There are too many opportunists in this circle. They are immersed in the "shelter" and forget the natural rules of the world.

These are three stories about digital currency. The protagonists of the stories include a miner who has experienced a "mining accident", a middle-aged woman who has mistakenly entered a blockchain pyramid scheme, and a project entrepreneur who has run out of funds. The only thing they have in common is that they are all trapped in the dream of getting rich overnight and are unwilling to wake up.

The story doesn't have to stick to the ending. If it can make people calm down and think for two minutes, that's enough.

01

"The Fatty's Dream is His Own Adventure"

One afternoon in May 2013, Fatty and I were playing online games in an Internet cafe in front of the school.

The fat man took a deep puff of his cigarette, threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it a few times. "Old Donkey, do you know Bitcoin? I heard that it is very profitable." The fat man dreamed of getting rich in broad daylight again, and the fat on his face began to tremble with excitement.

"That's all I know about Cupid." I was busy playing League of Legends and had no time to daydream with him.

"I heard that if you rent a computer room and install a few mining machines to mine every day, you can make a lot of money."

"Are you still thinking about mining? There was an accident at a mine some time ago. Dozens of people were killed. It was reported on the news every day. You'd better be careful." I took off my headphones and looked at him seriously.

"Hey, what are you talking about? This mine is not that mine. Just keep on talking to you. I can't make anyone understand." The fat man slumped down on the chair and took out a cigarette from his pocket. "I would say you are short-sighted. If I were you, I would buy this Internet cafe when I made the money and rent it out every day." He squinted his eyes, took a sip, and said happily.

The fat guy is the smartest person in our dormitory. He has a head full of clever tricks. When he just entered college as a freshman, he made several thousand dollars by reselling beddings.

Later, Fatty came up with a new idea to make money. At that time, there was a fierce competition among several driving schools near the school. Fatty saw a business opportunity and took the initiative to become a campus agent for the driving school, with a commission of 200 yuan for each student. During that time, Fatty asked everyone he met, "Classmate, are you learning to drive?" With such efforts, Fatty's quality of life did improve slightly, from Hardman to Lotus. Of course, his grades also showed seven or eight red lights.

This is all small money. The fat man’s dream is to make big money.

Fatty saw the news about making money with Bitcoin on the forum. The poster said that he made enough money for retirement by mining Bitcoin. Fatty couldn't help but feel envious. This was getting rich overnight. If he became rich overnight, he would first have to quit smoking. He could no longer smoke Lotus cigarettes. He would have to smoke at least a pack of Huazi cigarettes a day.

For the sake of China, Fatty started searching for information about Bitcoin online and downloading mining tutorials. On the forum, it was said that two years ago, you might have been able to mine some Bitcoin using your computer at home, but now you can forget about it. It is harder for retail investors to mine a single coin than to win 5 million.

After making the decision, Fatty decided to spend several months' living expenses to buy a mining machine from Taobao. The school dormitory was cut off from electricity at 10 pm, so Fatty rented a single room near the school to ensure the normal operation of the mining machine.

From then on, the fat man became busy and rarely seen.

"Bitcoin is rising like crazy, I'm going to get rich!" Not long after the National Day holiday, Fatty excitedly sent me a message on QQ.

"No way? You really are lucky enough to be lucky enough?" I frowned. The fat guy has been tinkering around all day, and he really came up with something useful?

"Hehe, just wait and see. When I make a lot of money, I can eat three meals a day in a star-rated hotel." The fat man sent a smug smoking expression, "By the way, don't forget to answer for me when the teacher calls the roll! I will definitely remember your great kindness, brother!"

"Just wait until you get your certificate of completion." I retorted to the fat man sourly, and actually felt a little envious in my heart.

On the morning of November 19, 2013, Bitcoin experienced a 30-minute shock, and Fatty's mood was like the price of the currency, riding a crazy roller coaster. That morning, the price of Bitcoin once reached 8,000 yuan, then quickly fell back to 5,800, and then gradually rose to more than 7,000 yuan.

The fat man felt that the time had come, so he sold the coins he was holding and made a huge profit. Although it was not enough for retirement, it was a considerable sum for a student.

The fat man finally realized his wish of smoking Zhonghua cigarettes. He no longer lived in his single room and rented an entire apartment instead.

But he didn't expect that the good times would end so quickly. Then the price of Bitcoin went downhill, falling all the way, and by the end of the year, it had fallen below 70%. The high electricity bills and the maintenance costs of the mining machines made the fat man live off his savings every day, and he could hardly pay the rent for his apartment. In the fat man's own words, "I live in fear every day, often sitting up in the middle of the night, and my nerves are tied to the price of the currency."

After weighing the pros and cons, Fatty decided to end his short career as a miner and quit. At that time, Fatty still had a small amount of coins in his hand. "I won't sell them," Fatty said self-deprecatingly, "I'll keep them as commemorative coins, so that my life will not be in vain."

"What will you do next? Never dig again?"

"I won't dig any more. This is just a pipe dream. I will study hard and work hard in the future."

The fat man's adventure was his own dream. We had never experienced it and had no way of putting ourselves in his shoes and feeling his mental journey. Gradually, we all forgot about it.

At the end of 2017, the skyrocketing price of Bitcoin was in the news again. I suddenly remembered the remaining coins in Fatty's hand, so I quickly called him and said, "Fatty, Bitcoin is now 100,000 yuan per coin, where are the remaining coins you have?"

"Hey, hey," the fat man's familiar laugh rang out again, "Just wait for me to make a fortune."

It seems that the fat man intends to continue dreaming this beautiful dream.

02

"Lin Hong is confused but unwilling to give up the opportunity to make a fortune." Lin Hong just turned 47 the day before yesterday and spent his birthday in an argument.

Half a month ago, she secretly moved 10,000 yuan from her account and followed her friend to invest in a project that said "invest 10,000 and get 70,000 digital assets back, doubling every seven days." However, before she could enjoy the dividends, her husband discovered that something was wrong with the money in the account.

Her husband asked Lin Hong to get the investment money back, but she refused. Her son was about to graduate, and the family had not saved enough for a down payment for him over the years. This time, Lin Hong was determined to earn money to support her son's marriage.

"How can there be such a good thing in the world that can make a huge profit?" The husband suspected that Lin Hong had encountered a fraud gang again, and this was not the first time.

"You have a blockhead and can't keep up with the times," Lin Hong waved her hand, "I already have 70,000 in my account. People say it's called digital assets. I can get another 70,000 by recruiting someone later."

"I don't care about that. Just go and get the ten thousand back." The husband was getting a little restless. He vaguely felt that Lin Hong's money was going to be wasted again.

Lin Hong and her husband did many jobs but didn't make much money.

At first, my husband worked in the factory for a few years, but when the profits were not good, he quit and went home. Later, he found another way to make a living, scraped together some money, bought a small crane, and went to the construction site to find work. Although he always had to look at the contractor's mood, at least he had a long-term livelihood to support the family of three.

Lin Hong never had a stable job. After the birth of her child, she needed money for daily necessities. She rented a store on the roadside to sell snacks and drinks, but she put in too much physical effort and energy, and earned too little money. The store closed after just a few months. Later, she set up a mobile stall to sell things on the street. Sometimes she made 100 to 200 yuan a day, and sometimes she made dozens of yuan a day. Her husband persuaded Lin Hong that although the money was little, as long as the two of them worked together, they could live a good life.

But Lin Hong was an exception who could not keep her composure. Once, a customer who came to the mobile car to buy something asked her secretly if she knew about the Western Development. Seeing the other party's mysterious look, Lin Hong couldn't help but lower her voice and asked, "What Western Development?"

"The country is helping some grassroots talents who are bold, determined and helpful to the country's development to make money and solve the problem of inequality between the rich and the poor. Now we invest in 21 shares, and the price of one share is 3,300. In two to three years, the return will be 10.4 million. This business is pure capital operation, a five-in-three-stage model..." The customer became more and more proud as he spoke, and Lin Hong became excited.

"Would you like to come with me to investigate the 'business'?"

Lin Hong was moved.

There is a business in the world that only requires an investment of 69,800 yuan and can earn more than 10 million yuan in two or three years. Who wouldn't be tempted? A few years ago, she went to a fortune teller, who said that she would meet a noble person this year and her fortune would be prosperous. Now she has finally waited for it. Lin Hong sold the mobile stall without telling her husband, took the 30,000 yuan from the transfer, and the 40,000 yuan that the couple had saved diligently over the past few years, and hurriedly followed the customers to get on the train to the west.

A month later, Lin Hong called her husband and changed her tone from a street woman. She enthusiastically introduced her investment in the "1040 Sunshine Project" to her husband and vowed to him, "Either you raise some more money to invest in it, or you just watch me make a lot of money."

The husband had heard his co-workers talk about a fraudulent organization at the construction site and immediately realized that Lin Hong had been brainwashed. However, Lin Hong was blinded by the desire to get rich and refused to come back no matter how much he tried to persuade her.

Unfortunately, before Lin Hong could realize her ambitions, the gang was reported and the entire gang was dismantled by the police station. She had no choice but to return home with the dispersed people.

What to do with 70,000 yuan? What else can I do? It's all gone.

However, after a few years, Lin Hong still did not give up.

Half a month ago, someone in the WeChat group forwarded articles such as "A digital currency supermarket has opened in Beijing, and digital assets will subvert the world...", "After this news is announced, digital currency may become the new type of RMB!", "The blockchain era is here, do you want to miss this rare opportunity to make money once in a thousand years?", etc. After Lin Hong clicked on them, she was confused by the words "blockchain", "leverage", "Internet users becoming shareholders", and a bunch of English letters. However, she did not want to miss this "once-in-a-millennium opportunity to make money", so she had to chat privately with group members to ask for clarification.

The group members sent Lin Hong several documents of "YouXhui". The documents clearly stated that YouXhui was recruiting 80 million partners worldwide. Now it was a preferential period. The original price was 100,000, but now only 10,000 was needed to become a partner... If you invest 10,000 yuan now, you will have 70,000 digital assets in your account, of which 50,000 digital assets will double every seven days... For every partner recruited, the account will double by another 70,000 digital assets...

Lin Hong quickly calculated in her mind that this was a business with a quick payback. Compared to 69,800, 10,000 yuan was not too much, so she decided to invest it and give it a try.

A friend in the group introduced her to the person in charge of YouXhui. After listening to the person in charge's explanation, she felt that this was a new way to make money. She transferred 10,000 yuan without hesitation. The person in charge was also very efficient. The next day, he gave her an "account address" and notified her that 70,000 digital assets had been transferred. Lin Hong was relieved and focused on following the instructions of the person in charge to send messages to various groups and develop subordinates.

"I don't care about that. Just go and get the ten thousand back." The husband repeated, with a hint of anger in his tone.

"It's about to double again. Can I withdraw it after it doubles?" Lin Hong asked tentatively, "You don't understand blockchain and digital assets. This thing appreciates very quickly."

The husband ignored her questions and snatched the phone away. He could almost conclude that Lin Hong had been brainwashed again. She kept talking about "blockchain" and "digital assets". She must be possessed.

The husband found the person in charge of YouXhui from Lin Hong’s WeChat list and asked for a refund of 10,000 yuan. The person in charge hesitated for a long time before replying that the money could not be refunded as it had all been converted into digital assets. Digital assets will appreciate in value, and people should not be so short-sighted.

"If you don't return it, we will call the police." The husband typed angrily, but the other party had already deleted him as a friend.

Lin Hong panicked and quickly found the "account" that the person in charge had sent her, and asked her son who was studying in another city to log in and check it. The screenshot sent back by her son did show tens of thousands of P coins, but it also clearly showed that it was equivalent to RMB 700.

Lin Hong thought about the sentence she had just sent in the morning, "Join and you will win, risk is zero," and suddenly her legs went weak.

03

“The blockchain trend must be witnessed with real money”

"Brother, are you well off recently? I want to borrow some money."

"How much?"

"Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, how much can you borrow?"

"…I'll see how much I have on hand and write you back later."

After hanging up the phone, I lit a cigarette, looked out the window at the darkening sky and fell into deep thought.

Last Spring Festival, more than 20 old classmates of ours who returned to our hometown organized a party, and Wang Zhiqiang was the star of the show at the dinner table.

His grades were not very good back then, and he couldn't keep several jobs after graduation, but he later started working as a salesperson, selling medical equipment. As he sold more and more, he became famous and became a boss, making a lot of money.

Wang Zhiqiang was half an hour late for the party that day. When he arrived, two or three people came in from the door of the private room. Wang Zhiqiang introduced them enthusiastically. This one was his "partner" and that one was his "assistant". The twenty or so classmates in the room exchanged glances quickly - were they here to party or to show off? Wang Zhiqiang was short, slightly bald, and his bulging belly was barely covered by a wrinkled shirt. If he wasn't the boss, outsiders would have thought he was a driver.

After drinking some wine at the dinner table, Wang Zhiqiang's face soon turned red, his voice gradually became louder, and he began to talk to us about "blockchain" and "digital currency" with his hands and feet. He kept tapping the table with his index finger, "Bitcoin has been born since 2009, from 5 cents to now, in 9 years... Why is it so valuable? Do you know the consensus mechanism? The whole world thinks it is worth it, so it is worth it. This is the belief and soul of blockchain..."

Wang Zhiqiang was so thirsty after all these speeches. Most of the students at the table worked in traditional industries, such as civil servants, teachers, and retailers. They were confused by the new terms he used. They looked at each other with suspicion and vigilance. Some people who worked in the media had heard about it, but they were also skeptical. "It's rising so fast? How big a risk is this?"

Wang Zhiqiang smiled and took a sip of tea. "As for investment, the greater the risk, the greater the return. If you are afraid of risks, you can invest in projects. The earlier you invest, the more profit you will get. If it is something that everyone knows, arbitrage would have been completed long ago, and you would have nothing to do with it. The decentralization of blockchain can change the future of human life... I guess you don't understand what I am saying, Xiao Liu, send our white paper to our old classmates."

The assistant sitting next to him quickly sent a PDF document to the class group. "Our project is to combine medical equipment with blockchain technology and put medical equipment on the chain, so that the equipment can be anti-counterfeited and traced..." Wang Zhiqiang's partner cleared his throat and began to talk, "Everyone study our white paper. People who understand it should be able to judge that our project is valuable, and the expected future increase is several times or even dozens of times the rate of return."

Wang Zhiqiang, who was standing by, dusted off his cigarette ashes and added, "You have to spend real money to witness this wave of blockchain, or you will regret it later."

"Wang Zhiqiang, do you want us to invest?"

"To put it bluntly, I just want to take our old classmates to fly together, make money together, and make money together. I can't just eat meat while others drink soup, what do you think?" Wang Zhiqiang said excitedly, spitting everywhere. "Who doesn't want to get rich? If you win, you can get a villa by the sea, young models in the club, as many as you want."

Having said that, we also knew what to do and stood up to toast him. While we said thank you to Mr. Wang, we felt more and more complicated about Wang Zhiqiang in our hearts - Wang Zhiqiang was an ambitious speculator, and we, a group of law-abiding people, would never dare to follow him, not to mention that we still haven't figured out what blockchain is.

At the party that day, Wang Zhiqiang left early because of something. His departure caused the whole party to become chaotic.

"I think Wang Zhiqiang has a brain problem. He doesn't want to do business properly but is trying to start a chain."

"It's a pity that he is a salesman. He didn't explain clearly what his project is about after all this talk. In my opinion, he himself doesn't understand blockchain and just wants to make a quick buck."

"Okay, let's just watch it for fun. This is a speculative thing, and the timid ones really don't dare to do it."

After complaining, everyone just treated it as a topic of conversation after dinner and no one really took it seriously.

But I didn’t expect Wang Zhiqiang to call me to borrow money so soon.

The man on the phone was completely different from the high-spirited guy he was half a year ago. When asked what happened, he just stammered and said that there was a problem with the project funding.

After graduation, I joined a magazine in the city and made a living by writing articles. The royalties were barely enough to pay off my mortgage. The "hundreds of thousands" and "millions" that Wang Zhiqiang mentioned were really a compliment to me.

The only speculative behavior in my life was when my unit organized a trip to Yunnan a few years ago. I passed by a jade raw material stall and couldn't resist the temptation of the tour guide, so I spent 12,000 yuan to buy a piece of broken material. Later I found out that good jade material cannot be bought for 12,000 yuan.

Since then, I dare not take this risk again. I only buy financial products that guarantee principal and interest, and I have never even touched stocks.

Later, a knowledgeable friend told me that the jade raw material market at that time looked hot, but in fact it was already at the end of its strength, the sales of finished products were sluggish, and there were fewer and fewer new investors. The later you enter, the more dangerous it is. I vaguely felt that Wang Zhiqiang seemed to have encountered the same situation.

After a tug-of-war with myself, I decided that I should not lend the money to Wang Zhiqiang. As for whether blockchain is a hot topic, I don’t care. It may be a hot topic for Wang Zhiqiang, but it is definitely not for me. My hot topic is next month’s salary, bonus and royalties.

A cigarette burned out and the sky became completely dark.

"Hey, Mr. Wang, I don't have much money on hand, so I'm afraid I can't lend it to you." I organized my words secretly and decided to tell him the truth. "But I advise you to stay away from these coins and chains. We can't afford them."

Wang Zhiqiang obviously did not expect this kind of feedback. Even through the phone, one could sense that his face suddenly darkened. "You don't understand - you don't understand - this is a vent. If you don't seize the opportunity, you'll slip away..."

I sighed and hung up the phone.

Now I can conclude that he is really possessed.

04

"Written at the end" These are three true stories, peeking into the cryptocurrency world from the perspective of small people. An emerging industry will always attract many blind speculators. Now that supervision is becoming more and more stringent, under the policy, the blockchain market may shed its extravagant appearance and gradually move towards a stable path. Looking forward to the next 365 days.