These past few days, the crypto world has returned to its true form — half angel, half devil.
On one side, post-00s kids are tracking CZ’s social media, raking in millions of dollars, popping champagne, and handing out red envelopes in wild celebration. On the other side, real-money trading big shots go from profiting millions to getting liquidated for millions in an instant!
A tale of two extremes — ice and fire.
The 2025 bull market cooled off for a long time after the meme frenzy faded at the beginning of the year. Add to that the Fed’s toothpaste-squeezing style of rate cuts, and the market has been lukewarm and tough to endure! Unlike the end of 2023 when inscriptions exploded the market and kicked off the bull run early, or 2024 when Trump’s election brought major positives.
So retail investors, institutions, project teams, and whales are all tugging at each other, testing endurance and scale. On-chain activity has been stagnant. In May, OK DEX was forced to exit major markets. After the Sol chain pump launches, almost all phenomenal memes went silent. But then Binance Alpha launched amid skepticism, forcibly creating a BSC bull market.
CZ’s return also ignited BSC. In the last cycle, BSC was the main battlefield for memes, and after lagging behind Sol for a long time, it caught up with a late surge. Even now, Sol remains one of the most profitable public chains, with its ecosystem still thriving.
In this cycle, beyond various ecosystems like DeFi, SocialFi, GameFi, and BTCFi, the meme ecosystem has spawned a unique “IdolFi” track (idol behavior financialized). It involves tracking influential people, including the info they follow, ecosystems, or even competitors, to make quick reactions and snipe memes.
For example, Aster is a great case — positioned as a challenger to Hype, it’s full of buzz. With multiple forces collaborating, it quickly gains heat. In the face of emotions, all analysis and research become invalid; making money is king!
I often think of a friend’s story. He became vice president at a well-known listed company before turning 30 — one step below the top, above everyone else. He was at the peak of his glory, with a multi-million annual salary, stocks, and options. From a 22-year-old management trainee, he kept getting promoted, and all other executives trembled when reporting to him. He felt like he owned the world.
The company boss had always cultivated an image of an enterprise where ordinary people could change their fates. But five years later, when I returned to his old company, there was another trainee-turned-vice president sitting next to the CEO.By then, my friend had left the original company to start his own business. He was doing okay, but the star-studded atmosphere of the big corporation was completely gone — things were much quieter around him.It just goes to show: We only see the new ones laughing, who hears the old ones crying?
Look at our crypto circle: In the first half of the year, shining stars like 0xsun, Calm, Wang Xiao’er, and even the trader “Budong Ge” who just won first place in the futures contest, seem to have vanished from view.Of course, they’ve achieved big results and deliberately gone low-key, so they’re not comparable to others.But new “rising stars” and war gods keep emerging! Heroes from all walks lead the trends for a few months each.The wheels of history roll on, human nature remains eternal.Would you rather be the chosen one of the people, or the chosen one of yourself?
Do you have the answer in your heart?Let’s encourage each other!