Berachain Strategic Shift: From Retail-Driven to Fundamentals Building, The Truth Behind the Departure of the Lead Developer

The Berachain Foundation underwent a significant strategic adjustment at the end of 2025. According to the latest news, the foundation has cut back most of its retail-focused marketing teams and announced that Chief Developer Alberto will be leaving. This is not only a personnel change but also a reflection of the ecosystem’s deep thinking after market tests.

Core Content of the Strategic Adjustment

From Retail Marketing to Fundamental Development

The Berachain Foundation explicitly stated that the retail marketing strategy has not been effective after October 10 and throughout 2024/2025. This judgment is not only about Berachain but also a reflection on the retail-driven strategies across the entire crypto space.

The foundation’s adjustments include three key shifts:

• Cutting most of the retail marketing teams and reallocating resources
• Focusing active teams on 3-5 high-confidence applications
• Prioritizing support for projects with less reliance on the crypto market for their foundation and revenue potential

This means Berachain is shifting from a growth model of “attracting more retail participation” to a more in-depth approach of “building high-quality infrastructure.”

Signals from Key Personnel Changes

The departure of Chief Developer Alberto is closely related to this strategic shift. Alberto will co-found a Web2 company with former banking colleagues. This choice itself is quite interesting—a lead developer of a crypto project moving to Web2 may reflect a certain judgment about the current stage of the crypto market.

What Does This Adjustment Mean

Impact on the Ecosystem

According to relevant information, the current pressures faced by Berachain include:

• Low on-chain fee income (reportedly only $39 in the past 24 hours)
• Risks associated with February investor refund clauses (early investors may exercise a $25 million refund right)
• The quality and revenue performance of ecosystem applications are below expectations

In this context, Berachain has chosen to “do less”—focusing resources on developing a few high-quality applications rather than widespread retail marketing. This is a pragmatic choice.

Alignment with the Current Crypto Market

Retail marketing has been ineffective in 2024-2025, and this is not only a problem for Berachain but a phenomenon across the entire industry. Many projects have found that simple community operations and retail attraction are insufficient for long-term development. What truly attracts institutions and long-term participants are the fundamentals of the product itself—namely, chain performance, application innovation, and sustainable revenue models.

Key Future Observations

This adjustment by Berachain suggests several possible directions:

• The ecosystem will become more focused, with 3-5 high-confidence applications possibly receiving concentrated resources and support
• The actual effectiveness of the PoL (Proof of Liquidity) mechanism will become critical—if it cannot effectively attract high-quality liquidity, the entire strategy may need to be revised
• Team stability and talent retention need attention; Alberto’s departure may only be the beginning

Summary

Berachain’s strategic shift reflects an important trend in the crypto ecosystem: moving from growth-driven to fundamentals-driven development. Cutting retail marketing teams, focusing on a few high-quality applications, and the departure of the chief developer are seemingly negative signals but are actually rational adjustments in response to market realities.

The key is in the execution moving forward—whether 3-5 focused applications can establish sustainable revenue models, and whether the PoL mechanism can attract genuine liquidity providers rather than mere speculators. These will be the real factors determining Berachain’s future. In the short term, the market may remain cautious about this adjustment, but in the long run, this focused and pragmatic attitude may be more valuable than endless retail marketing.