# The Crypto Dream

In 2010, I was still a computer-obsessed student when I stumbled upon "Bitcoin"—a decentralized digital currency that could be "mined" using computers and traded on exchanges. Back then it was just $0.5 per coin, cheap like a toy from a street vendor. On a whim, I swiped my credit card for 10,000 yuan, exchanged it for $2,000, bought 4,000 bitcoins, transferred them to my wallet, and then forgot about it completely.

Years later, I got married and had kids, scrambling to pay for mortgages and baby formula. I'd long forgotten about bitcoin. Until one day the news exploded: "Bitcoin breaks through $30,000 per coin!" I jolted awake and dug out my old computer. My hands trembled as I entered the password—4,000 bitcoins in my wallet, worth $120 million at current prices! I nearly passed out and immediately transferred the coins to a hardware wallet, contacted a financial advisor, sold half to cash out, and kept the other half to "see how much higher it could fly."

In my dream, I transformed from an ordinary person into a billionaire overnight, walking with a spring in my step. But then the ground vanished beneath me—my girlfriend kicked me awake, roaring: "What are you laughing about? Did you dream about some pretty girl?"

Absurd dream? Absolutely. But think about it—how many crypto people have had similar "get-rich-quick" dreams? In 2010, bitcoin really was dirt cheap, but who would have dared bet their entire fortune on some invisible, untouchable "code"? And to hold it for over a decade, surviving countless crashes and fears of total collapse?

In reality, 99% of people would have cut their losses at $1, regretted not buying more at $100, cursed themselves for being "blind" at $10,000, and gone crazy chasing at $30,000. That "me" in my dream was just a fantasy on a lucky streak—the crypto market is never a "free money" casino, but rather the ultimate battlefield of knowledge, discipline, and luck.