DeFi researcher Ignas new article: How do you become a winner in the game of Crypto?

After graduation, you will have a brief period of time to indulge in gambling, and then you may become an elite or live your entire life on a salary

Article: Electronic newspaper "Ignas | DeFi Research" Author Ignas Compiled by Luffy, Foresight News

Cryptocurrency is like a game: trading tokens, making (and losing) money, and gaining followers on X.

Do you feel the same way? But unlike real games, the failure of cryptocurrency games can have serious consequences.

After the Terra crash, according to online records from a South Korean father, a family of three (including a 10-year-old daughter) committed suicide due to financial losses. If I publicly admit that cryptocurrency is a game, it will make me feel guilty. Too many people have been deceived and lost their life savings.

But the mindset of viewing cryptocurrency as a game helps me stay rational and motivated to continue playing. Because the madness we have experienced in this industry is only on one level, its biggest advantage is that it allows ordinary people to achieve their dream of financial freedom.

As DegenSpartan said, "After graduation, you will have a brief period of time to become addicted to gambling and become an elite, or you will have to rely on your salary for the rest of your life

In this article, I would like to share the script of encrypted games, my thinking framework, and tips on how to win encrypted games.

The rules of encrypted games

Once you discover the similarities between cryptocurrency and (especially MMORPG) games, you cannot ignore them.

In times of economic hardship, without new capital inflows, PvP (player to player) mode will prevail. In a bull market, as new funds enter, we switch to PvE (player versus environment) mode.

If you don't like KOLs exerting influence on you, we will think of the phrase 'don't hate players, hate games'.

We even designed token economics to prevent people from selling tokens through various game theories.

Like game upgrades, encrypted games are constantly evolving, with new stories constantly appearing and disappearing.

For example, Pranksy, who used to be a top NFT player, can no longer keep up with the pace of memecoin. The gameplay has changed, but he still insists on playing games that few people are interested in.

Of course, memecoin may be terrible, but a few years ago those who didn't know how to play NFT minting and trading games also said the same thing about NFTs.

You face two choices in the game: either adjust and participate, or wait for new gameplay. There is a third more difficult choice, which is to change the game rules themselves.

For example, Cobie launched the Echo platform, allowing retail investors to participate in venture capital and purchase tokens just like in the ICO era. The story of Memecoin will be gradually overturned by players who decide to change the game rules.

However, Memecoins are also worthy of praise as they have actually successfully changed the rules of the game.

In the past year or so, we have been playing the "points" game. You deposit your assets into the agreement, accumulate points, and pray for generous airdrops. I know you like this game because 'DeFi degen's Bull Market Script' is still my most popular post.

Anyway, it has been proven that many people have been deceived.

Due to higher TVL meaning higher valuation, the FDV of token issuance is outrageously high, benefiting only those VCs, teams, and of course, the wool party who sell airdrops at low valuations.

So, many people turned to memecoin and stood on the opposite side of VC tokens.

Although Pranksy is failing, memecoin protagonists Anselm, Murad, and players who join their tribe are all achieving victory.

In the overall gameplay, we constantly introduce new mini games. You must decide whether to participate or not. If you participate, you must understand the rules because there will always be opponents.

For example, daos.fun allows trading of tokenized funds. However, it is confusing that the trading price of the most popular "fund" ai16z is 52 times the net asset value (NAV). Its trading method is similar to Memecoin.

Players are all trying to understand it. Squiggley compared the fund to a "Grayscale structure" or a Friend.tech trading fee Ponzi scheme. BREAD has a different opinion on the Friend.tech section.

Although it is the same product, players have vastly different understandings. Players need to find their own advantages in the game and profit from them.

This may be very simple. After the team announced plans to whitelist the new 'fund' on the website, I anticipate that DEGENS holding other 'fund tokens' may sell some of their old fund tokens and invest in the new fund instead. In fact, once a new fund is added, the prices of all old fund tokens will drop by about 50%.

Usually, the more confusing the gameplay, the greater the room for you to profit through knowledge asymmetry.

The beauty of cryptocurrency is that there are always some people who join new trends without sufficient investigation, and as long as you do some basic research, you have the opportunity to gain profits.

That being said, I often try new things with a little money first, and then conduct research to understand how they work in practice. Learn while doing, and invest more funds when you know if you can win this game.

The reason why Ton's click to earn games are thriving is that they are the opposite of complex DeFi games: you only need to click the button on the screen to make money.

However, due to the simplicity of the game, the rewards are also very low; Unless you use the system to manually click on hundreds of phones with your fingers.

Encryption technology has become more interesting and complex here: there are multiple levels, roles, and strategies to choose from. If you are willing, you can also choose side quests.

Let me give you an example.

Recently, I have been committed to becoming an active representative of multiple DAOs, especially Lido, Arbitrarum, and Uniswap.

DAO advocates the vision of decentralized organization, but it is now an open secret that most DAOs are far from achieving decentralization. For example, in an Arbitrarum DAO, 14 addresses control over 50% of the voting rights, and the same applies to other DAOs.

Uniswap DAO was unaware that Unichain would introduce UNI staking functionality. This also explains why the cost switch has not been turned on for several months. Insiders know that once UNI staking is implemented, the cost switch is no longer necessary, and DAO is kept in the dark.

DAO recognizes that vote concentration is a major issue. To solve this problem, they launched incentive activities to attract new participants. By becoming an active governance representative of DAO, you can earn $3000 to $10000.

But it's not easy. You must actively follow forum discussions, leave comments, and vote on proposals. The most difficult part is to have token holders entrust their tokens to you, which touches on political games.

After I posted a tweet about coordinating token holders and protocol incentives, an anonymous whale entrusted me with 2.5 million LDOs. To be honest, the reason why I received this commission is only because I often post on X and have a small reputation. Playing popular games on X will bring more opportunities to the cryptocurrency field, which few people know about.

Now, multiple agreements have contacted me, thanking me for voting in support of their proposals or requesting my support for future proposals. Every DAO that does not appear on X feed or even DAO forums has an important process of establishing relationships.

To be honest, I like this game. I firmly believe in the future of decentralization and hope to have an impact.

Player mentality

Did you know that Vitalik Buterin founded Ethereum shortly after Blizzard removed damage from the Warlock's' Life Siphon 'spell?

I cried to sleep, and that day, I realized how terrifying centralized services could be. I quickly decided to quit. "- Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik decided to quit World of Warcraft because he felt he couldn't influence the game rules.

The wonderful thing about cryptocurrency is that each of us can play a role and influence the rules of the game.

Like memory blockchain, encrypted games are also decentralized. Venture capitalists, retail investors, builders, KOLs: We all have our own roles, and some people have more influence than others.

Anselm, Murad, and other meme KOLs drive the meme cycle, but you can decide not to join their game.

It's a bit off topic, but in fact, I'm surprised by the small impact of venture capital in shaping narratives. Cryptocurrency venture capital should advocate for their investments, but their attention to X is minimal.

Do they really not care? Or are they playing another game?

A notable example is Kyle from Multicoin, who is working hard to make money. More venture capitalists should share their views on the industry, advocate for their investment portfolio agreements, and provide in-depth research to clarify current developments.

From my interviews with cryptocurrency venture capitalists, one possible explanation is that they are essentially just retail investors with more money.

When Vitalik was playing World of Warcraft (2007-2010), I was playing another MMORP game - Paradise 2.

In Heaven 2, you can choose a race (human, elf, orc, etc.) and profession (warrior, mystic).

You can upgrade by completing tasks and defeating enemies to gain experience (XP), which unlocks new abilities, better equipment, and access to more challenging content.

I spent two years diligently studying and only slept for a few hours every day. These memories are deeply engraved in my mind and have shaped my views on cryptocurrency trading.

Just like how you obtain XP in a game, in cryptocurrency, you can obtain XP by learning about memory blockchain, DeFi, researching token economics, and more. The more you hone, the better you will do.

But you must pay attention to your HP (health) and MP (mana).

HP and MP are like your health, financial stability, and emotional resilience. Cryptocurrency and gaming both require relentless effort, and you will inevitably feel exhausted. In the field of cryptocurrency, the pressure to stay ahead, constantly monitor the market, and not miss trends creates a high-pressure environment, like in an endless game where you cannot choose to exit. I was exhausted during the last bull market cycle, so now I manage my 'HP' by taking a break every three months.

Isn't it strange for me to view cryptocurrency from this perspective?

In terms of demographics, they also have similarities: encrypted games are dominated by males, while only about 35% of MMORPG players are females.

Koreans' obsession with cryptocurrencies is no less than their obsession with e-sports (such as League of Heroes), and even more than "real sports".

What I want to say is that the mentality of gamers can help you stand out in the cryptocurrency field. Just choose the right game and understand your character in the game.

In Naval's famous short post "How to get rich without luck", he mentioned "games" and "play" 15 times! His suggestion is:

Don't pay attention to those status game players, they gain status by attacking those wealth creation game players. Choose an industry where you can establish long-term partnerships with others. Play iterative games. All returns in life, whether it be wealth, interpersonal relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.

My favorite quote is: Accumulating specific knowledge is like playing a game to you, but to others it's like work.

So, what game are you playing in the field of encryption?

What role do you play in cryptocurrency?

In recent years, cryptocurrencies have become increasingly complex. Before 2020, success was as simple as investing in ICOs and trading on CEX. Since then, there has been an explosive growth of new games in the cryptocurrency field: DeFi, L2, NFT, RWA, Runes, Memecoins, and more.

How do you keep up?

Are you specializing in a particular field or trying to 'catch all'?

In the MMPORG game, you first have to choose your race, and then choose your profession. In Paradise 2, I decided to choose the least popular option because I wanted to stand out and increase my chances of becoming a 'hero'.

I chose a human summoner, and with the accumulation of experience points, I specialized in warlocks, and then became an arcane lord. This is the least popular profession because its specialty is using pets to defeat enemies.

Similarly, you can start by learning the basic skills of cryptocurrency, and then focus on active trading, DeFi profits, memecoin, DAO, and more.

Many people lack the determination to learn specific skills and often jump between various narratives without truly understanding them. They missed the knowledge needed to master the complex mechanisms behind game theory in specific industries. They have become an exit from liquidity.

In fact, jumping from one narrative to another while making money can be a special skill. You realize the money rotation game and try to sell at the top before the money goes to another narrative. But are you good at this?

However, I believe that specialization can bring fruitful results in the current market.

Specialization can be anything, such as:

Crypto Koryo excels in creating Dune dashboards and monetizing them; USD Denominated focuses on the stablecoin market, managing the complexity of the market and achieving maximum returns; Andy is fully committed to the field of modularity; Wale.moca focuses on NFTs; Bold Leonidas releases encrypted comics every day.

But be sure to pay attention to what influential people say, because their motives are often different from what you imagine. The game they are playing is different from the game they are promoting. You don't want to play games with rules that are unfavorable to you. For example, Anselm recruits celebrities and makes money in some way.

Why do you think I posted on X?

My purpose for posting on X is to: 1) stay informed about the market at all times, 2) attract customers to my DeFi creator space Pink Brains, and recently 3) establish my influence and obtain token commission votes.

This strategy allows me to explore multiple topics, even if I am not an expert in any of them.

However, when you start increasing your followers on X, you will choose a field that you are passionate about. As your fan base grows, your topics should also diversify. Posting can increase your influence, so everyone should do the same.

Becoming an influencer is like becoming a hero in Paradise 2. Your character will receive a special aura that not only enhances your attributes, but also allows you to broadcast your information to the entire server. I chose the least popular character because it faces less competition as a hero.

Many of you work in cryptocurrency companies, which forces you to focus on roles such as marketing, market making, or sales. This gives you an advantage over those who treat cryptocurrency as a hobby: leveraging industry relationships, gaining insights, and even influencing game rules.

Specialization is now the true alpha hiding place.

Although holding BTC or ETH can be a sure bet, to achieve a 100x return, you need to dig deeper, just like mining gold in a developed field. As Naval said, find a job that makes you feel like you're having fun.

Whether it's DeFi, on chain wallet tracking, or DAO forum hunting alpha, curiosity leads you. By accumulating specific knowledge, you will discover opportunities that others have missed. This niche market is small enough to escape the radar tracking of big players, but large enough to fill you up, cryptocurrency games may be your gold mine.

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