After the flash crash of $ZKJ and $KOGE, the activity of Binance Alpha has clearly declined. According to Dune data, the number of Alpha trading users plummeted from a peak of 233,000 on June 12 to 195,000 on June 15, losing nearly 40,000 users in just three days, a significant drop. As of today, the actual number of users trading on the platform has further reduced to 70,000, showing a cliff-like decline in user enthusiasm and willingness to participate. Meanwhile, the marginal cost of brushing points has significantly increased, and the cost-effectiveness of the Alpha game is rapidly deteriorating.
Meanwhile, some recent projects launched by Binance Alpha are showing signs of 'immediate watering' upon launch.
BlockBeats calculated the profits from the new points collection project VELO of Binance Alpha. Under normal circumstances (with a principal of 1000 dollars), this period's Alpha user returns are in a slightly profitable state. If trading calculations are made using Alpha tokens, daily transaction wear can reach 4 dollars, with expected returns of 224 dollars over 30 days, expected costs of 120 dollars over 30 days, and expected profits of 104 dollars over 30 days, averaging 3.5 dollars daily.
Starting from June 17, 2025, 00:00 (UTC), Binance Alpha will officially implement new regulations, and the trading volume between Alpha tokens will no longer be counted in the calculation of Alpha Points. This means that strategies relying on brushing points in pools like ZKJ/KOGE will no longer be effective, and users will face higher thresholds for point acquisition and a more complex liquidity structure.
It can be foreseen that due to the impact of $ZKJ's crash, Binance Alpha's incentive model is entering an adjustment period. The direct consequence of this mechanism replacement is that a large number of users who were originally active in the Alpha ecosystem are choosing to leave. Some have lost money in the dual-token pools of $ZKJ/$KOGE, while others have found that the marginal benefits of brushing points are lower than the trading costs and are no longer willing to invest effort.
In this exclusive interview, BlockBeats interviewed multiple Alpha users, including LP providers who suffered actual losses in this round of crash, and ordinary participants who attempted 'point brushing arbitrage' but whose returns fell short of expectations. Among them, some have already decided to exit the Alpha game completely, while others are still hesitating whether to continue seeking new opportunities. Through their narratives, we can restore the real emotions and thoughts behind this 'cliff-like resignation tide.'
Those who gave up
"The early returns were indeed high, with low handling fees, especially when I was benefiting from Adventure Island. By late May, I gradually added up to 20 accounts, and because of frequent facial recognition, I handed over the account owner's accounts to them to manage themselves, maintaining an actual trading volume of 16,000 dollars daily while brushing."
However, as the number of participants increases and competition intensifies, Jiang Jiu stated that he had already sensed something was off in mid-June: "On the 14th, I noticed something was wrong; that day, a few accounts suffered significant losses, totaling 160U. It was too strange, but because I was troubled about how to change my strategy, I overlooked the risks that might be imminent or the ones I was unwilling to acknowledge. My expectations were just too high."
What is even more regrettable is that during the ZKJ crash, a friend of Jiang Jiu misunderstood his remark, "Have you finished brushing?" as a prompt to rush, hurriedly increasing his position in ZKJ, ultimately incurring a loss of up to 60%. Jiang Jiu recalled that he originally intended to wait for his friend's reply before reminding him not to continue brushing and to observe the situation, but the other party misunderstood his intention and immediately went into trading. After buying, he found it impossible to sell smoothly and sought help from Jiang Jiu. However, Jiang Jiu did not have time to explain in detail how to quickly exit at a low price, ultimately leading to his friend having to watch the price drop helplessly. He admitted that the core of this loss is not luck, but rather the cost of information judgment and communication.
When asked if he had contacted the project party, Jiang Jiu stated that he did not attempt to seek feedback, "This kind of thing is too common in the crypto circle. Unless the trading platform is willing to take the lead, otherwise retail investors losing money is just losing money, with no place to argue, and one must still remain cautious."
"He added that since losing pools like ZKJ and KOGE with low transaction fees for brushing trades, the loss of brushing points has significantly increased, and the rewards for each period have dropped to around 50-60U, while the score threshold keeps getting higher. I am on the verge of giving up, but still want to struggle a bit to see the returns in the next few periods; if it doesn't go well, I can only give up."
Unlike Jiang Jiu, Mosquito operated four accounts, with a total profit of about 5000U before the plunge. The day before the plunge, he noticed the abnormal fluctuations of ZKJ, but because the coin price rebounded at that time, it instead increased his feeling of luck.
"The day before, I noticed ZKJ fluctuating. I held on for an hour, saw it rebound, and made a profit of 5U. When it plummeted that day, I noticed that the spikes were severe, thinking it would be the same as the previous day."
This sense of luck led Mosquito to continue using the second account to enter after the first account was trapped with a loss of 30U, "I thought it would be like the previous day, with normal spikes, so I didn't move this account and continued doing tasks with the second account for 1800U, but then the second account also started to crash."
In the end, Mosquito decided to cut losses when the coin price dropped to 0.8, with total losses exceeding 2000U, "I still did not pay enough attention to the risks and should have observed the size of the pool more. That day, there were indeed large-scale withdrawals from the pool."
Mosquito believes the Alpha project is nearing its end, "Investment and output are no longer proportional. After being squeezed a few times, it feels pointless. Today, all accounts have received low guarantees and withdrawn."
Not only Mosquito, but in BlockBeats' interviews, many mentioned the declining investment-output ratio in Binance Alpha. Many no longer choose multi-account strategies.
The bonus window for Alpha may be closing.
Under sunk costs, brushing points continues.
Brother Jie is a builder of the BSC ecology community and has been participating in Alpha activities since the beginning of Shell's new projects. As an information disseminator within the community, he also could not avoid this systemic risk.
"I felt at that time that when 'stablecoins' are no longer stable, price fluctuations will be significant. In fact, I had already sensed that a gray rhino was about to arrive. However, due to the management work of the account and the time spent brushing trades, it filled up my personal life, which made it impossible to control in time," said Brother Jie.
During the crash, Brother Jie immediately took losses and notified group members, but still faced significant losses. He believes that this loss cannot be entirely blamed on luck: "I can only say that I need to pay tuition to the market again. There are still many ways to avoid such situations. I just happened to be brushing large amounts at that time and both accounts were brushing; it was unavoidable to suffer a cut in half at that moment."
This experience made Brother Jie reflect on his risk control strategy, especially the importance of on-chain monitoring tools. He feels that he needs to introduce some on-chain monitoring tools in the future, "I immediately sensed the price of this coin; the capacity of the pool is decreasing, which will bring greater fluctuations in price."
Despite this, Brother Jie stated that he would continue to participate in Alpha, "If there is profit, it's worth continuing to strive. Of course, I also look forward to more innovative and fair launch models from Alpha."
"The initial strategy was to brush 33 times at the 60,000 level, and then 66 times at the 130,000 level. The returns have not been calculated in detail yet," Siner introduced. This high-frequency, high-amount trading strategy can bring considerable returns during stable periods of coin prices, but it also exposes greater operational risks.
"His main losses did not come from market fluctuations, but from human errors: 'Most of the losses were due to my own operational mistakes. The first one was forgetting to sell Koge on the 16th, and then deciding that brushing the 130,000 level was a bit too aggressive. The account that I forgot to sell has now dropped from 1000u to 400u.'"
Large-scale account operations have also brought efficiency challenges. "I usually finish everything in 1-2 hours, but with a workload of 170,000, it was too large, resulting in continuous brushing for four or five days, leading to empty brushing situations."
Unlike users who are leaving the market, Siner remains full of confidence in Alpha's future. When asked if he would continue to brush Alpha, Siner replied, "I must continue; I have just found a no-loss method." This means he will continue to seek speculative profit opportunities within the Alpha ecosystem, even after the rule adjustments.
For Tian Ge, who did not incur losses during the ZKJ crash, exiting Alpha means that the sunk costs from earlier investments cannot be recovered. "There is already a sunk cost of two hundred percent from the early stage. If I give up, it would be equivalent to throwing everything away. Moreover, if a good project comes to Alpha later, I could recover it all in one go."
Tian Ge summarized the mentality of participating in Alpha projects—"Brushing points and squeezing profits are all garbage projects; don't get emotionally attached."
Conclusion
Jiang Jiu admitted that the returns from Alpha brushing points can no longer cover operational costs. "Now the rewards are only around 50 to 60 U, the score threshold is high, and the trading slippage is getting larger. I might only make three or four dollars in a day." The crash of ZKJ/KOGE took away not just the principal, but also a low-cost arbitrage path. Once the Alpha project cancels the rules of including trading volume between tokens in the points calculation, users will face higher transaction wear and a more complex point-gaining structure.
Binance Alpha was once seen as an innovative mechanism to revive on-chain activity and user participation, but the current points model obviously overestimates the long-term incentive effects of trading volume and LP, while underestimating the risk of structural runs.
With the implementation of Binance's new regulations, Alpha is gradually shifting from a point-brushing arbitrage tool to an incentive mechanism that pays more attention to genuine interactions and value capture. This means that point acquisition will no longer solely depend on trading volume or LP amounts but will lean more towards holding duration, interaction depth, and real demand.
However, for many users relying on low-cost point brushing strategies, this shift forces them to reassess the meaning of participation. If Alpha wants to restart its growth engine in the future, it must find a new balance between fair distribution and risk control mechanisms.
For users still exploring the Alpha ecosystem, it is advisable to strengthen awareness of risk management, pay attention to pool structure, token fundamentals, and LP concentration, to avoid becoming a bag holder when the next systemic risk is exposed. After all, in this constantly trial-and-error Web3 world, the window for arbitrage will always exist, but the cost of stepping on a landmine has never decreased.
