Tadi malam saya sedang berbaring sambil scroll ponsel, tiba-tiba muncul sebuah berita, lagi-lagi seorang tokoh besar di dunia kripto masuk penjara.
Saya tertegun beberapa detik, lalu diam-diam meletakkan ponsel di samping bantal, dan sebuah kalimat muncul di benak saya:
Saudaraku, jika tubuhmu masih di dalam negeri, jangan sekali-kali berpikir bahwa hanya karena ada layar di antara kita, kamu aman.
Beberapa hari yang lalu, seorang teman bertanya kepada saya, mengatakan ada proyek baru, pendirinya anonim, timnya semua di luar negeri, apakah bisa terlibat?
Saya tidak langsung menjawabnya, saya hanya menceritakan sebuah cerita kepadanya.
Saya mengenal seorang pemuda, dua tahun lalu dia meluncurkan proyek 'doge' miliknya di bursa sekunder. Awalnya berjalan lancar, naik sepuluh kali lipat, penuh percaya diri. Dia di grup bilang kepada kami bahwa setelah gelombang ini selesai, dia akan membeli rumah di Shenzhen Bay secara tunai.
And the result?
When the project was fundraising, he used his verified WeChat to collect a few U. When promoting, he posted a few ads on his main Weibo account. Just a few 'clues', six months later Uncle JC came knocking at his door.
Don't say your project is on the BSC chain and the servers are overseas. As long as you're onshore, used domestic social media, or touched domestic RMB, that line is always there.
Looking at the projects on the market now, just a glance, eight out of ten founders have cartoon avatars, with bios saying 'anonymous team', 'deeply rooted overseas'. Why?
Because everyone understands, those who entered in the past two years can't even count on ten fingers. Whether trading contracts, issuing air coins, or even just making a chain game, as long as it involves 'non-absorption' or 'fraud', it's hard to get out once you're in.
Some might argue: but I've seen many big players doing just fine in the country?
True, but you have to see what they're doing.
The truly long-lasting 'old-timers' are in two states now:
Totally out of the game, money's converted to USD, bought a house overseas, either sipping coffee in Singapore or skiing in Japan.
Still in the game, only doing one thing: holding spot, playing dead, absolutely not touching project operations. Just talking market trends on Twitter, no consensus, no fundraising, no future plans.
So, if you're still in the country and want to last longer in this space, remember this:
You can embrace the dream of decentralization, but don't ignore the reality of centralization.
Don't think that changing your ID and using a VPN allows you to test the legal waters. All on-chain records, chat logs, and bank statements are crystal clear when needed.
I'm not trying to scare you, but in the past two years, I've seen too many 'go in for tea' and then 'go in for the sewing machine'.
If you're playing contracts, even if you get liquidated, you can start over. But once you’re in, you really lose everything.
Let's encourage each other, mates. The premise of making money in this field is not to lose yourself completely.