"Chen Mo, is this how you plan to live your life? A salary of 8,000 a month, you can't even afford a toilet!"
In the summer of 2020, at a university classmate reunion, Zhang Hao waved the Porsche keys in his hand, and a sentence pierced my heart like a knife. At that time, I was 28 years old, working as a graphic designer at an advertising company in Beijing, and I truly couldn't even afford a toilet.
"Look at this." Zhang Hao handed me his phone, and the screen displayed an app interface I had never seen before, "Last month I invested 200,000, and now it has turned into 600,000."
That was the first time I heard the term "Ethereum", and it was the beginning of my nightmare.
1. Entering the Crypto World: From Doubt to Madness
After the party ended, I didn't sleep all night, scouring every article about Bitcoin and blockchain. Those stories of overnight wealth spiraled like a curse in my mind. Three days later, I took all my savings from five years of work—50,000, and trembling, I bought my first digital currency on an exchange.
"Remember, don’t panic when it drops, buy more as it falls!" Zhang Hao's "teaching" still echoed in my ears.
In the following two months, I experienced the most tormenting time of my life. Ethereum plummeted from 1,800 dollars to 900 dollars, and my 50,000 instantly turned into 25,000. I was absent-minded at work every day, refreshing the market every five minutes. Until one day, my boss called me into the office: "Chen Mo, this is already the third time this week you've made mistakes in your design drafts."
During the Spring Festival of 2021, a miracle happened. Bitcoin broke through 50,000, and my Ethereum not only returned to its original value but doubled. That night, I opened a bottle of Erguotou in my rental apartment, crying and laughing at the numbers on my computer screen.
2. Resign and Go All In: The Illusion of Getting Rich
"The bull market is here!" Zhang Hao frantically spammed the WeChat group. Looking at the 100,000 in my account, I made a life-changing decision—to resign and trade crypto full-time.
In March, I cashed out 200,000 with my credit card; in April, I borrowed another 300,000 online. All of it was converted into the hottest "animal coins" at the time—Dogecoin, Pigcoin, Catcoin... those altcoins without even a white paper.
"Elon Musk tweeted again!" "The project party says there are major benefits!" The messages in various WeChat groups became my bible. At my craziest, I traded hundreds of times a day, even sleeping with my phone in my arms.
In May, my account surpassed 3 million. I will forever remember that afternoon when I withdrew 1 million to my bank card, and the bank manager personally called to confirm. The next day, I paid in full for a BMW 5 Series and drove it around my old company three times.
3. Drunk on Paper: Expanding Desires
After I had money, my life changed completely. I rented a high-end apartment in Guomao for 30,000 a month, my wardrobe was stuffed with Gucci and LV, and suddenly countless "friends" popped up on WeChat. The most extravagant time, I spent 180,000 in a KTV just to hear a group of strangers shout, "Mo Ge is awesome."
In July, my assets reached an astonishing 10 million. Zhang Hao took me to meet the so-called "big shot of the crypto world". At a villa in Shunyi, someone pointed at the swimming pool and said, "The water in here is all filled with Maotai." That night, under the urging of everyone, I invested another 2 million in a newly issued "metaverse concept coin."
4. Avalanche Moment: The Dream Awakens
If the story ended here, how great that would be.
One morning in August, I was awakened by the urgent ringing of the phone. Zhang Hao's voice was choked with tears: "Run! The policy has come out!" I stumbled to open the trading software, and the screen was filled with blinding green—Bitcoin plunged 30% in a single day, and my account shrank to less than 5 million.
The next three days were the longest 72 hours of my life. Various coins halved in value, the exchange was frozen and unusable, and rights protection groups sprang up like mushrooms after rain. When I finally logged into my account, the number that once reached eight figures now quietly displayed: 528,000.
Not enough to pay back the online loans.
5. Back to the Starting Point: Blood and Tears Lessons
The day I sold my BMW, the dealer pressed the price down to 350,000. I squatted at the 4S shop door, watching my former beloved car being driven away, suddenly recalling the night a year ago when I drank Erguotou in my rental apartment. It turned out that going from heaven to hell only required a policy document.
Now, I’ve returned to my original profession as a designer, and my monthly salary leaves little after repaying loans. Occasionally seeing crypto news, those familiar names still make my heart tremble. Last week, Zhang Hao came to find me again, mysteriously saying he discovered a "thousand times coin" opportunity.
I smiled and deleted all the market apps on my phone.
Postscript:
While writing this text, Bitcoin hit a new high again. But I know that in that crazy game, there will always be some winners and many losers. If you are being tempted by those myths of getting rich, it might be good to ask yourself: Are you seeing the opportunity or the scythe?
The market is always right; since the trend and market have emerged, adjusting in time and cooperating with the trend to secure results within one's understanding is certainly the right approach.
Many people in this market, when they are truly at a dead end in their operations or have lost almost everything, then think about improving their understanding.
Don't let limited understanding hold you back!
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Come on!