To put it bluntly, the cryptocurrency market is no longer what it used to be. In the past, you could just buy an altcoin or follow a meme, hoping to cash in on the big cycle. Now, forget it—the altcoin market is so tainted by sand that only a few out of ten thousand will survive, let alone see a surge in value.
If retail investors want to avoid being scammed, they need to discard their old ways of thinking. Don't constantly hope for a "broad bull market" to save all coins. Right now, you need to focus on "local opportunities": think of the recent Zora on Base, the previously popular Virtual, or the smaller, established companies on BSC. These are all niche opportunities fueled by specific narratives. Once the hype is over, sell them quickly; any other coins you look at are likely scams.
Big money should definitely be anchored in Bitcoin and Ethereum; these are the foundational assets, providing peace of mind. With small positions, invest in core stocks with solid narratives, and don't cast a wide net. If you're skilled at using futures contracts, seizing the opportunity to short those half-dead altcoins is actually more reliable than buying them randomly.
As for meme-building and cryptocurrency stock manipulation, those are high-end games played by a select few. Ordinary retail investors should avoid joining in the frenzy, as it's easy to get caught up in the fun. Most of the money in the market right now is being siphoned off by those with traffic and distribution capabilities. What we retail investors can do is recognize the key: stop searching for gold in the garbage dump and focus on core assets and capitalize on local trends. This is the key to avoiding being a "leek" (a type of scam).
