Cryptocurrencies have been a sort of enigma in the financial landscape ever since their release, with some being incredibly excited about their possibilities while another group remained skeptical about their potential. Since they only exist in the digital world, figuring them out was something of a challenge for those who are not familiar with the latest technologies. After all, not everybody wants to learn about the intricacies of the blockchain and figure out how to analyze complex market metrics before they can start trading. Many have started using copy trading as their preferred method, as it allows them to duplicate the trades of those who are more experienced or provably more successful than them.
You still have to decide how much of your capital to invest, though, as well as set parameters that are in line with your risk tolerance. Stop-loss levels are a must so that you can keep potential losses under control, but once set, the automated execution will take hold and carry out the ventures for you according to the data you’ve provided. The fact that there’s a growing number of strategies out there shows exactly how big crypto has become in the trading world. However, some still wonder about its future and potential for long-term development.
Sunk-Cost-Maxxing
The concept of sunk-cost-maxxing combines the ideas of the sunk-cost fallacy, a phenomenon that sees investors unwilling to leave a certain strategy behind because they’ve invested in it quite heavily in the past, even when moving to something new would clearly be advantageous to them, with the idea of maximizing. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, this tendency is known for its ability to hinder growth and long-term development. The idea is that the sunk-cost fallacy is escalated through the abandoning of old ideas in favor of new ones, meaning that projects don’t have enough time to grow and succeed over the long term.
This is, according to researchers, the fate of most cryptocurrencies and tokens, as they have to chase new narratives all the time in order to attract investors. Some think that traditional business advice could be useful in this case, namely, the fact that falling for the sunk-cost fallacy is never a good idea. While standing by a strategy that clearly doesn’t work isn’t a good idea, it is also not a good thing to spend a very short amount of time with an asset and pivot at the first sign of something going wrong. In many cases, the first case of resistance is enough to cause them to switch gears, while slow growth and fundraising getting difficult are also seen as negative signs requiring a change.
The Market
Some crypto founders are already working on their third pivot by now, often in a very different direction compared to what they started with. For instance, those who were betting on non-fungible tokens in 2021 most likely moved on to decentralized finance a year later, then to AI agents between 2023 and 2024. The fact that trends change so quickly and so drastically in the crypto market causes them to want to keep up to avoid becoming irrelevant in any way.
In some ways, this is the correct strategy, as the larger ecosystem requires it. However, it can also become a weak point that makes building anything more robust pretty much impossible. Some analysts believe that the current cryptocurrency market operates as part of an 18-month cycle, during which a new narrative takes root, followed by funding and capital flowing in as a result. This causes developers to change the course of their plans. This period lasts for anywhere between six and nine months until the interest gradually subsides.
In the past, the cycles were much longer, of around three or four years even. They started to be around two years and are now eighteen months at the most. Venture funding dropped by almost 60% during the second quarter of 2025, further reducing the time and funds available before the next trend. In order to have a comprehensive, long-term strategy, the crypto cycles would have to be between three and five years, a realistic range for the building of more infrastructure.
The Future
The problem is that things don’t seem to work that way in the crypto world, at least not yet. When founders stick to older narratives, they end up suffering. Users tend to leave, and investors are no longer interested. In many cases, even if you want to remain loyal to the previous trends, they will essentially force you to change and switch to a more current trend. As such, one of the main issues that should be addressed is how to incentivize users and find ways to push through even when the hype is no longer fresh.
Several sectors have dealt with this in the past, including NFTs or Ordinals. While they do seem incredibly popular when they’re just getting started, they fall into obscurity quite suddenly after a while. Several tools have been used to draw and retain the interest of users, including token launches and airdropped rewards. This incentivized many to become part of the early adopters, but without adequate structuring, these strategies can actually be exploited instead. This happens when the investors end up abandoning the platforms right after receiving the coins.
According to some researchers, many founders don’t really want to find long-term solutions either. The reason for that is that they’re able to drive profits, and substantial ones at that, just by doing the same things they’ve done so far. The fact that wealth can be created even when nothing of longevity has been built is definitely a characteristic that belongs almost exclusively to crypto, as that’s the way the market was built.
To sum up, the crypto environment still has a lot of growing up to do. If you’re looking to invest, remember that having a strong strategy will always help tremendously. Look for the latest changes in the market and adjust your strategy accordingly. As for the coins themselves, the only way to drive growth appears to be for the ecosystem to undergo a few fundamental changes. Whether that will eventually happen or not remains to be seen.