A lot happened this week in crypto, marking developments expected to continue shaping the industry. Important headlines came from administrative decisions, ecosystem developments, and analysts probing the market outlook.
In case you missed it, the following is a roundup of some of the most important developments in the crypto market this week.
XRP Lawsuit’s Jay Clayton Became New SDNY Attorney
“Trump’s former SEC Chair Jay Clayton has taken his position as interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York. He will serve for up to four months until confirmed by the Senate or appointed by Manhattan federal judges,” former Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett reported.
The move came as Democratic leaders in the Senate reportedly hinted at blocking Clayton’s nomination. Trump’s move to install him as interim could see Clayton avoid the Senate confirmation process.
Clayton is the legal expert who initially filed the longstanding legal action between the SEC and Ripple. As it happened, Clayton filed the lawsuit on December 22, 2020, and resigned the next day in what will be remembered as a “parting shot” for the agency.
Pi Network Pioneer Frustration Over Ambiguous Roadmap
Another crypto incident this week concerned Pi Network pioneers. As BeInCrypto reported, the controversial project released its Mainnet Migration Roadmap. However, it failed to impress pioneers as it lacked key details.
Specifically, several gaps sparked concerns, including failing to disclose how many Pioneers remain in the queue. Similarly, it was unable to show the network’s daily migration capacity. The absence of these figures makes it impossible for users to predict when their migration will occur.
Further, opaque criteria for node rewards and the UI’s “Transferable Balance” underestimating actual migrated amounts raised flags. Pi Network also offers no audit or error‑resolution process for users who spot mismatches in their historical mining data, exacerbating the fears.
“I thought we were mining all of these PI coins this whole time? I thought the security circles were the Consensus Mechanism. It kinda seems to me like there isn’t a blockchain, and never was one. What kind of “Blockchain protocol” would “Require” all tokens to be minted at genesis?” one community member wrote.
Pi Network (PI) price performance. Source: CoinGecko
Data on Coingecko shows PI coin was trading for $0.6539 as of this writing, up by a modest 1.1% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin Cycle Unfolds Noticeably Different From Previous Ones
More interestingly, BeInCrypto reported a concerning shift: this cycle is unfolding remarkably differently than the past ones post-halving.
In previous cycles, BTC price tended to rally aggressively months after the Bitcoin halving. The post-halving period saw strong upward momentum and parabolic price action.
This trend was largely driven by retail enthusiasm and speculative demand, which proved most pronounced from 2012 to 2016 and 2016 to 2020.
Things are happening differently in the current cycle. Instead of accelerating after the halving, the price surge began in October and December 2024, driven by Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded funds) hype. This was followed by consolidation in January 2025 and a correction in late February.
PancakeSwap Announces CAKE Tokenomics Date
This week in crypto, PancakeSwap announced the official date for its CAKE tokenomics, April 23. As BeInCrypto reported, key changes included the removal of veCAKE, staking, and revenue sharing, with 5.3 million CAKE to be burned annually to curb supply.
However, there was also controversy as Cakepie DAO pushed back against veCAKE removal. Several developers and community members believe CAKE Tokenomics 3.0 will benefit the project in the long term.
“At its core, CAKE Tokenomics 3.0 defends true value and protects CAKE holders by strengthening long-term fundamentals—such as aggressively cutting emissions to accelerate deflation and sustainably grow value,” Chef Philip said.
Meanwhile, others voiced strong concerns on X (Twitter), criticizing the decision to eliminate veCAKE. Among them was Cakepie DAO, one of the largest veCAKE holders, who called it non-transparent and potentially damaging to projects built around that model.
Against this backdrop, PancakeSwap resorted to a $1.5 million CAKE compensation plan.
“PancakeSwap is willing to provide 1.5M USD in CAKE to CakePie DAO primarily used to compensate CKP Holders if CakePie DAO enables mCAKE holders to redeem 1:1 back to CAKE and opens the redemption page in a timely manner if the proposal passes. Detailed plans will be announced once the mirror proposal on CakePie is completed,” the Head Chef of PancakeSwap wrote.
Data on CoinGecko shows Pancake’s CAKE was trading for $2.12 as of this writing, up by nearly 10% in the last 24 hours.
Zora Airdrop and Token Launch Announcement
Adding to the list of the many events that happened this week in crypto, Zora Network announced that it would airdrop 1 billion ZORA tokens (10% of the total supply) on April 23. The tokens would reward early platform users across two snapshot periods.
As it happened, the crypto airdrop happened in style, sparking confusion as it lacked an official checker or claim site. Users were required to go to the contract address and check their allocations.
Speaking to BeInCrypto, Jesse Pollak, the creator of the Base blockchain, said that one must not understand anything about crypto or the underlying infrastructure before posting on Zora. He also defended the value of content coins, emphasizing their potential for creators despite volatility.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) continues to generate strong revenue, collecting $42.53 million in fees over the last 30 days. However, despite the strong fundamentals, momentum indicators are weakening, with RSI and BBTrend both showing signs of cooling.
HYPE recently failed twice to break key resistance at $19.26, putting pressure on its short-term trend. Now, the price sits at a critical point where it could either collapse below support or mount a new rally toward $25.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) RSI Drops to 42 as Momentum Weakens
Hyperliquid’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is cooling sharply, dropping to 42 from 60.93 yesterday.
The RSI is a momentum indicator that measures the speed and magnitude of an asset’s recent price changes. It ranges from 0 to 100, with readings above 70 typically signaling overbought conditions, and readings below 30 suggesting oversold conditions.
With HYPE’s RSI now at 42, the token is sitting in a neutral zone but leaning toward weakness.
If the RSI continues to fall, it could open the door for more downside pressure, but if it stabilizes and bounces back, HYPE could regain strength before deeper losses set in.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) Could Enter Consolidation After BBTrend Drop
Hyperliquid is seeing a sharp drop in its BBTrend indicator, now at 2.63, down from 12.68 five days ago. This steep decline shows that the bullish momentum seen earlier has faded quickly.
BBTrend readings falling this sharply often reflect a major slowdown in trend strength, signaling that the price could be entering a consolidation phase or preparing for a deeper correction.
BBTrend, or Bollinger Band Trend, measures how strongly an asset is trending based on the width and expansion of its Bollinger Bands.
High BBTrend values, generally above 10, indicate strong trending conditions, while low values closer to 0 suggest a weak or sideways market. With HYPE’s BBTrend at 2.63, the current reading points to weak trend strength.
If the BBTrend continues to stay low, it could mean that HYPE’s price will consolidate or move sideways unless new momentum builds.
Will Hyperliquid (HYPE) Collapse Below $16 or Rally Past $25?
Hyperliquid has tested the $19.26 resistance level twice over the past few days but failed both times. As a result, its trend now appears to be weakening, with a possible death cross forming soon.
If the bearish momentum continues, HYPE could drop to test support at $16.82.
If selling pressure intensifies, a break below $14.66 could open the way toward deeper support levels at $12.42 and even $9.32.
“God Candle” is a technical term used to describe a massive green candlestick on a price chart, indicating a sudden and sharp price surge within a short time.
In 2025, several altcoins are considered strong candidates to form God Candles. Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and Pi Network are the most anticipated.
Why Are Analysts Expecting God Candles for ETH, XRP, and PI?
The “God Candle” phenomenon often attracts investors due to its potential for outsized returns, especially when triggered by positive news, whale movements, or shifts in market sentiment.
1. Ethereum
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is drawing attention due to heavy accumulation by publicly listed companies. Analysts forecast that institutional demand could absorb the newly issued ETH following The Merge.
This strong demand is key to predicting a potential god candle for Ethereum.
“ETH is so ready to go absolutely vertical,” crypto expert Michaël van de Poppe said.
Analyst Alek predicted that ETH could rise to $4,000 in August.
“ETH right now is in consolidation phase and getting ready for the god candle,” Alek predicted.
2. XRP
XRP is the next contender. It’s a unique altcoin in the current market, attracting retail and institutional investors. The XRP community believes that ProShares launching an XRP futures ETF is a stepping stone to a spot ETF.
On Polymarket, the odds of a successful spot ETF approval have reached as high as 90%. A spot ETF could attract up to $100 billion into XRP, sparking a sharp price rally and potentially creating a god candle.
Because of this, some analysts are comparing XRP’s past price surges to anticipate a similar breakout. Historical charts show that XRP often forms monthly candles with large upward ranges.
“ANOTHER god CANDLE LOADING FOR XRP,” analyst Mikybull predicted.
Some investors are even more optimistic. They expect a July god candle for XRP to kick off a rally to $10 by 2025.
3. Pi Network
Despite being a controversial project, Pi Network still boasts one of the most loyal and active communities among altcoins.
Recent analysis shows that Pi’s price has stabilized, while exchange transfers have increased. Positive project news has come and gone, but Pioneers are now waiting for a bigger announcement: a Pi listing on Binance.
“Binance is one of the biggest exchanges in the world. If $Pi officially gets listed there, it could be a game-changer for price, volume, and adoption!” Pi UpdatesDaily said.
Pioneers believe this listing could push Pi to $10—or even as high as $314.
While it remains uncertain whether Binance will list Pi, the community has spotted some signs pointing in that direction. Binance has also previously surveyed users about the potential listing.
“There is no doubt that PI will have its biggest green candle soon,” Pi News predicted.
Altcoins Are Riskier Than Bitcoin in the Current Market
Although Ethereum, XRP, and Pi Network offer significant upside potential with the possibility of god candles, a report from Kaiko highlights a growing gap between Bitcoin and altcoins. Bitcoin continues to lead in both performance and stability.
Bitcoin vs Altcoin Sharpe Ratio And Annualized Volatility. Source: Kaiko.
“Bitcoin’s risk-adjusted returns now outpace most altcoins, with its Sharpe ratio surpassing high-flyers like SOL and XRP,” the Kaiko report stated.
This suggests that while altcoins might break out, they remain highly speculative and more prone to volatility in the current cycle.
In 2025, the ecosystems that thrive aren’t the loudest — they’re the most strategic, the most focused, and the ones building lasting value. Ecosystem health today is increasingly measured by the depth of developer engagement, not the size of token airdrops or surface-level metrics. Marketing has evolved too: AI tools, grassroots community operations, and hybrid content strategies are replacing short-lived, high-gloss campaigns.
As crypto becomes a fixture in national policy and economic frameworks, credibility and trust within ecosystems have emerged as the new currencies of growth.
There’s no one-size-fits-all playbook anymore. To uncover what’s actually working today, we spoke with growth leaders from Sui, Avalanche, Syscoin, Manta Network, and others.
This report helps to shed some light on the ongoing trends in the crypto-related marketing and find out which of them are setting the pace for the next wave of sustainable growth.
TL;DR:
In 2025, the ecosystems thriving aren’t the loudest. They’re the most strategic, most focused and most aligned with long-term value.
Ecosystem health is increasingly tied to the depth of developer engagement, not the size of token airdrops or vanity metrics.
Marketing has evolved. AI tools, grassroots community ops, and hybrid content strategies are replacing high-gloss, short-cycle campaigns.
With crypto entering national policy agendas and economic frameworks, credibility and ecosystem trust are new growth currencies.
There’s no one-size-fits-all. We spoke with growth leaders from Sui, Avalanche, Syscoin, Manta Network and others to uncover what’s actually working.
Back in 2024, crypto felt like it was everywhere and nowhere all at once.
Timelines were flooded with debates, L1 vs. L2, monolithic vs. modular, liquidity this, fragmentation that. Almost everyone had a hot take and every project was scrambling for a flash of attention that barely lasted longer than a tweet.
You could launch a project, nail the narrative, get your retweets and podcast mentions and still wake up the next day with no real momentum.
It wasn’t sustainable and deep down, most teams knew it.
And yet, behind the scenes, something foundational shifted.
For the first time, crypto became a serious topic in policy rooms.
The U.S. government announced a strategic crypto reserve.
The SEC greenlit Bitcoin and Ether ETPs, signaling a long-awaited shift in regulatory posture.
Lawmakers started treating blockchain not as a niche asset class, but as infrastructure and a core component of national strategy.
Suddenly, crypto had a seat at the big table. That was the moment the growth playbook started to change.
Fast-forward to 2025, ecosystems that had been optimizing for virality started asking tougher questions:
What does long-term credibility look like?
How do we show up to policymakers and enterprises, not just degens and influencers?
Can we measure our health beyond just wallet counts and discord headcounts?
To find answers, we spoke with ecosystem leaders across 10 blockchain networks, from early-stage innovators to mature platforms. Despite technical and strategic diversity, they shared one common mindset: They’re building like they plan to be here in five, ten, twenty years.
This is post-hype crypto and the rules have changed.
Key highlights and critical findings
Marketing budgets are all over the place: Some teams are grinding with less than $100K a year while others are spending $10 million and up. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but the gap speaks volumes.
Hybrid teams are the new normal: The smartest teams are optimizing for speed, adaptability, and high-context execution. They’re ruthlessly prioritizing talent that moves the needle, not just fills roles.
Builders are the flywheel: Growth teams are channeling most of their energy into developer outreach such as grants, hackathons, ambassador programs, and local language support are common plays.
Audience alignment: In an oversaturated, narrative-heavy market, cutting through the noise to reach the right set of audience is still one of the biggest hurdles.
Tactics are getting sharper: AI-powered marketing, community-based onboarding, and incentive models like “watch-to-earn” are emerging as key differentiators in creating sticky, engaging experiences.
Research Methodology
To understand what’s driving ecosystem growth in 2025, we went straight to the source in conversations with ten executives across active, forward-thinking blockchain networks including Sui, Avalanche, Manta Network, Syscoin, eCash, and CrossFi Chain.
Our findings are structured across five critical themes:
→ Strategic Priorities
→ Growth Challenges
→ Team Structures
→ Marketing Tactics
→ Budget Allocation
These are the pressure points where ecosystems are being tested, where they’re iterating and where the shift from hype to health is most visible.
The answers weren’t surface-level.
They were honest, revealing, and at times, surprisingly candid.
Section 1: The Evolving Landscape of Crypto Ecosystems
1.1 From Noise to Nuance
Not long ago, crypto felt like a winner-takes-all race.
Ethereum and Bitcoin dominated headlines, while new chains clawed for attention with a flashy feature or a viral announcement.
But that playbook has changed.
Today, the landscape is more fragmented and more alive than ever.
Upstart chains can gain real traction in months. Niche ecosystems are finding staying power by serving focused communities with precision: real dev support, localized outreach, unique tooling, and use cases that resonate with people who actually build.
It’s no longer about being the biggest.
It’s about being the most relevant to the audience that matters.
Source: Market share distribution among top ecosystems.
The momentum has shifted from mass appeal to mission-driven growth.
The ecosystems making progress are the ones listening, serving and playing the long game.
1.2 Key growth metrics and benchmarks
Among surveyed ecosystems, developer adoption has become the north star metric.
While TVL remains a benchmark, leading teams are shifting toward engagement depth over vanity counts. Grants, hackathons, and local campaigns outperform short-term airdrops in both onboarding and retention.
1.3 Critical Challenges Facing Ecosystem Growth
Source: Top Barriers to Ecosystem Adoption Identified by Executives
Based on direct feedback, the top challenges for ecosystems today are:
Difficulty reaching the right audience
Oversaturation of the crypto landscape
Budget constraints and limited runway for experimentation
While blockchain infrastructure is improving,especially with L2 scalability and better dev tooling, the biggest challenges aren’t technical anymore.
They’re strategic.
Most teams aren’t struggling with what to build but with how to position, differentiate, and communicate.
“It’s no longer enough to be technically sound. Ecosystem success depends on whether you can communicate value to developers, users and partners in the clearest, most compelling way possible.” – — Matthew Schmenk, Ecosystem Growth Lead, Avalanche
Section 2: Marketing & Growth Strategies
“Marketing in crypto used to be noise. Now it’s systems thinking – who you reach, how you reach them, and why they stay.”- The Lunar Strategy Team
Ecosystem marketing in 2025 isn’t about dropping a flashy campaign, running a paid KOL loop, and hoping it sticks. Today, marketing is infrastructure.
It’s the connective tissue between ecosystem layers: builders, users, tokenholders, institutions driving onboarding, retention, and legitimacy.
Let’s break it down:
2.1 Choosing the Right Growth Model
Source: Percentage of Ecosystems Using External Agencies vs. In-House Teams
According to our survey:
60% use a hybrid model (in-house + agency)
40% operate with fully internal teams
2.2 Analysing the Pros and Cons
Hybrid models allow for speed and flexibility while maintaining institutional knowledge. Fully in-house teams prioritize cohesion but may lack bandwidth or breadth of expertise.
2.3 Marketing Budget Allocation Across Ecosystems
Annual budgets vary widely:
<$500K: Primarily in-house with lean teams
$500K–$1M: Hybrid setups with agency retained for campaigns
$5M+: Full-stack growth teams covering PR, events, KOLs, paid media, SEO and more
What’s changing in 2025 isn’t just how much teams spend, it’s how precisely they deploy capital:
Early-stage: lean, localized execution
Mid-tier: AI tooling, content ops, ambassador focus
Mature: brand systems, KOL pipelines, segmentation
“In 2024, we spent $2M and didn’t know what moved the needle. In 2025, we’re spending half that – with 3x the return – because we track the full funnel.” — Ecosystem CMO
Section 3: Driving Ecosystem Adoption
As ecosystems compete for market share, one truth is becoming increasingly clear: developers are the new power users.
Ecosystem health is now largely measured by the number and quality of developers actively building, contributing, and shipping.
3.1 Developer Acquisition & Retention
Across the board, developer evangelism and hackathons ranked as the most effective levers for attracting high-quality builders. In 2025, 9 out of 10 ecosystem leaders called them “critical” or “highly effective.”
But incentives alone aren’t enough.
The modern developer is motivated by clear value exchange and personal growth, not just payouts.
Here’s what’s working now:
Hackathons with real-world utility
On-chain recognition (e.g., badges, NFTs)
IRL builder meetups with funded follow-through
In short, developer outreach is all about frictionless onboarding, compelling challenges, and a clear value exchange.
Also, programs that combine monetary reward + mentorship + visibility are far outperforming “spray-and-pray” grants.
Case Highlights:
eCash: Turned its internal engineers into public-facing magnets for talent. Builders engage because they trust the humans behind the chain.
Syscoin: Hosts regionally targeted AMAs → feeds directly into localized hackathons → devs connect directly to mentors.
Sui: “Watch-to-Earn” onboarding that rewards learning with gas fee discounts, NFTs, and access to future funding rounds.
Takeaway: Attracting developers is about storytelling. The ecosystems seeing long-term success are those building not just incentives but infrastructure, identity and upward mobility.
3.2 Community Building & Engagement
While developer acquisition drives infrastructure growth, community engagement fuels longevity. Every successful ecosystem in 2025 has one thing in common: a loyal, activated community with a clear identity.
Source: The Most effective community growth tactics
While growth tactics vary, one truth stands out: the most resilient ecosystems pair online engagement with offline connection.
Top tactics driving community growth:
Strategic partnerships and cross-promotion
Ambassador programs built around values, not vanity
Hybrid content strategies that blend memes, education, and culture
In fact, ecosystems like Sui and Syscoin consistently outperform larger chains on key ecosystem health metrics not because they’re bigger, but because they’re tighter:
Higher TVL per wallet
Greater contributor-to-user ratio
More active builders per community member
Case Study: Syscoin’s grassroots events across APAC led to a 30% increase in wallet retention among new users, with ongoing community-led workshops in 5+ cities.
3.3 The Role of Kaito in Ecosystem Brand Building
In 2025, brand strategy has moved beyond logos and Twitter handles.
The Kaito framework, designed to optimize ecosystem mindshare is fast becoming a differentiator for projects seeking credibility and cohesion.
Source: Kaito mindshare metrics across top ecosystems
Adoption Snapshot:
Only 10% of surveyed ecosystems are currently using a structured Kaito strategy
However, 40% are actively exploring adoption in the next cycle
Projects like Berachain that adopted early Kaito brand structuring reports increased developer trust, faster community onboarding and stronger alignment between technical and community narratives.
Strategic Approaches to Kaito Optimization:
Clear “voice pillars” that reflect ecosystem values
Unified messaging across technical, enterprise, and community verticals
Scalable content kits and assets to empower contributors to amplify the brand
Today, ecosystems aren’t asking “How do we go viral?”
Instead, they’re asking “How do we show up with the right message, in the right format and to the right audience consistently?”
The new growth stack includes:
Influencer alignment by audience layer
PR as a funnel driver, not a vanity boost
Social media as ecosystem UX
AI and segmentation to fine-tune delivery
Let’s break down the mechanics behind the ecosystems getting it right.
4.1 Influencer Marketing Effectiveness
Influencer marketing remains effective, only if you get the tier right.
Source: ROI comparison across influencer tiers
Key Takeaway:
Nano Influencers (1K–10K): ~4.2x ROI
Micro Influencers (10K–50K): ~3.9x ROI
Macro/Mega Influencers: Significantly lower returns due to saturation and high CPM
Nano and Micro influencers (1K–50K followers) outperform all others in ROI due to stronger niche focus, higher engagement, and lower cost-per-activation.
Though, the Top-performing influencer strategies in 2025 blend:
Nano creators for authenticity (Twitter threads, walkthroughs)
Mid-tier educators for onboarding and explanation (YouTube, LinkedIn)
Selective mega partnerships for major announcements or enterprise plays
Best for:
Early-stage projects
Ecosystems entering new regions or subcultures
Campaigns focused on developer credibility over hype
The Lunar Amplification Method
Used by select top-tier ecosystems, the Lunar Amplification Method is a multi-tiered distribution system that combines:
AI-driven influencer matching
Creator content kits (assets, talking points, tone guides)
Performance-based tiers (creators earn more by driving on-chain action)
It’s a system where the creator voice becomes a scalable growth vector backed by data, incentives, and trust.
4.2 Public Relations & Media Coverage
Too many ecosystems view PR as a vanity move.
The most effective teams treat it as distribution infrastructure.
This dual-axis chart illustrates how media coverage intensity correlates with:
Average Developer Sign-ups
Total Value Locked (TVL) Growth
Investing in PR campaigns and consistent media exposure can significantly accelerate ecosystem adoption both in developer participation and capital inflow (TVL).
Key Takeaways:
Developer sign-ups scale from ~50 (Low coverage) to ~400 (Very High coverage).
TVL growth jumps from 5% under low coverage to an impressive 45% with very high media presence.
Higher media coverage directly correlates with a sharp rise in both developer sign-ups and TVL growth.
Example: Manta Network launched its dev-focused ZK SDK and timed the announcement with coordinated earned media + regional hackathons = 3.2x increase in sign-ups over 14 days.
4.3 Social Media Strategy
In 2025, ecosystems aren’t asking “should we be on [platform]?”
They’re asking how do we show up with the right content, for the right moment, on each platform?
This bar chart displays how frequently various social media platforms are mentioned as part of crypto ecosystem growth strategies.
Platform Highlights:
Twitter dominates as the most commonly used platform
Telegram and Discord follow closely, suggesting strong emphasis on community interaction and support hubs.
Lesser-used platforms like Reddit, YouTube and Facebook play a niche role in ecosystem marketing.
However, crypto ecosystems should create platform-specific content:
Twitter: Memes, threads, real-time updates
Telegram/Discord: Community health, AMAs, governance
Ecosystems are moving beyond flat airdrops and short-term incentives, and instead architecting behaviorally intelligent tokenomics that reward commitment, skill and genuine contribution.
The question is no longer “What do we give?” but “What are we reinforcing?”
5.1 Effective Incentive Structures
Incentives were once a shortcut for growth.
Now, they’re shaping everything from user retention to governance alignment to ecosystem stickiness.
Source: This bar chart compares the perceived effectiveness of two major types of incentive mechanisms used in crypto ecosystems.
These often tie directly to network growth metrics such as TVL, active wallets, and user retention.
Off-chain rewards can still be useful for short-term engagement, brand visibility, and community culture.
Projects that tie incentives to measurable contributions and future value (e.g., governance power, access tiers) retain users longer than those offering flat token grants.
Case Examples:
Syscoin offers tiered rewards for contributor milestones
Manta Network combines token drops with future airdrop eligibility tied to participation
5.2 Local Developer Hubs
Ecosystem growth is global by default and regional by design.
Local developer hubs are now a critical piece of post-hype strategy.
Source: Geographic distribution of developer hubs
This chart highlights the regional presence of developer hubs across the globe, indicating where ecosystems are establishing a physical or community-driven footprint to support builders.
Regional presence is shaping ecosystem strength:
Asia-Pacific leads in number of hubs, driven by fast-growing developer ecosystems
North America/Europe hold steady with mature infrastructure and funding access
Latin America, MENA, and Africa show rapid interest but remain early-stage
More consistent retention through community anchoring
Best Practices:
Launch hybrid events (online + local)
Create language-specific docs and support
Offer region-based grant programs tied to local needs
Conclusion
Crypto in 2025 is quieter, deeper, and more intentional.
The ecosystems winning today are building context, culture, and trust, rooted in purpose where meaningful value, thoughtful execution, and trusted communities are taking center stage.
Our deep-dive conversations with builders, marketers and ecosystem leaders across ten blockchain networks uncovered three core principles that are setting the pace for the next wave of sustainable growth:
Developer-First, Always: The thriving ecosystems treat developers with genuine support, visibility, and growth paths. They’ve recognized that every successful builder brings ten more, creating a powerful flywheel effect and it’s the foundation everything else builds upon.
Communities Over Crowds: The most dynamic ecosystems are building tight-knit, purpose-driven communities where members feel ownership and identity. They’re creating spaces where online connections lead to offline relationships and where shared values matter more than token price.
Strategic Over Tactical: Leading teams build comprehensive growth systems where every channel, message, and touchpoint works together. They’re tracking full-funnel metrics and optimizing for lasting engagement, not just initial attention.
We’re past the era of chasing “what’s working.”
The real question is: What’s worth building and who’s staying to build it with you?
So, focus on creating real value for the people who matter most to your ecosystem. Build with intention, authenticity and remember that in a market still finding its footing and the strongest position isn’t being the loudest voice but the most trusted one.
Because ecosystems aren’t websites.
They’re living systems.
About Lunar Strategy’s Ecosystem Launchpad Accelerator
Lunar Strategy’s Ecosystem Launchpad Accelerator combines deep expertise in go-to-market strategy, ecosystem growth, and strategic advisory to help innovative Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects capitalize on the historic crypto market shift.
With 25+ years of combined experience across top ecosystems like Solana, Cardano, Mantle, Polkadot, and ICP, our team brings proven frameworks for:
