Does entering the crypto space early guarantee wealth?

Many friends have a misunderstanding — they think they haven't made money because they entered the space too late.

There's some truth to this, but it's not the whole story.

Those early OGs are wealthy because they're the ones you see, the ones who survived. The vast majority are either coin hodlers with conviction, or they started companies or projects with continuous cash flow.

Most early entrants died in various pitfalls — victims of shitcoins, smart contract exploits, ICO scams, and countless other traps.

If entering early guaranteed profits, this space would have no poor people by now.

The US stock market had a bull run for over a decade. Did everyone trading US stocks become an A9, A10, or A11 investor? Why is there only one Buffett?

Most people get too close to trading and overthink things with overconfidence.

I also fantasized about what would happen if I'd bought a bunch of Bitcoin or ETH early and held until now.

Later I realized this is far harder than imagined — even though early Bitcoin was cheap, volatility was massive.

When Jiao Xiaolai bought in, Bitcoin went from $2 to $20 in a year, then crashed back to $2. Who wouldn't have gotten scared off by that today?

Take "March 12" for example: Bitcoin dropped from $10,000 to $3,800. Many cleared their positions before the crash thinking they were geniuses, but what happened after? Very few early believers who've held since then are around.

Timing is hard. Ordinary people can barely do it. Even Buffett says he doesn't time the market, just looks at valuation — are you smarter than Buffett?

In crypto, the Bitcoin standard mentality is like value investing in stocks. A single Bitcoin is expensive now; it's hard to get rich quick from it, but it can help you move forward steadily.

Why I say this is the best era: Crypto never lacks opportunities —

Inscriptions in late 2023, secondary markets in early 2024, TRUMP in 2025... there are several chances each year to seize big opportunities and accumulate assets quickly.

Seize them, and you can convert them into Bitcoin;

Skip them, and you can still live a comfortable life.

After I clearly recognized I'm not that smart, my strategy became simple:

One portion I hodl long-term, buy only never sell, using a hardware wallet to avoid emotional trading;

Another portion I trade waves — sell some when it rises, buy some when it falls, without comparing to others.

Life isn't a sprint; it's your own marathon.

If you can't get rich overnight, then getting rich slowly works too.