Ten years ago, when I first bought Bitcoin, my fingers trembled as I clicked the confirm button, as if I were grasping the Holy Grail to financial freedom. Back then, I believed that 'one coin equals one villa' was not a joke, but a prophecy about to come true. Even waking up at three in the morning to refresh the market, every 1% rise in the K-line made dopamine surge, making me feel like a trading genius with a gift.

The winter of 2018 shattered my illusions for the first time. That night when my assets shrank by 80%, I experienced what it meant to 'stay awake until dawn.' I proclaimed 'value investment' and 'long-term holding,' but in reality, it was self-deception borne of reluctance to cut losses. We huddled together in the lies of 'whales washing the market' and 'institutions accumulating', and those cries of 'hold on brothers' on social media were merely collective hypnosis in the abyss.

The bull market of 2021 reignited everyone's greed. DeFi, NFTs, the Metaverse—each new concept was wrapped in a golden exterior. The pain of having once gone to zero was overshadowed by FOMO, and once again, I heavily invested in the euphoric belief that 'this time is different.' It wasn't until LUNA evaporated 99% in three days that I saw the so-called 'consensus' for what it was—a carefully woven trap.

Ten years have passed, and I finally see the essence of this game: retail investors are forever battling their own nature. The fluctuations on the K-line chart reflect not just prices, but the magnified greed and fear. Those so-called 'tenfold hundredfold' shitcoins are merely perfect traps for the whales; the fervent calls in late-night communities are, in reality, psychological manipulation of a 'pig butchering' scheme.

What seasoned investors ultimately learn is not technical analysis, but a survival philosophy forged through blood and tears: the market has no Holy Grail, only probabilities. What can be taken away is not the myth of financial freedom, but an eternal respect for the market. Once heart-pounding hundredfold coins have turned into cold numbers in trading records—some going to zero, some cashed out, and many more becoming past stories that are unwillingly mentioned at the dinner table.

The true mark of maturity: when one no longer believes in the 'myth of getting rich quickly' and starts calculating risk-reward ratios; when one no longer indulges in short-term fluctuations but learns to wait for certain opportunities—this is the most precious realization earned through ten years of youth. In the crypto world, there are no retail investors who have defeated the whales, only those who have conquered their own greed.

In the past, I wandered alone in the darkness; now the light is in my hands.

The light is always on; will you follow or not? @币来财888