Why are retail investors on the sidelines this round?

After reviewing the comparison of VC valuations and secondary market capitalizations organized by a data platform, I realized how severe the problem is. The market capitalization of a large number of projects has directly evaporated compared to their valuations at the time of financing. This is not just a numbers game, but a complete demystification of the "VC halo."

The "unicorns" that were once sought after by capital have performed terribly in the market. Take a few typical examples—Humanity Protocol, Fuel Network, and Bubblemaps; all three projects had a VC valuation of 1 billion during their funding, but their current market values are only 285 million, 11 million, and 6 million respectively. Just imagine what it means to drop from 1 billion to 6 million.

Similar stories are repeatedly seen in projects like Plasma (VC valuation of 224 million), ICNT (247 million), DoubleZero (370,000), and Camp Network (15 million). Even those projects that seemed to have a "bright future" when they raised funds—like Everlyn, which had a financing valuation of 250 million, now have a market value of only 26 million; the market values of projects like SoSoValue, Privasea, Bitlight, Momentum, Kyo Finance, and Yieldbasis are also far below their initial financing prices.

What does this reflect? The market has shifted from irrational exuberance back to a value assessment, and retail investors have become immune to purely financing stories after this round of cleansing. They have started to vote with their feet—avoiding those overvalued projects and instead waiting to see what can truly be realized.