Has crypto become more about trading than innovation?

I got into crypto because it felt like something new with decentralization, financial freedom, real tech that could change things. I mean, early on, it was about building and experimenting, but now it feels like most of the focus is just on trading. New projects launch, hype builds, and before you even have time to look into the fundamentals, bots and insiders have already made their money and moved on.

I’ve even started using BananaGun just to keep up, since manual trading feels impossible when bots snipe everything before you can react. Of course, I get that trading is part of the space, but sometimes I wonder if we’re just caught in a cycle of faster speculation rather than actual progress.

Do you think crypto is still evolving in a meaningful way, or has it just turned into a more efficient way to gamble?