After spending a long time in the crypto world, you'll realize a curse: market dividends only come once. Miss that window, and no matter how much you hustle later, you're just taking over for the early movers.

This is not alarmist talk; history speaks for itself.

Remember the frenzy of airdrops from 2020 to 2023? DYDX, ARB, ENS, OP, STRK—early participants in these projects could easily receive airdrops just by interacting, with some even earning assets worth hundreds of millions. The sense of happiness back then was truly indescribable.

But now? Latecomers face layers of increasing barriers—interaction difficulty skyrocketing, earning conditions becoming outrageously strict, and being subjected to various PUA tactics by project teams. Even more heartbreaking, there's a risk of being reverse-claimed, wasting gas fees in vain. Early birds eat the meat, latecomers drink the soup—no doubt about it.

Look at the inscription craze in 2023. Those who first played with ORDI, SATS, turning a few thousand U into millions was no big deal. But by the end of the year, when people finally woke up and rushed in, the market had already collapsed. The retail investors who later bought into inscription tokens lost everything, doubting their lives—that's the reality.

The AI track also offered an unbeatable opportunity once. Initially, most people didn't understand it, thinking it was just hype, so they dared not touch it. As a result, WLD surged tenfold, FET skyrocketed twentyfold, ARKM grew thirtyfold. When retail investors were fooled by these gains and rushed in madly, they stepped right into the trap—getting stuck for two years.

The meme coin craze at the beginning of 2024 was the same. Small on-chain tokens often surged thousands of times—PEPE, WIF, BOME, PNUT all became legends. Yes, some people turned a few hundred U into millions. But now? The ceiling for on-chain memes is so limited that new tokens going to zero upon launch is common, and rug pulls are everywhere.

See the pattern? Every wave of dividends in the crypto world is one-time only. When everyone knows and is shouting to get in every day, the opportunity has already slipped away.

Interestingly, often veteran traders don't earn more than newcomers. Old-timers have been bitten by past market cycles, their psychological anchors too deep—afraid of highs, bear markets, cautious in their actions—missing the best entry points.

In contrast, newcomers, being clueless, actually have an advantage—daring to go all-in, chasing hot trends, unburdened by psychological shadows—turning out to be the biggest winners.

Ultimately, the opportunity to make money in the crypto world always belongs to the "first wave." A lag in awareness or hesitation in action means the dividends disappear right under your nose.