If you have ever traded stocks, bought funds, or even read a few finance books, I guess you once looked down on 'cryptocurrency.'
So did I.
I majored in finance during my undergraduate studies, worked in private equity research, and dabbled in the secondary market. In my early years, I rode several waves of liquor, new energy, and tech stocks, and had a decent standing in my social circle.
But in the past, I always looked down on Bitcoin.
In 2017, I studied the BTC white paper seriously for the first time, and the conclusion was straightforward: this thing has no cash flow, is not an asset, and will inevitably face a crash.
So I turned back to continue my blue-chip rotation and Hong Kong IPOs, watching the crypto circle rise and fall, feeling no waves in my heart, and even having a bit of superiority.
In 2020, when the pandemic broke out, the Federal Reserve printed money like crazy, the traditional market began to distort, and funds flooded into the stock market, real estate, commodity futures... and Bitcoin.
I watched Bitcoin rise from $30,000 to $60,000 and started to reevaluate this thing.
Not only because of the market, but also because I have seen the changes and future trends behind the crypto world.
To be honest, watching the crypto market over the years, my biggest feeling is: it has changed too quickly, so quickly that even the 'mainstream consensus' is being continuously reshaped.
We used to discuss whether BTC would crash; now BlackRock and JPMorgan are directly involved, and parliaments are endlessly debating legislation for crypto.
In the past, we were anti-regulation; now we are calling to 'embrace regulation.' Previously, stablecoins were just tools for arbitrage on exchanges, but now they are a key topic at global financial conferences.
In just ten years, this market has traveled the road that took others half a century. It has hit the bottom, bubbled up, and exploded, but after every reshuffle, what remains is not ruins, but a thicker underlying logic.
Crypto has not disappeared; it has evolved from a 'speculative market' to a 'structural asset.' This is not achieved by shouting slogans; it is built through regulatory games, funding bets, and countless technological iterations.
So every policy, every ETF, and every traditional giant's entry you see now hides a trend: crypto is moving from 'the circle' to 'the system.'
This is the luck of our generation of participants—standing in the eye of the storm, witnessing a paradigm shift. There will still be ups and downs in the future, but at least, no one dares to say that crypto is a flash in the pan anymore.
