In the crypto world, the speed of making money always seems to be amplified infinitely.
Comparing it to the traditional stock market makes this very clear. A stock that multiplies tenfold usually takes about ten years of accumulation in the stock market. But in the cryptocurrency market, this process is wildly compressed—years, months, or even shorter.
Take the classic case from 2010: a programmer exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas. By 2021, those Bitcoins were worth over $600 million. Looking at Ethereum, during its 2014 ICO, it was less than $1 per coin, and by 2021, it surged to over $4,000. Many early participants experienced a qualitative change in wealth during a bull run.
So in the crypto world, "earning 1 billion" might just be the cycle of a bull market, or simply three months of crazy行情. Sounds very tempting, doesn’t it?
But this sword is double-edged.
Being able to make 1 billion in three months could also mean losing everything in just three days. There have been too many tragedies in history. The collapse of LUNA in 2022 is a vivid textbook—within a week, from a market cap of hundreds of billions to nearly zero. Someone who was a millionaire yesterday could be left with nothing today. The same story happened with FTX, the exchange once dubbed "Wall Street of the crypto world," which suddenly collapsed, freezing the funds of millions of investors. Some had planned to "wait for another bull run to get out," only to see their dreams shattered.
So the key issue isn’t "how long it takes to make money," but whether you can withstand these risks and truly hold onto your chips.
This is the cruelest truth in the wealth game of the crypto world.
This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.
14 Likes
Reward
14
8
Repost
Share
Comment
0/400
BoredApeResistance
· 01-15 12:39
Looking at the LUNA and FTX waves, it's truly a bloody lesson
Three days of zero balance is no scare tactic; everyone around has experienced it
Holding onto chips is even harder than making money; this is the true face of the crypto world
A billion sounds appealing, but the premise is to survive and get it, right?
Pizza Guy made it, but how many can only eat dirt?
Risks always come faster than rewards; understanding this is the first step
Stories of early participants are all blown up into myths; many get caught in the trap
Few can withstand the pullback; most are just fooling themselves
View OriginalReply0
SchrodingerAirdrop
· 01-15 00:12
Honestly, looking at these two living textbooks, LUNA and FTX, I can't even calmly watch the story of "earning a billion in March" anymore.
The Bitcoin pizza meme has long been stale, but it really hits home.
Holding onto chips is difficult, really difficult.
View OriginalReply0
TheElegantLittleWaterMonster
· 01-13 14:20
Hold on tight, we're about to take off 🛫
View OriginalReply0
BrokenRugs
· 01-12 22:50
That's right, during the Luna wave, friends around me went bankrupt directly, and they are still recovering.
Mindset is the biggest enemy; making money quickly doesn't mean you can hold onto it.
Everyone understands the double-edged sword, but how many can stay calm at critical moments?
Three years in the industry, the biggest gain isn't how much I've earned, but that I'm alive to see next year.
I dodged the FTX wave, maybe luck, but it also revealed many people's true faces.
Actually, the hardest part isn't finding opportunities, but not being overwhelmed by greed.
Making a billion is easy; the problem is whether you can stay alive to cash out.
View OriginalReply0
ShadowStaker
· 01-12 22:48
luna and ftx really drove home the validator attrition problem tbh... everyone talking about upside but nobody actually runs the math on slashing risk or how fast liquidity evaporates when things break. the "hodl through cycles" narrative conveniently glosses over the people who literally went from millionaire to nothing in days. that's not market volatility, that's network resilience failure.
Reply0
CoinBasedThinking
· 01-12 22:44
To be honest, Pizza哥 is probably regretting every day now, but it also saved his life.
That wave of Luna, I saw someone around me lose everything. The truth is, the cost of greedily betting it all is just too high.
Holding onto chips is easier said than done. When the bull market comes, everyone wants to earn more...
Losing everything in three days versus getting rich overnight in three months—that's the crypto world.
I still remember FTX; it felt even worse than a stock market crash, crashing directly without preparation.
It's really just a gamble on whether your mentality can hold up. Most people can't withstand it.
View OriginalReply0
PositionPhobia
· 01-12 22:42
Basically, it's all about fate. If you can't hold onto the chips, it's just a joke.
View OriginalReply0
staking_gramps
· 01-12 22:21
That wave of LUNA really couldn't hold up... zeroed out in a week, many people probably went bankrupt directly.
In the crypto world, the speed of making money always seems to be amplified infinitely.
Comparing it to the traditional stock market makes this very clear. A stock that multiplies tenfold usually takes about ten years of accumulation in the stock market. But in the cryptocurrency market, this process is wildly compressed—years, months, or even shorter.
Take the classic case from 2010: a programmer exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas. By 2021, those Bitcoins were worth over $600 million. Looking at Ethereum, during its 2014 ICO, it was less than $1 per coin, and by 2021, it surged to over $4,000. Many early participants experienced a qualitative change in wealth during a bull run.
So in the crypto world, "earning 1 billion" might just be the cycle of a bull market, or simply three months of crazy行情. Sounds very tempting, doesn’t it?
But this sword is double-edged.
Being able to make 1 billion in three months could also mean losing everything in just three days. There have been too many tragedies in history. The collapse of LUNA in 2022 is a vivid textbook—within a week, from a market cap of hundreds of billions to nearly zero. Someone who was a millionaire yesterday could be left with nothing today. The same story happened with FTX, the exchange once dubbed "Wall Street of the crypto world," which suddenly collapsed, freezing the funds of millions of investors. Some had planned to "wait for another bull run to get out," only to see their dreams shattered.
So the key issue isn’t "how long it takes to make money," but whether you can withstand these risks and truly hold onto your chips.
This is the cruelest truth in the wealth game of the crypto world.