Monday Nov 3 2025 03:40
2 min
Rosie Sargsian, head of growth at Ten Protocol, believes many crypto projects are struggling to achieve sustainable growth due to an overemphasis on short-term trends. She argues that this constant pursuit of attracting investors through new narratives is hindering their ability to build robust and long-lasting projects.
Sargsian points to the existence of an 18-month product cycle within the crypto space. This cycle begins with the emergence of a new narrative, followed by inflows of funding and investment, and then projects begin to pivot amidst the hype. However, interest quickly fades, forcing founders to seek out new opportunities. "This cycle is now 18 months if you're lucky," she states.
Sargsian highlights that a decline in project funding within the crypto space exacerbates the issue. With reduced time and capital available to founders, there is increased pressure to shift to the next prevailing trend.
Sargsian emphasizes that projects cannot build anything meaningful in just 18 months. Genuine infrastructure requires at least 3 to 5 years, and achieving true product-market fit requires iteration over years, not quarters. She indicates that continuing to work on last year's narrative will lead to a loss of investment and users.
One key issue is how to incentivize users to adopt platforms and stay with them long-term when the hype fades. While token launches and airdropped rewards for early adopters can attract interest, without sufficient planning, this can lead to early investors abandoning the platform after the token is launched.
Sean Lippel, general partner at venture capital firm FinTech Collective, agrees with Sargsian's opinion, but adds that some founders and investors do not want solutions that promote broader long-term thinking. He points out that when he expressed support for A16z's vesting period of more than 5 years on tokens, he was surprised by the reactions from some figures in the industry.
Risk Warning: this article represents only the author’s views and is for reference only. It does not constitute investment advice or financial guidance, nor does it represent the stance of the Markets.com platform.When considering shares, indices, forex (foreign exchange) and commodities for trading and price predictions, remember that trading CFDs involves a significant degree of risk and could result in capital loss.Past performance is not indicative of any future results. This information is provided for informative purposes only and should not be construed to be investment advice. Trading cryptocurrency CFDs and spread bets is restricted for all UK retail clients.
Latest
View allMonday, 3 November 2025
3 min
Monday, 3 November 2025
5 min
Monday, 3 November 2025
3 min
EN
