In 2017, I officially entered the market, with only 30,000 RMB in hand, which was considered 'beginner capital' in the crypto world.

Depositing and trading: Choosing the 'stable' path with LTC

At that time, depositing money into exchanges was quite simple; I just needed to transfer it to an OKEx designated bank account on the mainland. My first deposit was 15,000 RMB, and the four top coins on the OKEx homepage were BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH. I took a glance and noticed LTC (Litecoin) had the lowest price at only 100 RMB per coin, with relatively low volatility, so I decided to invest all in LTC.

Unfortunately, stability is not exciting. I felt that making money was too slow, so I added another 5,000 RMB to JuBi and bought some 'shitcoins' (the altcoins at that time). Sure enough, the volatility was significant, and I made a small profit in the short term, but it was too tiring, so I decided to transfer all the money back to OKEx and convert all my 30,000 RMB into LTC.

The 94 storm: Being 'withdrawn' from the market

On September 4, 2017, the Securities Regulatory Commission suddenly issued a document, announcing the withdrawal of all domestic exchanges and a time-limited withdrawal of funds.

That day, I was on my way to meet a friend in Shijingshan when I saw this news on my phone. I was startled and immediately found a place to park by the roadside, opened OKEx, and decisively sold everything. By that time, the market had already begun to panic, and after selling my LTC, I had transferred out less than 10,000 RMB in total from my account, incurring significant losses. However, worried that the withdrawal channels might be blocked later, I chose to withdraw all the remaining funds.

This was the first wealth opportunity I missed.

Many experienced people did not panic and leave the market; instead, they chose to buy the dip and even purchase funds at low prices from exchanges. My understanding at that time was still at the level of 'the policy risk is too great, it's safest to run early.' Later, as the market warmed up, the LTC I sold soared 10 times. Watching it rise, I could only silently sigh - if I had been a bit steadier back then, perhaps I would have secured my first bucket of gold.

ICO frenzy: Scammed countless times, barely making ends meet

After missing the LTC surge, I was unwilling to accept it and decided to switch to the hottest ICO (Initial Coin Offering) at the time. Binance had launched cryptocurrency trading, and other exchanges quickly followed suit, leading to a rapid market surge. I started grabbing various ICO quotas, especially for projects from Coin Capital, as they promised at least 4 times the return, which seemed like a good opportunity to turn things around.

Unfortunately, this industry is too deep; I was scammed badly. Some projects didn't issue tokens at all after raising funds, while others went to zero right after issuing tokens, turning out to be pure scams targeting naive investors. Each time I thought I could seize the opportunity, I was repeatedly educated by the market, struggling to make ends meet, and still failed to earn my first bucket of gold.

Summary: The first lesson in the crypto world

After experiencing the 94 storm and the ICO scams, I finally understood:

During market panic, it’s not necessarily a bad thing; real opportunities often arise in the darkest times.

Opportunities for quick money often come with huge traps; without core resources, one can only be a naive investor.

True wealth requires accumulation and cognitive improvement, not the fantasy of getting rich overnight.

Although my experiences during this period made me miss out on wealth opportunities, they also provided me with initial cognitive training. I realized that if I just went with the flow in the market without independent judgment, the money I earned would eventually be lost.

And I had just begun to navigate the crypto world...