"Bitcoin has reached a new high again!"
Old Li almost spat out the soy milk he had just sipped, his fingers somewhat uncooperative as they poked open the phone notification, 124,000💲! That bright red number pierced his eyes with pain. The glow of the screen reflected his somewhat dazed face, and the warmth of the soy milk instantly turned cold.
He is a veteran in the cryptocurrency world, and the great dream of 2017 is still vivid in his mind. Back then, he stood at the forefront, full of ambition, as if financial freedom was at his fingertips. However, after the joyous clamor subsided, all that remained was a mess and a 90% reduction in his account balance. The pain of being violently pulled away from the market felt like a deep mark, etched in his bones.
In the years that followed, every movement of Bitcoin felt like a stone thrown into the lake of his heart. He repeatedly told himself: don't believe it, it's all a bubble, just the same script replayed. He watched Bitcoin rise from 10,000 to 30,000, then crawl back to 50,000, each time he would coldly laugh in his heart: 'See, it's going to drop soon, I understand it too well!' He convinced himself again and again that this time was 'no different from last time', holding onto the fortress built by past experiences, believing that the current prosperity was nothing but a mirage.
But this time, Bitcoin surged forward like a train that couldn't stop, directly rolling over the thresholds of 80,000 and 100,000. Old Li's defenses finally began to waver. Experts on TV talked grandly about 'institutional entry', 'spot ETF approval', and 'halving market approaching', each word felt like a small hammer, striking at his nerve named 'caution'. He sat on the sofa, his brows furrowed, repeatedly muttering that famous saying in the circle: 'Could this time… really be different?'
In the deep of night, the dim light of the phone screen illuminated his face, like a fish trapped in a net. He refreshed the market software repeatedly, the steep upward curve of the K-line chart felt like a searing hot iron, making him restless. A strong sense of panic that 'if I don't get in now, it will be too late' gripped him. He suddenly sat up, at three in the morning, as if driven by some invisible force, his finger trembling almost tragically as he pressed 'buy'. The amount wasn't large, just the 'grocery money' he had weighed repeatedly — 'Just consider it lost!' he comforted himself, but the thumping in his chest was deafening.
After buying in, the green number on his account symbolizing profit grew tenaciously every day like spring grass. Old Li's mood fluctuated with it; each deepening shade of green tilted his internal scale toward 'cash out'. Finally, on a seemingly ordinary afternoon, Bitcoin's price seemed to lose momentum and began to slightly adjust. He stared intently at the screen, his fingertip hovering over the 'sell' button, feeling as if it was suspended by invisible threads, sensing nothing but emptiness in front of him, his eardrums buzzing. In the end, he almost instinctively jabbed hard at it! After completing the transaction, he slumped in his chair, let out a long sigh, as if he had just gone through a life-and-death struggle, and his back felt slightly cool. That tiny profit number had become the only real comfort in his hands.
However, the market's script never plays by the rules. Just shortly after he sold, Bitcoin unexpectedly shed all its shackles, revving up again and charging forward, leaving his meager 'grocery money' profit in the dust. Old Li opened his mouth, watching helplessly as the curve representing wealth raced away, leaving him behind, feeling as if he had been harshly abandoned by the times. Then, without warning, the market changed dramatically! The numbers on the screen began to 'change faces', turning from red to green, then quickly deepening into a glaring dark green. The profit in his account melted away like thin ice under the blazing sun, ultimately disappearing completely, even beginning to mercilessly erode his principal. The once easily reachable profit turned into an empty dream in the blink of an eye.
Old Li slowly set down his phone, the screen dimmed, reflecting his bewildered face at that moment. He picked up the cup of soy milk that had long gone cold on the table, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp, the icy liquid sliding down his throat. He grinned at the air, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying, murmuring softly: 'Sigh, the old leek, after all, is still the old leek…'
A day in the crypto world is like a year in the human realm. This roller coaster of Bitcoin carries the desires and fears of countless people as it rushes forward. Some briefly grasped the handrail, some were thrown off the track, while more, like Old Li, stumbled between hope and regret. The numbers of wealth jumped, rolled, inflated, and collapsed on the screen, reflecting the deepest greed and fear of the human heart.
The market never sleeps, and the curve representing the price continues to tirelessly explore up and down, silently narrating the beginning of the next cycle — the story of the cryptocurrency world is always ongoing.
