingly flowing toward foundational infrastructure with real-world utility. The industry’s development is shifting away from “crypto speculation narratives” toward areas that connect with the real economy, such as on-chain infrastructure, RWA asset tokenization, cross-border stablecoin settlement, and trusted digital identity. Projects that rely solely on storytelling, issuing worthless tokens, or short-term market-cap manipulation will continue to be driven out of the market.