The cryptocurrency market has been pummeled over the last few months, and it seems no token has been spared. Bitcoin (BTC -1.38%) and Ethereum (ETH -2.34%) are down despite being the largest cryptocurrencies, and former hot cryptos like Solana (SOL -2.27%) and Cardano (ADA -3.75%) have lost over 70% of their value in the last six months. 

What’s difficult right now is knowing whether it’s time to buy and hold for recovery or give up on the crypto revolution. After all, if even a stablecoin like TerraUSD (UST 1.77%) can lose 90% of its value in a week, then what hope do more volatile cryptocurrencies have? I think the answer is in a long-term mindset. 

Bitcoin Price data by YCharts

Very real problems exist in cryptocurrencies

This industry is still quite young, very unstable, and extremely hard to pin a value on. We’ve seen over the past week that algorithmic stablecoins can be gamed, which can result in huge losses, hurting confidence in the entire system. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s drop has undermined the idea that it’s a hedge against inflation or a safe haven. Ethereum’s network upgrades have been delayed again. Solana’s network periodically goes down and is slower than hoped when it is running. 

Are these reasons to panic or just some acceptable growing pains? In general, I think it’s time to reassess the thesis you had when you first bought cryptocurrencies and whether that idea is holding up in reality. 

Image source: Getty Images.

Buy quality, not quantity

Some cryptocurrencies have been building real-world and digital utility incredibly quickly. For example, according to Solscan — where you can view blockchain transactions and analytics about Solana — there were 49 daily active programs running a year ago and are now 951. 

On Ethereum,…