The bull market is not the fastest time for retail investors to make money, but rather the time when it returns to zero the quickest.
The reason can be summed up in one sentence: Money made by luck will ultimately be lost through skill.
The bull market magnifies luck into 'talent', packaging temporary victories as 'ability', and in the end, you will use larger positions, higher leverage, and inferior coins to give back everything you earned earlier.
Regardless of whether the bull market is still ongoing, I hope my brothers stay clear-headed at all times.
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First pitfall: Frequently changing positions. Seeing others rise, you cut losses and chase gains, only to buy at the emotional peak and sell at the panic bottom. The bull market rotates extremely quickly; what you chase may just be the peak.
Survival rule: First, layer your positions—core positions should only consist of a few assets you truly understand, that have sufficient liquidity, and can withstand drawdowns; use offensive positions to chase hotspots, but they must be small enough to afford losses.
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Second pitfall: Getting high on leverage. Earning 20% on spot feels slow, so you think you’re a chosen trader with 10x leverage. The reality is that spikes in the bull market are the norm; a single 15%-20% flash crash can wipe out your principal.
Survival rule: Stay away from high leverage as much as possible; don't treat liquidation as your stop-loss line; if you must use it, only use a tiny position you’re willing to lose, and strictly enforce stop-loss, position reduction, and take profit.
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Third pitfall: Treating unrealized gains as real money. The fluctuating numbers in your account bring dopamine, and you become increasingly greedy until the drawdown wipes out all your profits.
Survival rule: Mechanical profit-taking. For example: take out your principal when it doubles; then sell a portion every 20% increase. Better to sell too early 10 times than to go to zero once.
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Fourth pitfall: Neglecting security. Clicking random links, signing random authorizations, and interacting with the main wallet everywhere, ultimately giving all profits to hackers.
Survival rule: Keep large amounts in cold wallets; use isolated wallets for interactions; regularly clean up authorizations.
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More deadly is: the bull market will 'reward mistakes'. You casually buy into doubles and casually leverage without blowing up, mistaking luck for skill, leading you to repeat the same mistake with larger positions until a single needle brings you back to reality.
So prioritize your capital: never let any single asset get heavy enough to lose sleep over; always keep some bullets in the chamber; don’t go all-in and force yourself into a gambling mindset.
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Therefore, at all times, maintain calm and follow these four rules: Change positions less / Use less leverage / Take profits in batches / Isolate wallets
The goal is not to earn the most, but to survive until the end.
I took a look at the project map of the EASY Residency Season 2 announced by Binance YZi Labs, and I found that:
YZi Labs' investments extend beyond blockchain; they have also invested in many emerging technology projects.
The summary images can provide an overview of the 17 projects announced this time.
In addition, it’s worth paying more attention to Binance's investment criteria.
Each project in the report has a section titled 'Why YZi Labs invest,' which can be summarized as follows:
➤ Is the team the right one? The resume is solid, and they have truly fought in the arena (Founder–Market Fit)
➤ Does the product have real signals? Is there a PMF signal? Are users willing to use it and will they come back (retention/self-consistent data)?
➤ Is there a moat in terms of technology or resources? Proprietary data, R&D pipeline, IP, engineering moat, network effects (not afraid of UI being copied)
➤ Is the market size large enough and is the demand strong? The TAM needs to be large enough to capture a long-term big market, and the demand needs to be strong (essential needs like cost/efficiency/compliance/security)
➤ Can it be scaled for distribution and aligned with ecological strategy? Can it be scaled out, and can it fill in the ecological puzzle? Collaboration with BNB Chain adds a lot of points.
Revisiting Celo: The Reality of Low-Cost Payments and Enhanced Privacy
In the past two years, there has been too much narrative around L2, discussing either TPS or ecosystems, but the key point is one: Whether this chain has people using it every day.
Celo, this OG chain, does not play by the rules, focusing on the hard demands of stablecoin transfers, cross-border remittances, and mobile payments.
Moreover, Celo is very likely to be the next ZCash opportunity. It’s not that it aims to be a privacy coin, but it is also betting on: Long-term demand for low-cost transactions and enhanced privacy.
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What is Celo really doing?
Think of Celo as a global payment rail on Ethereum: ▰ sub-cent transaction fees, about 1 second finality
Why do some projects peak upon launch and return to zero in a few months? Why do some coins become more expensive the more they are used, while others become cheaper the more they are mined?
The problem is often not in technology, but in: token economics. How is this coin issued? To whom? When can it be sold? Is there any real use?
If you don't understand token economics, you will always be left holding the bag for others. Understand the four core dimensions below, and you can easily spot 90% of junk coins.
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1. Token Distribution This is about the question of 'how to slice the cake.' It determines who holds the tokens and the degree of power concentration.
The market has collapsed again, mainly due to Japan's interest rate hike expectations.
Why does Japan's interest rate hike lead to a collapse in global risk asset markets?
Core reason: The whole world is using the "super low-interest yen" as cheap loans to buy high-risk assets; After the interest rate hike, this cheap funding chain is broken, and everyone is forced to sell assets to repay.
To put it simply:
1. The yen used to be like a 0% interest loan
Japan has long maintained low interest rates, borrowing yen costs almost nothing.
Many institutions do one thing: Borrow yen → Exchange for USD → Buy more profitable things (U.S. tech stocks, Bitcoin, high-yield bonds, etc.).
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2. After the interest rate hike, the triple blow arrives
Interest becomes expensive: loans that were almost free now need to start paying interest, the larger the scale, the more painful it becomes.
The yen becomes stronger, which is even more deadly: interest rate hikes often lead to yen appreciation. If you owe yen, when the yen rises, it’s equivalent to your debt automatically increasing.
Forced to sell to repay debts: To cover margin calls and to repay the more expensive yen debts, institutions can only hurriedly sell off their assets to exchange for yen. When many people sell, the price goes down together.
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3. Why do the Nasdaq and cryptocurrencies get hit first?
Because these assets typically have: higher leverage, greater volatility, and are easier to sell (strong liquidity).
When institutions need to put out fires, they will sell "the easiest to sell, and the ones that have risen the most" first.
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Summary:
Japan's interest rate hike is not just Japan's issue; it triggers a global "repayment of yen" action: Everyone is liquidating positions, selling assets, and exchanging for yen together → Risk assets are the first to be hit.
Coinbase Ventures announced their list of preferred investment sectors for 2026. In my opinion, this is actually a prediction of future industry hotspots by top VCs.
For us retail investors, the smartest approach is: to see what top institutions are backing and then follow suit. This report likely holds the key to next year's wealth.
I have distilled the core content, and I hope everyone can grasp early trends after reading it.
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Section One: RWA Perpetual: The Perpetualization of Everything
The enthusiasm for RWA remains high, but Coinbase's viewpoint is interesting: The real breakthrough will not come from "asset on-chain," but from RWA perpetual contracts.
▰ No need to custody real assets ▰ Can market anything ▰ Meets traders' demand for macro exposure
1. Innovative market-making mechanisms ▰ Solve the issue of AMM LP being eaten by toxic flow ▰ Solana's Prop-AMM is the direction they have highlighted as most interesting
2. Specialized trading terminals for prediction markets Prediction markets are one of the few truly consumer-grade explosive crypto applications, but liquidity is severely fragmented.
The future Coinbase envisions is: A unified terminal aggregating all prediction markets.
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Section Three: Next-Generation DeFi
1. Composability of Perpetuals Perpetual exchanges will combine with lending and yield structures to enhance capital efficiency.
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2. Unsecured credit lending
▰ On-chain identity + off-chain data ▰ Benchmarking against the $1.3T revolving credit market in the USA
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3. On-chain privacy Privacy is an essential infrastructure for Web3 to go mainstream.
▰ A necessity for institutions & advanced users ▰ ZKP, FHE, MPC, TEE flourishing in all directions
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Section Four: AI × Crypto
1. Data networks for robot training
▰ Physical interaction data is extremely scarce ▰ DePIN models may become the data engine for the robotics industry
2. Proof of Humanity As AI content proliferates, human authenticity will become an internet infrastructure.
3. AI-assisted on-chain development Smart contract development will usher in the "Copilot moment."
▰ Auto-generation, auto-auditing, auto-monitoring ▰ Non-technical founders can also launch businesses in hours
17 million USD financing Concrete interactive tasks
Concrete is a DeFi protocol providing yield optimization and derivatives for on-chain assets, with total financing of 17 million USD, led by Polychain and participated by Binance YZi Labs and others.
The task system has just gone live, currently all tasks are social tasks, simple, and cost-free.
Task entry: points.concrete.xyz/home First link your wallet after entering
▰ Bind your social account at Linked Accounts Please note, the Twitter permissions required are a bit extensive
▰ You can fill in the code at Leaderboard: f6cfe169 ▰ At Home, you can see all tasks and complete them as required
Improving one's cognitive level is more important than anything else.
DeFi seems to have a high barrier to entry; the reason it is hard to understand is that there are too many terms and fragmented concepts, some of which have been broken down into a bunch of abbreviations and jargon.
I have organized a glossary of commonly used terms in DeFi according to four use cases.
In the future, whether looking at projects, data, or interactions, seeing these terms will allow for quick identification.
Opinion is the leading prediction market on the BNB chain, led by Binance YZiLabs. As a product benchmarked against Polymarket, Binance certainly places great importance on it.
Currently, Opinion does not require an entry code; anyone can participate. The current task is to earn points. A guide to interacting with Opinion has been compiled, including core mechanisms and scoring strategies.
Basic preparation work Entry: http://app.opinion.trade/macro
Select Referral from the top menu bar and bind the invitation code first, which can reduce the handling fee by 5%. Invitation code: QjH63D After the trading volume reaches $1000, you can generate your own code.
900 million USD financing Self points interaction tutorial
Self is an identity verification privacy project, and the points system has just launched, offering early opportunities. There are tasks with zero cost and low cost, so participate in the airdrop.
You need to install the APP and complete identity verification; options are available for mainland users, and a passport can be used. Entry: referral.self.xyz/referral/0x7fA7BBA76eBf0BA591A4F599597ea4aF72C02840
Through the Self Points at the bottom of the APP, enter the points system
➤ 3 essential basic points tasks
Open notifications / Backup account / Refer friends These are all simple, so I won’t elaborate further
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➤ Protocol interaction for identity verification According to Self's official points instructions, each verification can earn points, so it is necessary to interact with the partnered protocols to earn points.
I have summarized a few:
1️⃣ Celo domain Interact as per the tutorial in the image ▰ Enter the domain - Scan for verification - Claim the domain
Entry: names.celo.org
Users who pass verification can claim the domain for free A very small amount of $CELO from the Celo network is needed as gas
Supplement: Completing just the scan verification step should suffice to earn Self points. I happened to have gas on the Celo network, so I claimed the domain; brothers can test it out
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2️⃣ AAVE Detailed interaction process can be found in the official video tutorial, which is very detailed
Entry: app.aave.com/markets Video tutorial: https://x.com/SelfProtocol/status/1973402754937921692
Supplement: Completing up to the scan verification is enough; subsequent deposits depend on personal preference
3️⃣ Lemonade Completely zero cost Entry: lemonade.social
After entering, first link your wallet to register an account Then, in the upper right corner of the homepage, there is Get Verified Click to scan for verification
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4️⃣ Velodrome Need to prepare assets from the Optimism network $VELO - around $1 is sufficient $WETH - at least 0.01, actual interaction only consumes about $0.5 of WETH
Interaction entry: velodrome.finance/locks Detailed interaction process can be found in the official video tutorial, which is very detailed Video tutorial: https://x.com/SelfProtocol/status/1981058393059258743
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Points are not updated in real time; they will be automatically updated every Sunday
Self's background is quite good and worth pursuing; I previously wrote a detailed introduction article about Self, which can be reviewed.
Moonbirds confirmed the issuance of tokens, and it will be soon.
Recently, pay attention to the SBT badge event, and be sure to check if you are eligible to receive it as soon as possible, and claim the badge before the deadline.
Currently, there are a total of 6 collaborative SBT badges, summarizing the eligibility requirements.
All badges can be directly claimed by NFT holders of Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities without needing to meet any conditions.
According to the rules, these badges will definitely be one of the airdrop standards for Moonbirds.
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Badge entrance: minting.moonbirds.com/landingpage
1️⃣ Orca Users who have used Orca or held ORCA or xORCA in the past 6 months, snapshot date: November 13
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2️⃣ Pieverse Users who have conducted pieUSD transactions before November 13 and other active users of Pieverse
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3️⃣ Nansen There are a total of 4 levels of badges, which can be claimed based on Nansen score levels, snapshot date: November 11
Star / North / Ice / Green
The lowest level, Green, requires 1000 points. Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities holders can directly claim the North level badge.
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4️⃣ CoinGecko Just add Moonbird to the Watchlist on CoinGecko, no snapshot, you can claim by interacting as required. You can check my previous tutorial on X.
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5️⃣ Solana Saga Holders of the first generation Solana phone, Saga.
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6️⃣ Solana Seeker Holders of the second generation Solana phone, Seeker.
Another identity verification project has completed financing
Self Protocol has just announced that it has raised $9 million in financing, founded by former core members of Celo and recognized by the Ethereum Foundation.
Currently, all you can do is install the APP, complete identity verification, earn points, and then there are 2 tasks to do on Layer3, very simple, just do airdrop tasks.
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Self Protocol completes identity verification through ZK and decentralized storage, covering the entire product system from verification to ecological integration:
➤ Self Pass The core module used to verify human uniqueness and identity legitimacy. Provides underlying support for preventing witch hunts, DeFi access, and blocking bots.
➤ Self Connect Quickly binds wallet accounts through mobile phone numbers, lowering the barriers for traditional users to access Web3.
➤ Self SDK A toolkit provided to developers that can be embedded in wallets, applications, or DeFi protocols, helping these platforms quickly enable privacy-based identity features.
Currently, Self supports documents from over 174 countries and biometric passports, and has achieved integration on Celo, connecting with ecological applications such as Aave, Velodrome, etc. Verified users can gain additional benefits.
Self is the first project to link identity verification with DeFi earnings, and this design provides a new approach for the implementation of identity protocols.
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When talking about the privacy identity track, it's important to mention the differences between Self and other similar projects:
Compared to Worldcoin, Self does not require dedicated hardware and does not collect biometric data, resulting in lower compliance risks; Compared to Billions, it emphasizes on-chain verification and multi-chain interoperability; Compared to reputation protocols like Human Passport, Self not only records reputation data but can also provide verifiable identity credentials.
Self's mechanism is more flexible, capable of entering scenarios like RWA and DeFi, and can also be compatible with an open Web3 application ecosystem.
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In summary, the direction of Self Protocol is to become a privacy-friendly intermediary layer, allowing different ecosystems to safely share 'human verification results' rather than user data.
However, the value of the identity protocol can only truly manifest when it is widely integrated.
Currently, Self has secured cooperation resources from several leading institutions and projects, establishing a stable ecological foundation. The next step is to see if it can further expand the multi-chain ecosystem and real-world use cases.
More and more projects are issuing NFTs before TGE For example: 0G / Camp / Anoma / Kite / Billions
By comparing the historical performance and airdrop value of these NFTs, three conclusions can be drawn: - The initial mint price may break even or make a small profit - Secondary market buyers of NFTs are likely to lose money - Finding a suitable price to sell NFTs is more profitable than airdrop earnings
Summary: Always go for free ones, never buy in the secondary market
Choosing to issue NFTs before TGE is essentially a marketing strategy to hype up the excitement with airdrop expectations and generate traffic, creating momentum for TGE, so don't get too carried away.
Previously, Hyperliquid airdropped Hypurr NFTs to early ecosystem users, worth tens of thousands of USDT, and subsequently multiple projects airdropped tokens to NFT holders.
RAMSES will soon have its TGE on Hyperliquid, with 20% of token allocation airdropped to Hypurr NFT holders and 10% to RXP points program users.
From the airdrop, we can see that RAMSES wants to stay close to the Hyperliquid ecosystem, aiming to be the most technically aggressive and fully functional DEX.
The core innovation of Ramses is the x(3,3) model. The traditional ve(3,3) mechanism relies on long-term locking to exchange for voting rights, resulting in many becoming "zombie votes", with the protocol passively inflating and users being passively diluted.
In contrast, x(3,3) goes the opposite way: ▰ No forced long-term locking, rewarding users based on actual participation and contribution ▰ When RAM is converted to xRAM, 50% is burned, creating deflation ▰ The more people exit, the higher the value density for those who remain
In a sense, this is an evolved version of ve(3,3), simplifying the locking logic, enhancing the fairness of incentives, and replacing Rebase with burning, making it the first "deflationary ve(3,3) framework".
Another major highlight of Ramses is its integration of liquidity protection mechanisms and income distribution systems into a closed loop.
At the trading end, Ramses introduces a dynamic fee rate mechanism: When the market is stable, transaction fees are lower; during extreme volatility, the system will raise rates to prevent LPs from being arbitraged or harmed by slippage in extreme market conditions.
It has a built-in self-developed MEV defense system, redistributing profits that would originally be taken by bots to LPs and xRAM holders.
On the income side, Ramses does not allow any value to flow out of the protocol. All transaction fees, MEV earnings, and voting incentives will be redistributed to holders and liquidity providers, with no VC dividends and no black box.
More importantly, it interacts with Hyperliquid, and part of the revenue will automatically repurchase HYPE, achieving a return of value to the entire ecosystem, forming a "trading → revenue → repurchase → ecosystem growth" flywheel.
The design of Ramses is exploring new incentive structures: Allowing LPs, traders, and token holders to achieve dynamic balance within the same system.
Whether this model can work effectively in the long term will depend on market feedback and the actual flow of funds.
But from a mechanical perspective, Ramses offers a new idea for DEXs, not relying on subsidies to drive growth, but accumulating value through self-consistent mechanisms.
The crypto world is still very good at creating hype.
Kaito redefines the new listing process, with projects that break even now called crowdfunding. 80% of Apriori's airdrop tokens are suspected to have been claimed by a wallet cluster. The MMT team is suspected of inflating the price, unlocking KOL rounds and airdrops after a crash. Binance awards the Industry Contribution Award to Wang Duan Niao, who has a large position in OKB.
From Anonymity to Trust: The Different Privacy Philosophies of Humanity, Zcash, and Dash
Humanity has partnered with payment giant Mastercard to integrate its open financial technology into Humanity's Human ID. Traditional financial giants are beginning to recognize the long-term value of the on-chain identity and privacy computing path. Recently, established privacy coins like ZEC and DASH have seen significant gains, and the next sector likely to explode could be the privacy concept.
So today, let's talk about the differences in the privacy direction of the three projects: Zcash, Dash, and Humanity.
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The starting points of Zcash and Dash are relatively traditional, focusing on 'transaction privacy'.
Base has clearly stated that it will issue tokens, and now completing the Guild tasks might be a better entry point.
The reason is simple: There are too many real users on the Base chain, and relying solely on on-chain interactions to earn airdrops may not surpass these deeply engaged real users. But I researched the official Guild tasks of Base, which are more focused on community contributions rather than just simple on-chain interactions.
Most Guild tasks will unlock a DC role, and these roles are likely to be used as measures of community activity and engagement in the future. Moreover, considering the number of participants, it's still worthwhile to complete them without too much effort.
Entry: era.guild.xyz/base
Most tasks on Guild are very simple, and I won't elaborate on the interaction process; you can directly check the images. Additionally, here are a few tasks that need attention:
➤ Home - The "Based" task in the Base section Requires registering a Base domain, which is very low cost Domains of 10 characters or more only cost 0.0001 ETH/year
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➤ Home - The "Coinbase Onchain Verified" task in the Base section Verify wallet address on Coinbase It's quite difficult for us, the Chinese, to complete
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➤ The first 5 tasks in the Base Programs section These 5 tasks require deploying contracts and can be completed with one click
Contract deployment tool: base-learn-rho.vercel.app/ After entering, link your wallet in the upper right corner; you need a MetaMask wallet First, go to the Faucet to receive tokens for the Base Sepolia testnet Then return to the tool website, click to deploy contracts and Mint Badge in order Once all 15 contracts are deployed, return to Guild for verification
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➤ The last 10 tasks in the Base Programs section These 10 tasks seem to have already ended, and I currently can't find a way to complete them. If anyone knows, please share.
17.5 million USD Perle applies for early qualifications and Galaxy missions
Perle Labs is a decentralized network that incentivizes users to participate in AI data annotation, raising 17.5 million USD in two rounds of financing, with Framework alone investing in the seed round, and the background looks pretty good.
To apply for early testing qualifications, you must do a little bit of work; I see the page looks very professional, and it clearly states anti-witchcraft. If you obtain the qualification and participate in the testing, it feels like there will be some benefits.