From Long Island Iced Tea Corp.’s infamous 2017 decision to rebrand itself as Long Blockchain Corp., which sent its stock soaring, to big-name companies touting Web3 and NFT initiatives, a sure-fire way to generate buzz was to yell about your crypto bona fides.

But now, amid a brutal yearlong bear market, even bitcoin miners – which continue to play a central role in powering the biggest cryptocurrency – are shying away from using crypto words. It’s a sign that the scandals and enormous investment losses have taken a toll and suggests that for crypto to reach mainstream adoption, much more work is needed.

“There's a general desire by companies to distance themselves from the crypto bubble of the last couple years,” D.A. Davidson analyst Chris Brendler said. “It makes it easier when you're dealing with more traditional-finance institutions.”