Why is it that when a major protocol gets hacked, it often marks a turning point in the market? Take this round of the market, for example. After the big wick on 10/11, it wasn’t long before the DeFi protocol Balancer was hacked for $160 million in early November (that’s a pretty huge amount...). At that time, my bear market alarm was already ringing. Because in cases like this, the likelihood of insider involvement is usually quite high. When the market is good, employees enjoy stable, high salaries and predictable token incentives. But when the market hits a turning point, with core metrics and revenue declining and expectations dropping, asset managers or technical staff with access might start thinking, ‘Instead of waiting for the collapse, why not grab a bag and leave?’ Blue-chip protocols are the foundation of the ecosystem and the core of liquidity. After a hack, cross-protocol liquidity crunches accelerate the exit of funds that were previously on the sidelines. Market confidence takes another hit. When the guardians within the ecosystem start turning into predators, it’s a sign that the era of abundance is over, and the harsh winter is coming.