At 16, I was promoting drinks outside my hometown supermarket, standing all day in 38-degree heat, earning only 1,000 yuan a month. Back then, I never thought that a few years later I would enter the crypto world and achieve financial freedom through my own struggles and efforts.

When the 2017 bull market started, I stepped into this circle. A friend of mine who was in digital business made some small money by trading counterfeit coins, and he kept talking to me about Bitcoin and blockchain every day. To be honest, I didn’t understand those technical terms; I just watched those coin prices skyrocket and took out all my savings of 8,000 yuan, saved over half a year, to buy my first cryptocurrency — but it wasn’t Bitcoin, it was a popular altcoin at the time.

I was happy for only a few days before reality hit me hard. Regulations tightened, coin prices plummeted, and that 8,000 yuan suddenly shrank to just over 2,000. This loss turned out to be the best lesson. I realized that the crypto world is not a casino; blindly following trends only makes you a leek (retail investor). After that, I started studying seriously — staying at the promotion stand during the day, and at night, I would hold my phone, studying K-line charts and reading project whitepapers, filling two thick notebooks with notes.

The turning point came. I stopped chasing those hype-driven altcoins and shifted to small positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum, just waiting. Waiting for the market, waiting for patience, waiting for time. During the 2019 rally, my BTC and ETH holdings multiplied several times. Without greed, I took profits in stages, withdrew my principal and part of the profits to secure my gains, and continued to follow the trend with the remaining. That year, I finally earned my first pot of gold.