The Thinking Tags in the Cryptocurrency Circle

The crypto world might be the place that loves to label itself the most worldwide.

“Diamond Hands” or “Paper Hands,” “Builder” or “Trader,” “Value Investing” or “Speculation”… We’re always categorizing ourselves and others.

Now, the “Android Mindset” and “Apple Mindset” meme has spread into the crypto circle, and surprisingly, it fits quite well.

What is the “Android Mindset” in the crypto world?

The core is one word: Fight.

Believe that small funds must take on high risks to turn around. BTC needs to rise from 90,000 to 180,000 to double, but a meme coin can multiply 10 times in a day. Their pursuit isn’t steady growth but social mobility.

The logic chain of this mindset is very clear: ordinary people lack resource advantages → must find asymmetric opportunities → new projects and concepts are most likely to generate Alpha → so they keep trying, keep rotating.

Then, what is the “Apple Mindset” in the crypto world?

The core is also one word: HODL.

Believe that time is more important than choice. It’s not that they don’t want quick profits, but they think the expected return chasing hot topics is negative. Instead of losing 90 out of 100 projects and making 10, it’s better to pick the most certain long-term hold.

The logic of this mindset is equally clear: the market is unpredictable in the short term → most people can’t beat the market → BTC is the only asset proven over time → holding on is victory.

The most typical example is those “Laser Eyes” profile pictures, with perhaps just one word in their bio: Bitcoin.

Interestingly, both sides may not understand each other, or even doubt each other.

Android Mindset looks at Apple Mindset and thinks these people are too conservative. Crypto is inherently high risk and high reward; if you want stability, why not buy Moutai?

Apple Mindset looks at Android Mindset and sees these people dancing on the edge of a knife. Today they earn 10 times, tomorrow they go to zero, and in the end, the overall outcome is probably a loss.

Both have their own beliefs. One believes in WAGMI, the other in HODL.

But these are not necessarily right or wrong; they are about circumstances.

Can a young person who invests 5,000 yuan have the same optimal strategy as an old investor with 5 million yuan?

Even if the former loses everything, it’s just two months’ salary; but if they bet right, it could change their life. The latter, if they lose once, might be ruined forever.

So, people with the “Android Mindset” are not wrong either—how can they turn around without betting? The “Apple Mindset” people also have their stance: preserve capital to survive long-term.

It’s like someone asking you, buy an iPhone or an Android?

The answer is always: it depends on what you want.

The Wonderful Reflection of the “Apple Mindset” On the surface, the crypto world and the “Apple Mindset” should be completely disconnected.

After all, the birth of Crypto was to break monopolies, embrace openness, and promote innovation. Apple, on the other hand, represents a closed ecosystem, centralized control, and incremental updates. Logically, the crypto world should naturally reject the “Apple Mindset.”

But reality is full of irony. The most successful coins are precisely the “Apple” ones.

BTC has been around for over a decade, with cautious updates to its codebase that are almost infuriating. Isn’t this like iPhone’s “toothpaste squeeze” innovation? Every year, someone says the iPhone is falling behind, yet every year, it sells the best.

The community that most believes in BTC is also the most “Apple-like.”

The arrogance of Bitcoin bulls is no less than that of any Apple fan. They have a famous saying:

“Shitcoin is shitcoin,” regardless of your innovation ecosystem, in their eyes, it’s all trash, and they also have Satoshi’s legendary quote at the bottom of the box:

“If you don’t believe me, sorry I don’t have time to convince you.”

This arrogant attitude is very similar to the superiority complex of some Apple users who think “Android just doesn’t cut it.”

Even more interesting is the current market choice. Institutions, listed companies, and national reserves are starting to hoard Bitcoin. You might say they are slow to realize, but it’s hard to say they are all fools investing real money into an unprofitable asset.

There’s a deeper logic here: in a market full of uncertainty, “boredom” might be the biggest advantage.

BTC doesn’t need a roadmap, whitepaper updates, a CEO to promote it, or even marketing. It’s just there, year after year, boring but reliable.

But for most crypto players, this mindset is still hard to practice, and the biggest paradox is this: while shouting about decentralization and innovation, the market invests the most money in the most “conservative” project—BTC.

“Android Mindset,” Becoming Instinctive This paradox is worth pondering. Why do the most open and innovative crypto projects end up with the most money flowing into the most closed and conservative strategies?

Let’s look at the “innovation anxiety” in the crypto world.

Every bull market has a new story. 2017 was ICOs, 2020 was DeFi, 2021 was NFTs and GameFi, 2024 is inscriptions and AI. Each story, at its start, claims to “change the world.”

Where does this anxiety come from? From missing out.

Watching others get rich with SHIB, change their fate with BAYC, or make a fortune from early DeFi mining—who wouldn’t be anxious? So everyone desperately chases the next hot trend, afraid of missing out again.

Social media amplifies this anxiety. Open Twitter, and it’s full of “Congratulations to ×× for hitting a thousand times,” “×× track has 10 Alphas.” Not chasing hot topics feels like committing a crime or not participating properly in the industry.

But the data is cruel.

How many ICO projects from 2017 are still alive today?

The more innovation, the more zeroes. This has almost become a law in the crypto world. The key is: before the wave recedes, how much fruit do you still have?

Diving into the wave is easy; getting out intact is hard.

Let’s be honest: if there are “Android Mindset” players at the extreme end, their real state must be very tiring.

Open their Twitter, and you might see them following: new L2 launches, airdrops on certain chains, new DeFi pools, inscription floor prices, AI concept coins…

During the meme boom, when others are sleeping at 3 a.m., they might be scanning chains and looking for angles; on weekends, when others are resting, they’re researching new narratives.

And so-called “scientists” are just ordinary people, exhausted but happy, trying to find profitable informational gaps.

Ask around among “Android Mindset” players—how many have really made money?

Most likely, their real situation is: made 10x on project A, lost everything on project B; made 1 million in the bull market, lost it all in the bear; caught an Alpha today, stepped into three pits tomorrow.

At the end of the year, it’s probably better to just hold BTC honestly.

Why is this? Because “Android Mindset” has a fatal flaw: information overload. When you try to catch every opportunity, you end up catching nothing.

When your attention is spread across 100 projects, your understanding of each is superficial. You think you’re researching, but you’re just browsing. You think you’re gaining an informational edge, but you’re only seeing what others want you to see.

Deeper still, in this circle, for ordinary people, diligence is the only cure for anxiety.

Most crypto players deep down know they don’t have real advantages. No insider info, no technical edge, no big funds—only “try harder.” But in a PVP market, effort might be the least valuable thing.

Of course, there are successful “Android Mindset” players too.

Truly profitable Android players often focus on a niche, have their own info sources, know when to stop… and more importantly, treat this as their full-time job.

In contrast, “Apple Mindset” players are in a completely different state.

They might not check prices for a month, their life isn’t centered around crypto. They have their own jobs, careers, lives. Crypto is just part of their asset allocation.

No right or wrong, only choices. If you have time, energy, and talent, “Android Mindset” might really suit you.

The Wisdom of Choice Back to the picture at the beginning of the article.

The iPhone, priced in BTC, dropped from 162 units to 0.01 units over 13 years—a 99.99% decline.

This number is shocking, but perhaps it’s better to consider a more practical question:

If you were the person in 2011 debating whether to buy an iPhone 4S or 162 BTC, what would you think now?

In 2011, the iPhone was a real revolutionary product, and BTC was just an experiment in the geek circle. Choosing the iPhone was rational; choosing BTC was crazy.

But 14 years later, looking back, the rational choice gave you a piece of electronic waste long outdated, while the crazy choice gave you assets worth $1.5 million (if you held without selling).

What does this tell us?

Maybe nothing at all. Success is just survivor bias; everyone’s choice at the time was the most suitable for their personality and, in hindsight, the most reasonable.

There’s no right or wrong, really, no right or wrong.

The market rewards truly excellent “Android Mindset” players—those who find Alpha; it also rewards steadfast “Apple Mindset” players—those who hold Beta.

What punishes the market are those who waver. So, the real question is never about which mindset to choose, but whether you truly understand yourself.

Whether you buy an iPhone or BTC, whether you are “Android Mindset” or “Apple Mindset,” the most important thing is:

This is your own choice, not the answer others tell you.

After all, in the crypto world, the highest realm of “Think Different” might just be “Think for Yourself.”