Written by: 1912212.eth, Foresight News
Setting aside the top-tier exchanges and project teams, the winners of this round of the crypto market are mostly professional traders, airdrop hunters, and Bitcoin holders, while many small retail investors are suffering losses in the secondary market.
As another round of hot narratives is unearthed, some people exit at high points to enjoy life, flaunting their luxury cars and watches, loudly proclaiming "thank u crypto"; meanwhile, many others have long been unable to keep up with the pace, remaining stuck in this prolonged season.
The exit of adults is often silent and unannounced. However, you can still sense the changing seasons of the industry from numerous social media accounts that have not been updated for a long time.
Foresight News interviewed several players in the crypto space to discuss their past and present. (All names are pseudonyms)
Can't Even Afford High-End Cosmetics Anymore
Zhao Jing entered the industry in 2018, shortly after graduating and moving to Beijing, believing in the infinite possibilities here. She is like the protagonist Li Hailun in the movie "Gold Rush" released this year, articulate and meticulous in both life and work. She claims to pursue perfection in many aspects, adhering to a set of unspoken but firm self-requirements: her appearance, expression, and time management must be orderly, which made her appear particularly professional and reliable in her early career.
Zhao Jing initially worked in the traditional finance sector and learned about BTC by chance during a lecture. Subsequently, she fortuitously joined a crypto media outlet. "At that time, there weren't many opportunities in the internet sector, but there were quite a few in crypto, and I just happened to encounter some good ones." Reflecting on the crypto environment back then, Zhao Jing remarked, "When we held conferences, everyone was very cautious, fearing sudden regulatory raids." At that time, Bitcoin was priced around $3,000, and after the conference, she opened the door to a new world, acquiring her first Bitcoin.
However, due to her respect for new things, Zhao Jing was hesitant to go all in with her money. It wasn't until her boss's words changed her mind: "If you stay in this industry and don't buy any coins, it's quite meaningless." This statement provided her with a new perspective—since she was participating, she should invest more deeply.
Once Pandora's box was opened, Zhao Jing embarked on her journey to financial freedom. In 2021, she received her first airdrop through Uniswap, subsequently increasing her position significantly around $3, and later selling at a high point near $40, making a substantial profit that illuminated her life through the balance in her account.
"At that time, I was making money through short-term, long-term, and contracts," Zhao Jing reminisced. Although her later returns saw some pullback, the magic of the cycle had already filled her with confidence, her eyes sparkling with hopes for the future.
"At that time, the market had already conditioned participants to expect a four-year cycle, leading to BTC rises, ETH rises, and then altcoin surges. However, this cycle is clearly not following that pattern."
When analyzing the root causes, Zhao Jing stated that the money from outside remains outside, with only some funds flowing into BTC; the crypto space is still a game of existing funds, with the same money still at play. There is no money left in the market, and participants' mindsets have become more cautious and calculative.
In past cycles, market participants would talk about faith and dreams, but now, Zhao Jing candidly admits that while she still has faith in Bitcoin, her faith in altcoins has completely vanished, along with their prices.
During this cycle, she bought STRK, dabbled in meme coins, and even followed trades on GMGN, but all ended up at zero. These failures led her to a period of self-doubt, but she quickly learned from them and adjusted her strategy.
In hindsight, Zhao Jing noted, "Because I missed out on BTC's rise, I bet on Ethereum to go up, but still felt Ethereum's growth wasn't enough, so I bought L2, and the more I bought, the more it fell. The MANTA I bought later also suffered significant losses."
The massive crash on October 11 this year became a painful point in her career. With less than 0.3 times leverage on Binance for staking and lending, she was completely liquidated overnight, resulting in heavy losses.
She candidly admitted that she used altcoins as collateral to borrow USDT, and during the crash that day, the value of the collateral plummeted, leading to the loss of her position. Faced with substantial losses, she prioritized risk management and became more cautious.
"This cycle not only failed to earn money but, due to this incident and various other reasons, I lost over a million. Now, part of my position is in stablecoins, and the other part is in ETH and SOL."
In a continuous state of loss, she has become more careful. In the past, she thought she had some savings and would earn more in the future, buying high-end cosmetics without hesitation. Now, even a 700 yuan foundation requires considerable deliberation; she tries to save wherever possible.
Whenever the prices of her holdings continue to decline, she admits she feels low, emo, regretful, and self-reproachful, experiencing considerable torment and pain.
These visible changes reflect her uncertainty about the future, but they also reveal a certain resilience.
Despite everything, Zhao Jing still expresses her intention to remain in the industry, waiting for the moment when the darkness gives way to light.
She has experienced both moments of confidence during her highs and the introspection following her losses; this cycle of ups and downs has made her sensitive yet resilient in the crypto market, both idealistic and pragmatic.
Some have taken a big hit in VC coins, while others, with keen instincts, have rapidly accumulated wealth through continuous bets on fast-paced meme coins. They repeatedly showcase their superb trading skills and ability to seize opportunities in the dance of memes. Chen Xudong is one of them.
Money is the Best Health Supplement
Chen Xudong, born in 2001, is a typical post-00s individual who enjoys playing Honor of Kings, traveling, and taking risks, with a curiosity for new things that surpasses even that of a cat.
When Bitcoin gained popularity in China, he was still in high school and didn't have extra money to invest. However, the seed of cryptocurrency was planted in his heart.
His real journey into cryptocurrency began in his sophomore year. One day, he came across the explosive narrative of SHIB on Douyin, and coincidentally, his roommate was also interested in cryptocurrency. After some discussion, they decided to each invest 3,000 yuan as a gamble. Within an hour, they had a floating profit of 30%, and by the next day, it had reached 150%.
Achieving such good results on his first operation greatly enhanced his impression of the crypto space. To him, the crypto market was an industry full of opportunities. He gradually invested around 20,000 yuan, mainly relying on profits to continue "making money from money."
The peak of his crypto career came in October this year. At that time, he was positioned in the primary market, with floating profits exceeding 1.2 million yuan, and his total assets nearing 10 million. However, later, his assets shrank to just over 400,000. Fortunately, during his exam preparation, he had no time to trade, and aside from the funds in the primary market, the rest was placed in wealth management, allowing him to avoid the massive crash on October 11. He mainly bet on the BSC meme track, such as Binance Life, 4, and the first few coins that launched during the exclusive Binance internal market. "Apart from high-leverage short-term operations, retail investors can only rely on memes to achieve high profits."
In his view, making money in the crypto space requires both luck and the right timing. Regarding meme coins, Chen Xudong finds the post-analysis by KOLs quite amusing.
"There’s not much to analyze about memes; there are countless good narratives, but very few actually succeed. The reasons for those that do are usually due to endorsements from Musk, CZ, heightened market sentiment, and the dual support of celebrity coins in terms of traffic and funds. No matter how good the narrative is, without traffic and the backing of major players, it can't take off."
He believes his profits are all based on luck and timing, where luck is the support of traffic, and timing is the support of sentiment and funds. Moreover, his previous major profit points, such as Conflux and the collaboration with telecom companies, saw a tenfold increase, and his heavy investments in DOGE, Bitcoin, and Ethereum after Trump took office and after Musk established the Doge department were also based on luck and timing. Such significant positive news would definitely lead to price increases, which has little to do with skill.
"The only thing that has a bit to do with skill is taking profits in a timely manner, like taking profits after Trump launched his coin, avoiding the subsequent continuous decline."
He feels that the crypto space is all about narratives and expectations. At that time, he thought that with such a super positive news like Trump launching a coin, there wouldn't be any further expectations to drive price increases, and the facts proved him right.
From the peak to now (the end of 2025), Chen Xudong's assets have shrunk by about 10%. The operation he most regrets is with the coin "4." At that time, he thought this coin wouldn't rise, so he bought 1.5% at the super bottom and sold it after it doubled. Looking back now, he realizes he failed to adhere to the principle of "doubling / multiple out of the principal, remaining structure" for good narratives.
"I ran away after it doubled; otherwise, I could have made a name for myself with a single coin A8."
In recent years, the industry's narratives have changed rapidly, from DeFi to AI, and various new concepts, but he remains optimistic about cryptocurrency. He believes that cryptocurrency is just a small ripple in the financial world and has not yet entered the public's view, with a bright future ahead.
To survive or make money in this industry, he feels the biggest price he has paid is time and energy. Since he mainly plays memes, which require timeliness, there was a period when he sat in front of the computer every day, scanning chains and analyzing narratives. Even during meals and workouts, his mind was occupied with memes, living in a daze, believing that the vast majority of "primary market practitioners" have had similar experiences.
Without discussing coin prices, Chen Xudong is currently in a state of enjoying life. Money has given him the confidence to not have to spend time working to please bosses and clients, allowing him time to work out, do what he loves, and even take spontaneous trips. Although he dislikes money worship, he has to admit that money has a magical quality that can provide confidence and courage. "Money is the best health supplement" resonates with him.
After experiencing significant fluctuations in assets, his consumption perspective has changed considerably.
"In high school, I felt pained to spend on a legendary skin for Honor of Kings; now, spending tens of thousands on game recharges feels nothing. My spending on food, drink, and entertainment has increased significantly; it's common to spend tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand on a trip, which I wouldn't have dared to imagine before. However, my views on luxury goods remain unchanged; I think they are all just a tax on intelligence, so I haven't bought any LV clothes, bags, or jewelry. However, I might buy a watch because many styles can retain or even appreciate in value. I'm also planning to buy a small sports car because I like it."
Standing at the end of 2025, Chen Xudong feels uncertain about where the opportunities lie, but at least the secondary market no longer offers ordinary people a chance to get rich. Currently, perhaps the primary market/meme is the only place where ordinary people can turn their fortunes around, but the difficulty of the primary market is at least as high as that of the secondary market. One can only say there are opportunities, but compared to previous years, the market's dividends have significantly decreased. During the altcoin season of 2021, as long as you dared to buy, you would make a fortune; when PUMP first emerged, the primary market was thriving, with daily hundredfold, thousandfold, or even ten-thousandfold returns on low-quality coins; inscriptions were mindless, just hitting them would earn you money; during the airdrop period, more work meant more rewards, and opening multiple accounts could also lead to wealth. But now, those opportunities are gone; apart from memes, there's little else to play with, and one can only wait for the next new traffic windfall.
Currently, he has temporarily stepped back from the crypto space to prepare for civil service exams. In his view, the ultimate goal in life is still to reach the shore.
Some have left, while others continue to struggle, trying airdrops, contracts, and Polymarket, but never achieving significant results; this is a true reflection of Zhang Hao.
If I Can't Hold On, I'll Change Careers
Zhang Hao is not tall and has a slim build. When pondering problems or facing challenges, he habitually furrows his brow. His eyes and expression often carry a sense of melancholy. When asked about crypto issues, he occasionally adjusts his glasses perched on his nose, taking a few seconds to reflect before revealing his various past experiences.
"This is the most pessimistic and disheartened moment since I entered the industry," Zhang Hao said.
In the past, regardless of what the market went through, Zhang Hao was full of confidence because he believed everything would come back. Now, he is no longer so optimistic.
The bear market of 2019, the March 12 incident in 2020, the May 19 crash in 2021, and the FTX collapse in 2022 did not dishearten Zhang Hao. However, since 2024, the industry has clearly begun to show a deteriorating profit effect, and 2025 has become a hellish market in his eyes, as all the profits made in previous cycles have been given back to the market this year.
"At first, I put a lot of effort into airdrops on zkSync and LayerZero, creating multiple accounts and manually refreshing each one while completely avoiding fund transfers. However, even being this careful, I still got scammed. Aside from my main account earning less than 600 USDT in ZK tokens, I gained nothing else. After this, I almost completely gave up on chasing airdrops for a long time."
However, Zhang Hao started to chase trading volume on Backpack for airdrops. Initially, he played with small amounts in long and short positions, but later found it unsatisfying and the trading volume too small. He began transferring funds from the exchange to Backpack, embarking on a bold and risky gambling journey.
Since 2025, the market conditions have been extremely challenging, becoming an insurmountable hurdle for Zhang Hao.
Although he kept his leverage within 10 times, he still faced nearly a 30% drop in positions on WLD and BERA twice in a row. Initially, he bought at the bottom, selling for profit as the prices rose. After observing for a while, he felt it was a volatile market and kept buying at the bottom, only to see the prices mercilessly drop again after the fluctuations. After going through this cycle repeatedly, Zhang Hao's morale was severely damaged, and he stopped trading.
"In the second half of the year, I only bought SUI. After initially buying at the bottom and making a profit, before October 11, I was optimistic about the market in late October and November, so I kept buying until I was fully invested. After the massive crash on October 11, my positions were once again swept away."
Zhang Hao stated, "In the past, my personal assets fluctuated by hundreds of thousands daily, and I had no concept of money. Now I'm scared; I've lost so much that I've completely lost my confidence and courage."
When asked about the reasons, Zhang Hao expressed uncertainty about whether this industry would still have any so-called wealth effects in the future. The entire crypto space has now completely devolved into a fast-paced casino, with the vast majority of money being earned by savvy professional traders, market makers, and malicious project teams. The key issue is that many wrongdoers can act with impunity and face no consequences.
This brings to mind a sentiment expressed by a top-tier trader in the secondary market on Twitter:
"Now, project teams have reached the point of exhausting their resources. In the past, there were many retail investors in the secondary market, whether for new listings or airdrops, allowing them to take over. So project teams still had some dignity. Now, they are completely unreasonable, selling anything they can, even for 1 yuan or 1 dime. They sell even those locked for moral reasons, sneaking sales as long as no one is watching, and when Binance punishes them, they claim to buy back (because listing on Binance requires a margin), and then sell again when no one is paying attention. If you like airdrops, the project teams will drain your TVL and fees; if you like new listings, they will give you a broken launch. Occasionally, there are stablecoin rugs. New Alphas are also doused as much as possible; if they are late, no one will pay attention. In this environment, how can we expect newcomers to come and play?"
This trader bluntly stated that in the current market, the wealthiest are a group of smart people calculating who they can exploit; if they can't find someone to exploit, they won't play.
In Zhang Hao's view, project teams engage in airdrop front-running, insider trading on positive news, and after TGE, they simply offload their tokens. Exchanges continuously list junk tokens, and fools who take over have already lost enough to exit the market. There is almost no longer any belief in narratives in the market; it has become pure gambling, just a matter of who has superior gambling skills.
"If such problems remain unresolved, this industry is basically nearing its end." Zhang Hao continued, stating that what everyone once believed about crypto having infinite possibilities has now dwindled to only BTC and stablecoins being recognized by the market. In the future, crypto will likely only become a 2.0 version of finance.
After suffering losses in contracts, Zhang Hao was unwilling to give up and saw an opportunity on Polymarket, believing that with AI + analysis + focusing on small profits, there should be a way to profit. So he withdrew funds from the exchange to recharge, hoping to recover all the money lost in contracts. However, Polymarket taught him a solid lesson.
"I thought that with about a 98% probability close to the deadline, I could increase my position to grab a little profit, but I realized I was too naive. With half an hour left until the deadline, a sudden reversal caused my large position to plummet from a 99% probability to 1%, and there was no way to recover."
After this incident, Zhang Hao stated he would never dare to go all in casually again. There are many pitfalls on Polymarket; the so-called on-chain arbitrage is actually a precarious endeavor, with no guaranteed bets. Any unexpected event could lead to significant losses.
Since then, he has lost all interest in continuing to bet on Polymarket and has completely removed it from his browser bookmarks.
Previously, the first thing Zhang Hao did every morning was open the app to check the market. Now, he only occasionally glances at Bitcoin and Ethereum to see the overall market, participating in some pre-deposit activities.
"For now, I’ll just hold on. If I really can’t hold on anymore, I’ll change careers." When discussing his future plans, Zhang Hao shared his thoughts.
As 2025 draws to a close, the sun rises as usual. Zhao Jing still grits her teeth, holding on amidst the ruins of her faith, Chen Xudong is ready to buy a new car and explore the world, while Zhang Hao curls up in his chair, occasionally glancing at the market with a sense of weariness.
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