Author: He Yi
I. Subculture: The Middle Ground from Margin to Stage
Expression is a common human trait. A good meme can transcend cultural boundaries and bring a knowing smile. When collective self-identity, emotions, and subjective intentions accumulate, they form unique values, semantics, and manifestations, such as the Zang'ai Family in the QQ era, social shaking in the mobile video era, or the "Three and Big Gods" on the margins of the post-industrial era, thus creating a distinctive subculture. Though I did not grow up in Western culture, I believe every culture has groups that resonate deeply. The subcultures I mentioned are niche and outdated, not good meme expressions, but they appeared in extreme historical forms, vivid and refreshing.
Essentially, no circle is truly superior. Hippies in meditation classes aren't necessarily more refined than story magazine readers, and loving reincarnation or Star Wars doesn't make one more aesthetic than Young and Dangerous fans, because the more niche the aesthetic, the less universal it becomes. Moreover, our generation has spanned agricultural, industrial, and information revolutions, colliding head-on with AI. Chaos is the norm, all authorities are dissolved, and every idol is just ordinary. Meme is a silent thunderbolt, the ultimate expression of crowds, a subculture's assault on mainstream culture. Being photoshopped or tokenized is part of deconstruction, so I don't consider myself worthy of being the center of MEME.
Similarly, chasing trending topics on Twitter or in CZ's or my replies isn't the optimal path to discovering or creating MEME. MEME is within you.
II. Who Can Surpass Doge?
There's only one Doge. In the first Bitcoin bull market of 2013, among countless Bitcoin clone projects, they both mocked Bitcoin and self-mockingly satirized themselves, playful yet passionate. Developers abandoned the project, but the community had its own vitality, independently adding a crucial stroke to crypto culture. Jiang En in the Chinese crypto spread Dogecoin worldwide, pioneering a unique crypto track: "Evangelize the industry, reward first". Back then, BBS comments read: "You seem nice, here's 10,000 dogecoins", leaving recipients bewildered, unable to calculate the value without a calculator. In the crypto industry's development, each community has its "Jiang En". Later, Elon's fondness for Doge brought subculture to the mainstream. Now, Doge is more than just a dog.
MEME is an attention economy, but not merely attention. If it's like Twitter's daily trending, everything is destined to be fleeting. Great MEME isn't from celebrities' witty remarks - that's insufficient. It's worship of those in power (whether politicians or entrepreneurs), and that's not cool enough.
On the other hand, those opposing for the sake of opposition often have extreme right views behind their extreme left facade. Those shouting decentralization are often extremely centralized. Maintain critical thinking, distinguish truth from falsehood.
Imagine someone in your group suggesting buying a day's trending topic. Naturally, the topic will cool down tomorrow. If these attention spans can become products, beliefs, or religions, then perhaps the next Doge might emerge. Who says it's impossible? Everything is possible.
III. Is Long-Termism Outdated?
I don't trade, but hold long-term, following value investment logic. Similarly, in business, I embrace long-termism - crafting a clock or a garden.
Binance is just infrastructure, a stage where project teams and investors might mutually win or lose. This depends on capability, willpower, and judgment. Top entrepreneurs are rare. Long-termism requires DYOR and knowing when to stop. It's not that long-termism is outdated - perhaps you've chosen the wrong long-term subject?
When blockchain winds blow, investors pour money into projects. Entrepreneurs can claim their project is worth $100M, $1B, or even $100B. Everything can be tokenized. Price and value may diverge, but across cycles, they'll converge long-term.
The 2017 market was smaller than now, DeFi summer of 2021 had less capital than now. We see more excellent entrepreneurs entering Web3. Industry scale grows, but confidence shrinks. Many users ask why project valuations can't return to ICO levels. We can't go back, but we're trying - letting users vote tokens up or down, attempting Web3 wallet IDOs, allowing projects low-threshold, low-market-cap launches with real user profits, which is better than buying fake data.
Whether MEME, AI, games, DeFi, social or RWA, may we have beer in our cups after each bubble bursts. Fortunately, history repeats, and successors will realize predecessors' claims about technology changing the world.
I hear many serious projects want to give up. Hey! Friend, new trends always emerge, but the world moves by a few. Instead of chasing trends, become the trend.
IV. Investment Advice Friends Always Ask
All my assets are crypto, and my long-hold style doesn't suit most people, but here's one reference: earn certain money.
1. Earn cyclical money, roughly judge economic cycles and bull/bear markets. Selling in bull markets, buying in bear markets is basic
2. Any asset category follows the head principle
3. Recommend at least 20% crypto. Land was agricultural civilization's asset, minerals were industrial era's hard currency, information era's top assets are top internet company stocks and top crypto with suction effect
4. Some friends say fundamentally strong coins lack volatility. Without leverage or trading high-risk tokens, there's no opportunity. Recommend not exceeding 10% of disposable assets
5. Most principles are already understood, not needing more explanation. Execution is hard, like losing weight.
Wish everyone knows and achieves.
