My childhood friend's younger brother came to Beijing to make a living right after graduating from college, living in Shuangjing, working in the Gehua Building, near Yonghe Temple.
At that time, the Web3 concept was hot, and he joined a game chain company as an operations staff, but actually did everything - product internal testing, community user acquisition, translating white papers, and sometimes even batch sending themed dolls for system lottery to users.
He always said he should pray at Yonghe Temple, considering it a blessing for his wallet address.
We occasionally find restaurants along Line 2 for meals, from Dongzhimen, Anding Gate, to Drum Tower Street and Jishuitan, one stop one meal. Usually I treat, but when there are airdrops, he never forgets to send me a voice message, talking for five minutes about which project might explode, which track to avoid, ending with: Bro, next meal is definitely on me.
There was a time when he really made some money, earning over $40,000 by farming LayerZero and Wormhole airdrops. He told me he was optimistic about these two bridges, and if he persisted, he could buy a house back home.
The subsequent trend you all know.
What you don't know is that after the cryptocurrency price plummeted, his company started laying off people. He jumped through three companies, and the last one didn't even pay his probation period salary in full. He said he was almost out of breath and immediately packed his luggage to go home and prepare for the civil service exam.
I'm telling this story because he called me last night, saying he was very sad after reading my article "Escape".
I was even more heartbroken. I write to resonate and heal, not to cause depression.
I asked him if he regrets it.
He said regret is useless, at least now he can sleep, and his parents are no longer arguing.
Many people say Web3 is a human nature amplifier.
But for me, it's more like a mirror.
It reveals the bottom-most workers of this era, not because we're stupid, not because we're not hardworking, but because - we lack collaborative resources, can't come up with stable strategies, and can only survive on the chain by relying on emotions.
This article doesn't discuss opportunities or teach arbitrage, and has no get-rich guide.
You know I've always disliked talking about getting rich quickly. Even if I were to discuss it, I'd wait until I get rich first. How can I talk about something out of thin air?
I just want to say one thing:
How do the poor in Web3 survive.
Your struggle is not failure, but an early exposure of ordinary people's limits.
In Web3, the most dangerous mindset is not FOMO, but fantasy.
You always think the next bull market will turn things around, the next opportunity will be a lifeline. You've experienced L2, got on Eigenlayer, stumbled on Babylon, made some small money on Kaito, yet discovered you haven't become stronger, making money seems like just luck, and losing doesn't bring sudden enlightenment.
Getting rich quickly is a miracle for a few, not a path for ordinary people.
You desperately farm Sahara, but the experts have already crossed the Rubicon River. Your Jeep can't stop at the same endpoint.
Many people say they are "persisting", but actually they are "letting go".
Letting yourself waste time, leaving fate to luck, letting uncontrolled positions control your emotions.
You jump between Alpha Point, Cookie, and Monad, still thinking about Virtual's point system and the endless airdrop projects seemingly growing from the ground - and they are releasing airdrops.
The scarcest resource on the chain is not money, but attention.
You think you're losing principal, but you're actually overdrawing emotions, time, and health.
Bitcoin seems expensive, ETH feels past its prime, so you try some small coins everyone is shouting about, then get deeply trapped.
If you don't sell, it doesn't move; once you sell, it halves.
Can't catch the rise, falls quickly, precisely and consistently underperforming.
You know it has no narrative, no liquidity, but having it in your wallet feels like carrying a time bomb. You don't even dare to rest or disconnect, afraid it might suddenly take off.
The reality is: it never moved, but you're already exhausted.
10% position, 100% anxiety, is the most precise purgatory on the chain.
So please learn to "live at low cost":
Fewer projects, avoid those you don't understand;
Fewer groups, block the useless ones;
Remove temptations, focus on what's valuable.
You're not an exchange robot, not a Twitter retweet machine, and certainly not free labor for project teams.
You're a living person, and you have the right to choose not to be consumed.
You might not be making money not because of poor technique, but possibly because you never review.
Have you kept accounts?
How many projects have you participated in? How much gas have you spent? How many have you recovered costs? Which protocols are stable? Which cut people? Which copycat trades are because KOLs called commercial orders? Which MEME are your own judgments?
If not, that's the problem.
Many people make judgments based on "feelings", thinking they can get on this wave or should go all-in on that wave - ending up riding the elevator but afraid to get off.
You think the market is unreasonable, but actually you haven't recorded anything, nor do you have principles.
The most feared thing is not making wrong judgments, but living entirely on feelings.
And you can't walk this path alone.
You need someone to pull you back, remind you not to rush blindly, and accompany you through days without market action.
Find three to five reliable people to form a "mutual rescue group":
Share experiences, share judgments;
Help review, exchange warnings;
Emotional support, information sharing.
Don't just chase big shots, and don't isolate yourself.
After mixing on the chain for a while, you'll know:
What helps you persist to the end is not critical hits, but companionship.
Our generation of Web3 workers aren't lazy because we grind, aren't stupid because we lose.
But because we learned too early to "pin hopes on the next round", yet never practiced "living stably".
You don't exist for this market.
Market trends are just part of your life, not the whole.
Don't let rises and falls define your mood, don't let anxiety consume your remaining small pleasures.
Web3 should be a way out, not a trap that imprisons you.
A truly virtuous cycle is having some other income when the market is stagnant, still being able to live like a human.
When you can live a steady life without constantly checking the market, and can sleep well without rushing for project Pre-Sale shares, you have already won half the battle.
When you start giving attention back to yourself and learn to take root in the real world, the blockchain world will gradually open up to you.
If you are at your lowest point, don't blame yourself, and don't rush to win.
Take it slow, and it's good as long as you can keep going.
Promise yourself to survive one cycle, and you will know that under the dazzling sunlight, there isn't much that's truly new.
The poor of Web3 also deserve a future.
Treating yourself sincerely will not put you at a disadvantage.
