In a shared apartment outside the Fifth Ring in Beijing, Qi Xiaobei stared at the flickering candlestick chart on his computer screen, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. This was his third consecutive all-nighter, and the instant noodle cups on the table had piled up into a small mountain, filling the room with a mixed smell of sweat and cheap cigarettes.

'Bitcoin has dropped below $18,000! A new low since December 2020!'—the red headline on the financial website stung his eyes.

His phone suddenly vibrated; it was the landlord Aunt Wang's eighth missed call. Qi Xiaobei smiled bitterly as he swiped the screen, and the latest message was glaring: 'Xiao Qi, I'll give you three more days; if you don't pay rent, get out!'

He looked around; in this less than 10 square meter room, the most valuable thing was probably the gaming laptop that had been used for four years. Three years after graduation, 25-year-old Qi Xiaobei not only hadn’t saved a penny but also owed over 50,000 to an online lending platform. As a front-end programmer in a small company, his salary was barely enough to cover the interest.

'Ding'—a message suddenly popped up in the university class group. Zhang Wei, the madman who dropped out in his sophomore year to 'do blockchain,' posted a photo of himself vacationing in the Maldives, captioned: 'Thanks to Bitcoin, I retired early at 28.'

Qi Xiaobei's fist slammed hard on the keyboard. Three years ago, when Zhang Wei advised him to buy Bitcoin together, the price was only $9,000. Now, even though it had dropped, it was still double that. What did he say back then? 'Cryptocurrency is all a scam'?

'Damn!' Qi Xiaobei suddenly stood up, hitting his forehead against the upper bunk but not caring about the pain. He dug out all his bank cards from the drawer, and the total balance was exactly 30,212.5 yuan. This was all his possessions, including the monthly installment he had to repay for his online loan next month.

On the computer screen, the price of Bitcoin suddenly jumped to $17,850. Qi Xiaobei remembered what Zhang Wei had said while drinking last year: 'The crypto winter is the best investment opportunity; when everyone is panicking and selling, that's when you should be greedy.'

His fingers moved faster than his brain. Qi Xiaobei registered a Binance account, completed KYC verification, and at 4:23 AM, used all 30,000 yuan to buy 0.167 Bitcoin at a price of $17,920.

'Just treat this money as lost.' He muttered to himself, but couldn't help refreshing the market every ten seconds. Ten minutes after buying, Bitcoin dropped to $17,600, and his position instantly evaporated by over 800 yuan.

Qi Xiaobei's stomach twisted in pain, and cold sweat soaked his T-shirt. Just then, his phone rang abruptly—it was a collection call from the online loan company. He stared at the caller ID and suddenly grinned.

'Hello, is this Manager Li? I want to borrow another 70,000, yes, applying now... collateral? What the hell do I have to mortgage? Is my job at a state-owned enterprise enough? ... 24% interest? You might as well go rob... 36%? ... Okay, I’ll sign!'

After hanging up the phone, Qi Xiaobei's eyes were bloodshot. Ten minutes later, 70,000 arrived. Without hesitation, he bought in fully, this time at an average price of 17,430 dollars. Including his previous holdings, he now owned 0.572 Bitcoin, worth exactly 100,000 yuan.

'Either go to the rooftop or go to the moon.' Qi Xiaobei set this sentence as his phone wallpaper.

The next day at work, he could not concentrate on writing code at all. Sneaking a peek at the market, Bitcoin continued to slide to $16,800. His 100,000 turned into 96,000, and with a 36% annual interest, he lost nearly 5,000 in a single day.

'Xiao Qi, can this page effect be done by tomorrow?' The supervisor's voice came from behind, and Qi Xiaobei hurriedly switched screens.

'Huh? Oh... it should be fine...' His voice was shaky, and his palms were sweaty.

During lunch break, Qi Xiaobei hid in the restroom stall staring at his phone. Suddenly, a news alert popped up: 'The Federal Reserve hinted at slowing interest rate hikes; risk assets collectively rebound!'

The price of Bitcoin soared like a rocket, 17,000... 17,500... 18,200... By the time he got off work and squeezed onto the subway to go home, the price had already surpassed $19,000. The value of his holdings increased from a low of 96,000 to 113,000, netting a profit of 13,000!

'It's only the first day...' Qi Xiaobei grinned on the subway, attracting strange looks from those around him.

In the next 48 hours, Qi Xiaobei was like a man possessed. He took sick leave and stayed glued to his computer. Bitcoin began a suffocating surge:

The next morning, breaking through the psychological barrier of $20,000, his 100,000 turned into 120,000;


At three o'clock in the afternoon, a well-known hedge fund announced the purchase of $500 million in Bitcoin, causing the price to soar to $22,000, with his holdings valued at 140,000;


At ten o'clock in the evening, Musk suddenly tweeted, 'Bitcoin is interesting,' and the price surged 20%, breaking $26,000; his 100,000 turned into 170,000!

Qi Xiaobei's roommates heard beast-like howls coming from his room. In the early hours, he posted on a crypto forum: 'Turned 100,000 into 170,000, should I run now?'

Five minutes later, a user with the ID 'Old Cat in the Crypto Circle' messaged him: 'Newbie? Thinking of getting off just as the bull market starts? Remember, what makes you financially free is not volatility, but trends.'

On the third day, the miracle continued. Bitcoin broke through $30,000 and hit the trending topics on Weibo, and many retail investors began to follow suit. The value of Qi Xiaobei's holdings exceeded 200,000, double his capital.

But the real madness came in the afternoon. An unverified message spread wildly in various communities: a sovereign wealth fund was secretly accumulating Bitcoin. The price broke through $35,000 like a runaway wild horse, and Qi Xiaobei's account balance turned into 224,000!

'Cash out! You must cash out!' His finger hovered above the 'sell' button, but he remembered what 'Old Cat in the Crypto Circle' said. After taking ten deep breaths, Qi Xiaobei only sold 0.072 Bitcoin, withdrawing 50,000 to pay off part of the high-interest loan.

That night, Bitcoin retraced to around $32,000. Qi Xiaobei calculated: the remaining 0.5 Bitcoin was worth about 160,000, minus 70,000 in principal (including the already repaid 50,000), netting a profit of 90,000.

Three days, 90,000 profit. This was equivalent to eight months of his salary.

Qi Xiaobei collapsed on the bed, suddenly crying out loud. He remembered the days of being threatened by collection calls over the past three years, the looks from colleagues when they saw him in a cheap suit, and the expressions of his blind dates when they learned about his debts...

On the fourth day morning, Qi Xiaobei was awakened by his phone alarm. Bitcoin broke through $40,000! The value of his holdings exceeded 250,000! He frantically called Zhang Wei: 'Brother, what should I do now?'

'Wow, you actually bought at the bottom?' Zhang Wei's voice was surprised, 'Listen, if it breaks through the previous high of 69,000, it may very well start a new super cycle. Set a stop-loss and let the profits run.'

Qi Xiaobei set a rule for himself: if it drops below $30,000, liquidate everything; otherwise, hold until $60,000.

The next two weeks felt like a dream. Bitcoin steadily rose amid dramatic fluctuations; Qi Xiaobei's holdings peaked at 280,000 and dipped to 180,000. He lost ten pounds but felt energized like he was on steroids.

On the 15th day, a historic moment arrived: Bitcoin broke through its historical high of $69,000, and the total liquidation of shorts exceeded $2 billion. The value of Qi Xiaobei's 0.5 Bitcoin was—345,000 yuan!

When the price surged to $70,200, he decisively liquidated his position, receiving 351,000 yuan. After deducting 70,000 principal and 20,000 interest, he netted 260,000. The first thing Qi Xiaobei did when the money actually arrived in his bank account was to transfer half a year's rent to his landlord.

'Aunt Wang, this is what I owed before, plus half a year in advance.' He deliberately spoke in a nonchalant tone.

That night, Qi Xiaobei sat in the most expensive Japanese restaurant in Sanlitun, ordering a bottle of sake for 2,000 yuan. Feeling tipsy, he opened his phone and sent a private message to the ID 'Old Cat in the Crypto Circle': 'Thank you for your guidance, today I liquidated my position and made 260,000.'

The other party replied instantly: 'Congratulations, but this is just the beginning. In the next bull market, I will teach you how to play contracts with leverage. By the way, are you interested in joining our private equity group? The threshold is 500,000.'

Qi Xiaobei stared at the final number and suddenly burst out laughing. Three months ago, 500,000 was still an astronomical figure for him. And now... he took a sip of sake and replied: 'Let me accumulate a bit more capital first.'

As he walked out of the restaurant, it started to snow lightly in Beijing. Qi Xiaobei stood under the neon lights, watching his breath merge into the night sky. He knew that this Bitcoin adventure was just the beginning—the door to the crypto world had only just opened for him.

(To be continued)