The essence of power is the desire for loyalty and the fear of betrayal.

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

I have a bold theory: all Chinese exchanges are essentially a "digital version of the Forbidden City," where the exchange owners can act as "emperors," and all exchange dramas can be understood as "court politics."

Some emperors, like Jiajing, are devoted to cultivation, skilled in imperial power tactics, allowing their subordinates to balance each other, turning a blind eye to internal corruption, and willing to share some power, leading to mutual elevation.

Other emperors emphasize absolute loyalty, are decisive in their actions, and do not tolerate any bargaining. Once someone attempts to seek more benefits or challenge their authority, they are completely swept out.

Let’s briefly discuss the topic of court politics within cryptocurrency exchanges, purely fictional and for entertainment purposes.

Power Struggles

To understand court politics, one must first rid themselves of a naive notion: there is no absolute distinction between good and evil, loyalty and treachery.

In "The Ming Dynasty 1566," Yan Song, though later condemned as a treacherous minister, managed to maintain his position as the chief minister for many years through exceptional political skills, significantly contributing to the national treasury. However, after the rise of the reformists, the fierce anti-corruption efforts left the Ming treasury even emptier.

Where in the world are there purely loyal ministers and treacherous ones? There are only those who are useful to the emperor at the moment and those who are not, as well as those who succeed in their struggles for power and those who fail.

Wherever there are people, there are conflicts.

Power requires personnel to be grounded. The core of the struggle between Yan Song and Xu Jie was the competition for personnel authority within the Ming court. Whoever could place their people in the six ministries and nine ministers could grasp actual power and influence the court's operations.

The power struggles within exchanges are similar; they are essentially contests for key positions.

For example, the most critical departments such as listing, finance, and investment. With many vying for limited positions, conflicts are inevitable.

As the owner, many times they are pleased to see their subordinates fighting.

When subordinates compete against each other, they find it difficult to form a strong alliance, thus eliminating the possibility of challenging authority.

The conflict between two sides motivates each to provide the owner with negative information about the other, allowing the owner to gain more comprehensive and multi-faceted internal intelligence while also holding leverage over their subordinates.

Of course, this kind of conflict among subordinates must remain within controllable limits; excessive infighting can lead to resource waste, inefficiency, and even threaten the overall stability of the organization.

When one side's power becomes too large and threatens the owner's authority, the owner may employ certain "imperial tactics," such as promoting internally or bringing in an external professional manager and granting them significant power to eliminate the opposing faction.

For Emperor Jiajing, the core issue he faced was: how to choose absolutely reliable ministers in a court where "loyalty and treachery are hard to distinguish"?

Exchange owners still face this dilemma.

The suppression from competitors and sudden regulatory actions are visible dangers, but in the eyes of exchange owners, the greatest danger often lurks nearby and is hard to detect, such as betrayal from those around them. Thus, nepotism becomes the optimal solution—key positions are often held by the founder's friends, classmates, or even family members, even if they lack professional competence.

It has been proven that nepotism or family-run businesses are actually the safest in the cryptocurrency market.

Corruption and Anti-Corruption

Power struggles inevitably involve corruption and anti-corruption; the two are two sides of the same coin and are both means of acquiring power.

In court politics, the key is to assess the situation and choose the right side.

To form alliances, a "bond" is often needed, such as being from the same hometown, the same school, or having similar professional experiences… These can all serve as connection points, but more importantly, it is about interests. Relationships based on geography or school ties also require money to maintain.

How to gain the trust of the "big brother"?

In addition to providing emotional value, it is more important to offer some leverage and proactively expose weaknesses. "Big brother, my problems are all here; you can take advantage of them, and I will follow you from now on."

Thus, bribery or participating in collective corruption is actually the most effective way to demonstrate loyalty and also a way to test a person's loyalty. By using money, several people can be tied together, making it hard not to work together and help each other.

Specifically in cryptocurrency exchanges, internal corruption and issues like insider trading are hard to eradicate for two reasons.

First, whether trading cryptocurrencies or working, the vast majority of people enter the crypto space for one purpose: to make money.

Especially when working in a "high-risk company" like an exchange, many employees, particularly those transitioning from traditional industries, do not develop any sense of identity or belonging to the company; they only think about how to make the most money in the shortest time.

Second, cryptocurrency exchanges are always in a gray area. Compared to corruption in traditional enterprises, corruption in exchanges is easier to escape legal sanctions and can often be downplayed; at worst, one can just leave, but the goal has already been achieved.

This is also a long-standing staffing problem for exchanges.

The Emperor's Achilles' Heel

The owners of cryptocurrency exchanges and emperors share the same tragedy: the higher the position and power, the harder it is to establish genuine trust relationships.

Everyone close to them may have different motives: some covet certain core powers, some desire wealth, and some have ulterior motives. In such an environment, suspicion becomes instinctive, and vigilance becomes habitual.

This trust deficit ultimately leads to an increasingly smaller decision-making circle.

From watching various dramas, one often wonders, why is there always a "treacherous minister" beside the emperor, and why are they favored?

Emperors are lonely; they lack neither money nor power, but they lack love and loyalty, which is also their Achilles' heel.

Once someone offers love and loyalty to those in power, making them feel as if they are basking in spring, even if that person has relatively average abilities, they gain value.

In the digital Forbidden City of exchanges, technical talent is not scarce, marketing experts are not scarce, and even funds are not scarce; the only truly scarce resource is genuine loyalty.

Love and loyalty can be simply expressed by supporting the emperor no matter what they do; the more absurd the action, the more support is shown, which reflects loyalty.

Running a cryptocurrency exchange is not an easy task; it is mentally and physically exhausting. Not only must one compete with peers, but they must also guard against hackers and engage in a battle of wits with regulators. At this time, exchange owners often feel exhausted and may even experience self-doubt, wondering whether the growth of the exchange is due to their wisdom or mere luck. They desperately need external emotional support, spiritual healing, and constant reassurance that "you are right; it all depends on you, and we are grateful to you."

Humans are not made of wood; who can be without feelings? Being recognized, loved, and needed is a natural human desire.

Ordinary people also have a strong need for love and loyalty, but they remain at the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, still struggling for survival, lacking the time and ability to pursue higher-level value satisfaction.

The Women Around the Emperor

When discussing the women around the emperor, it is not about gossiping about the harem but rather referring to female executives.

Exchanges often have a large number of female executives, which is a very reasonable situation.

A certain influential traditional finance boss prefers to employ female executives. In his view, women are more loyal than men. No matter how much salary is given to men, they will never be satisfied. Many men, after being promoted and gaining wealth and power, feel little gratitude or loyalty; instead, their confidence is inflated, thinking, "I can do it too."

The essence of power is the desire for loyalty and the fear of betrayal.

In the highly competitive environment of exchanges, what owners worry most about is "raising their own grave diggers."

Male executives, after gaining power and wealth, often view their current positions as a stepping stone to higher power. They are more likely to attribute their achievements to personal ability rather than the favor of their leaders. They are more likely to choose to leave at the right moment, starting a competing business or seeking a higher position.

Female executives, on the other hand, often demonstrate stronger organizational loyalty and focus on long-term stable career development rather than risky entrepreneurship. They are more likely to attribute success to teamwork and leadership support, thus valuing their current positions and organizational relationships more.

Additionally, another significant challenge faced by cryptocurrency exchanges is frequent crises and user communication. In this field, female executives often exhibit unique advantages.

For instance, women generally excel in recognizing, understanding, and responding to others' emotions, which is particularly important in soothing angry users, handling complaints, and managing crisis public relations. In contrast, men are more likely to become emotional and confrontational when dealing with public crises.

Therefore, in my view, the power of women in the crypto world is greatly underestimated.

It is quite interesting to look back at history and the present; regardless of how technology develops, whether in the traditional business world or the digital crypto world, the essence of power has never changed.

Wherever there are people, there are conflicts.

As the moon waxes, it wanes; as water fills, it overflows. This is the ultimate fate of all power games.

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