2025-12-24 06:24:05

Over the past few years in the crypto world, you've surely experienced a growing sense of exhaustion.

Recently, I came across an article with a particularly heart-wrenching title—"I Wasted 8 Years of My Life in the Crypto Industry." This is not just one person's feeling, but a shared fatigue among industry participants.

We've stayed up for airdrops, watched charts for hot coins, chased narratives with buy and sell actions, researched new protocols overnight, and contributed countless unpaid efforts to community governance. From the initial romantic visions, to on-chain autonomous experiments, to the current frenzy of meme coins, perpetual contracts, and gambling-like tracks, it's hard not to ask ourselves—are we truly driving a technological revolution, or just working in a bottomless casino?

These doubts are not due to a lack of dedication among practitioners, but stem from the inherent contradictions within the crypto industry itself. The lifecycle of narratives often shorter than product cycles; hype outweighs fundamentals; speculation outpaces development. Heroism and collective skepticism coexist, and many projects ultimately don't fail outright but quietly disappear.

Honestly, these feelings and questions are visible everywhere in this industry.

"What are we really persisting for?" Perhaps this question carries more weight than "Will Bitcoin go up again?"

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APY追逐者

· 17h ago

8 years of wasted effort? I paid tuition fees. Now it's just about whether I can break even. How many all-nighters did I endure only to see the project team run away? It's really time to wake up. The analogy of working at a casino is perfect... hits hard. This industry is like this—either drop out or become numb. Those still坚持ing now are truly..."persistent." I also want to know what I'm doing here. Everyone is tired, but no one is willing to say it first. More despairing than the ups and downs is the confusion itself. Airdrops, watching the market, unpaid labor... who hasn't been caught in these tricks? The most heartbreaking thing is when a project disappears quietly, with no explanation. Persistence? I think it's more about gambling instincts supporting it.

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SignatureAnxiety

· 17h ago

Honestly, when I read this article, I was thinking, isn't this a microcosm of each of us? 8 years of wasted time? I think a more accurate way to put it is 8 years of trial and error and self-deception. Staying up late researching protocols, chasing hot coins, doing unpaid community work... in the end, all I got was a bunch of zero coins in my account and doubts about myself. The most painful part isn't making no money, but still not understanding what I'm busy with. Really, compared to "Will Bitcoin still rise?" and "What are we really doing," these are the most depressing questions. Sometimes I feel like the entire industry is like a collective psychological game — we all pretend to believe in technological revolution, but in reality, we've long become participants in a casino. --- Wake up, everyone, stop working for bottomless projects. --- Unpaid community governance? Ha, that's pretty romantic. We're just cheap labor, don't add drama to yourself. --- This article seems to describe my past 6 years, it hurts so much. --- The narrative lifecycle is shorter than the product cycle, this statement is spot on. Essentially, it's just a cycle of harvesting the little guys.

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rugdoc.eth

· 17h ago

Wake up, don’t stay up late, the meme coin cycle is over --- I couldn’t help but laugh at the time when I was doing community governance for free. Who’s still this naive now? --- 8 years of wasted time? I think it’s just paying tuition. The crypto world’s university must be completed. --- The narrative cycle being shorter than the product cycle really hits home. --- Honestly, I feel a bit awkward still experimenting on the chain... --- Wait, are we really doing technology? I’m starting to doubt it. --- The analogy of working at a casino is spot on, so true. --- I’ve seen too many projects disappear silently. --- How should I put it, I still love this industry, but loving it is a bit exhausting. --- I don’t care whether Bitcoin goes up or down, but the key is this question stumped me.

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Whale_Whisperer

· 18h ago

8 years of waste? I feel like it's more than 8 years. Sometimes I think the entire crypto circle is just a big gamble Really, from technical idealism to now perpetual contract casinos, this shift is so fast... it’s almost suffocating That unpaid work for the community really hit me. The protocols I stayed up researching suddenly rug pulled Good question, what are we really坚持ing for? Or is there really nothing worth坚持ing for at all? The feeling of being hijacked by narratives is too strong, the skin of technological revolution covering the soul of a casino Every time I say this time is different, but it’s still the same... meme coins go crazy for a few months and then quietly fade away Actually, seeing through these things is somewhat relieving. Knowing what I’m doing is better than being confused

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