Kept seeing this phrase on the Chinese side of Binance: “pork knuckle rice.” At first I assumed it was just food. After checking, I realised it carries a deeper meaning for traders who use it to express a specific kind of loss.
In Chinese, the phrase is written 猪脚饭 (zhūjiǎo fàn), which means braised pig trotter served with rice. It’s a classic working-class meal, especially popular in southern regions like Guangdong and Fujian. However, in trading slang, when someone says “吃猪脚饭” (chī zhūjiǎo fàn), they are not discussing dinner plans. The phrase has become shorthand for admitting a painful loss in the market. It implies that a bad trade has left them with little choice but to eat cheap, humble food. In other words, it is a symbol of financial damage, accepted with bitter humour.
This usage has become common in Chinese crypto communities. After a failed long or a major drop, traders will often post pictures of pork knuckle rice, half-joking, half-resigned. The phrase captures a sense of collective exhaustion and modest survival. It is not just self-deprecation, but a way of signalling that one has been through the fire and come out poorer but still present.
Several related expressions exist in the same context. The phrase 割肉 (gē ròu), literally “cutting meat,” refers to closing a losing position. 韭菜 (jiǔcài), meaning “chives,” is the word used for retail traders who repeatedly get harvested by the market. And 喝西北风 (hē xīběi fēng), meaning “drinking northwest wind,” describes someone who is broke to the point of surviving on air.
Saying “I’m eating pork knuckle rice tonight” is not a cry for help, but a quiet confession that things didn’t go as planned. It’s how many traders laugh at their own pain without needing to explain anything further.