Everyone has heard this story: the top figures in the crypto world have achieved their success largely by riding the wave of the times. But here’s a key point—having the era’s benefits alone is not enough; you also need faith. People without faith, even if they catch the wind, will be driven back to poverty.

To put it simply, the gameplay in the crypto space has completely changed. Do you remember when institutional investors entered in large numbers? From that moment on, we should have understood a fact: this is no longer a playground for retail investors’ speculation, but a real game of capital. The era of dividends? It’s long gone.

My consistent view is this—2021 was truly the golden period for crypto. Even in 2023, when black swan events occurred and Bitcoin dropped to 16K, it still can’t be considered the best time to get in. Why? Compared to the big bull market in early 2021, 16K was ridiculously expensive. Not to mention earlier, in 2017, BNB even dropped to 0.5 yuan per coin. Back then, if you could close your eyes and buy mainstream coins, holding onto them with faith, you were basically set for a free ride.

Now? Earning even one dollar is increasingly difficult. The manipulation tactics of the whales change every year, and this is completely different from the previous market logic. In the past, as long as you judged that a major cycle was coming (Bitcoin entering an upward channel), the market would explode collectively—truly an explosion, with air coins, small tokens, everything surging. Retail investors at any point could buy long and have the illusion of making money just by closing their eyes.

The ones who suffered the most are actually the old veterans. Many of the coins they hold still haven’t rebounded to even 20% of their cost price, plus they’ve endured several rounds of bear markets… The market has changed, the rules have changed, and the difficulty of making money is now a whole different world.