Let me share my deepest realization: the crypto circle is no longer the wealth creation temple it once was in the financial market; it is becoming the most rigorous 'Huangpu Military Academy' in the financial market.

At this moment, we are in June 2025. According to the four-year bull-bear cycle, it corresponds to June 2021, and the bull market should still be in full swing. However, the spot trading volume on major exchanges has dropped to freezing point, just as bleak as the bear market in October 2022. No one is trading spot anymore. Everyone is engaged in contracts, doing leveraged short to medium-term trades, with more people shorting than going long.

In the past, the crypto circle was a wealth creation temple capable of diminishing traditional financial markets. Countless retail investors rushed in, buying a lot of spot, daring to buy, daring to increase positions, competing on who could hold their diamond hands longer. Most of the retail investors here had no trading skills or experience; they just knew that a bull market was coming, so they went all in, competing on who entered the market first and holding on, hoping for 10x returns.

Most past KOLs focused more on analyzing the value and fundamentals of different 'altcoins': investment background, application track, total market cap, circulation, benchmarking against competitors' market cap ceilings, and then backtracking to find price peak areas, aiming to hold onto those price regions. Even in the early stage of this bull market in 2023, there were still many such KOLs, but now, they are almost nowhere to be seen.

In the past, the crypto circle had the lowest entry threshold compared to other traditional financial markets. Many retail investors didn't even know how to read moving averages or research the fundamentals of a coin; they just chased whichever one was rising fast and hot for a couple of months.

And what about the crypto circle now? A large number of retail investors no longer dare to 'invest.' Don't quibble over the meaning of the word 'investment,' and don't say now that all assets in the crypto circle except BTC are trash, air, or ShitCoin. You should know that in the past two bull markets, countless people became wealthy through 'value investment' and 'diamond hands' in many altcoins.

Today's crypto circle is a very magical existence. It is like a stock market; clearly, there are thousands of stocks, but only $BTC continues to rise, while the remaining 99% of stocks are on a constant roller coaster, occasionally experiencing a two-week or one-month phase bull, then fluctuating downwards, continuing the long-term bear market.

Most retail investors do not hold $BTC in spot; they pay attention to BTC only for contract trading. This is no different in essence from trading other altcoins.

Today's crypto circle is like a 'monster,' or rather, an extremely special market existence. Here, apart from #BTC as a single asset, there are no trending markets, no spot trading, no long-term holding; everyone is doing and learning to do contract trading.

This is a financial market without 'investing and holding'—it has become a rare, naked 'trading market.'

Now, retail investors in the crypto circle not only know how to read moving averages but also understand candlestick patterns, price action, Wyckoff, and Elliott Wave Theory. Any retail investor basically has a good grasp of these skills. They can effortlessly discuss contract positions, the long-short ratio of retail investors, and the inflow and outflow of major funds.

This place is no longer the gathering ground for retail investors with the lowest threshold in the past. Through a harsh market environment, it has continuously forced and cultivated countless trading masters.

Brothers, I often have a feeling and a sentiment: why should women make things difficult for women, and why should men make things difficult for men? If we change our environment, could it be a vast and open sky? Applying the trading skills learned in the crypto circle to the long bull market of the US stock market, the recovering Hong Kong stock market, or even A-shares where not just one stock is rising—wouldn't that be better than here?

Perhaps years later, when retail investors and traders from various circles gather for a drink, we will remember the past. When we mentioned that we were traders or retail investors in the crypto circle, others would look down upon us and scoff, saying, 'You have no technical skills!'

And later, everyone raised their glasses in admiration, saying, 'You are trading geniuses who emerged from a pile of corpses!'

In the crypto circle, we all know! It is the only —— Huangpu Military Academy in the financial market!