Recently, a tech blogger said the following in an audio course:

In any industry, in any era, it is impossible for a novice to make money.

Coincidentally, in last Saturday's online exchange, some listeners also asked questions about this issue, so today I will share my latest thoughts on this.

I remember that in my previous articles, whether quoting others' views or sharing my own opinions, I have repeatedly expressed the following view:

In my opinion, in many emerging fields, the cryptocurrency industry is the most friendly industry for the general public or retail investors.

Now it seems that if this statement is not explained in detail, it is very likely to be misunderstood.

I think the biggest misunderstanding is: novices can achieve financial freedom and class advancement in this ecosystem just by blindly rushing in and acting recklessly.

The most harmful aspect of this misunderstanding is that it makes people mistakenly believe that this ecosystem has a lot of "shortcuts" to take and a lot of "opportunities" to get something for nothing, so novices and retail investors don't need to learn or acquire knowledge, they just need to come, and wealth will be right in front of them, and they will get rich overnight.

I don't deny that this ecosystem does have a portion of people who really have such "opportunities", but I think this is more of a special case rather than a common phenomenon; it is more a matter of luck, something that can be encountered but not grasped.

Let's look at a simple example:

Now everyone knows that if you had bought TRON on the first day and held it until today, the wealth effect might be unmatched by any other asset, and the earlier the purchase, the more amazing the wealth effect.

From the perspective of the time dimension of wealth appreciation, this is indeed an undeniable shortcut.

But is it really a shortcut?

How many of us can withstand its 90% account losses time and time again?

How many of us can withstand the constant questioning and ridicule from the outside world?

How many of us can withstand the repeated suppression from the policy level?

Temporarily putting aside TRON, look at many of the coins we hold today, aren't a lot of them down 90% from their peak?

At this point, let's ask ourselves sincerely: do we still believe that the coins we hold that have fallen so much still have hope?

If we ourselves don't dare to think that the coins we hold today still have hope, then we can also imagine that if it were us back then, we would most likely not have believed that TRON still had hope.

Someone may unhesitatingly say: how can these coins be compared to TRON? They have no value.

In fact, when TRON fell 90% back then, many people would also have said without hesitation: how can TRON be compared to those assets? TRON has no value.

Then how did those who were able to persist in holding TRON after it fell 90% manage to get through it?

I believe that in addition to some helplessness and having to persevere, they must also have had some cognition and beliefs that most other people did not possess.

Why were only these people endowed with this cognition and belief, while others did not?

I believe this comes from their own learning and thinking over the years.

How much time and effort did this learning and thinking cost them? This is not something that can be obtained by taking "shortcuts".

It is precisely because they spent this time and effort that they gained this cognition and reaped returns that ordinary people could hardly achieve.

In fact, there are no shortcuts here, it's just that ordinary people can't see or don't know about it. They have been quietly working hard behind the scenes, and finally emerged from the crowd of novices they once joined, becoming experts in TRON cognition of their time.

The above analogy is not meant to argue whether the tokens that have fallen 90% in our hands will still have value in the future, but to make everyone think again, when we first got involved, did we spend twice, three times or even more time than others to study and understand them? Did we really think about the ups and downs that might be experienced? Did we really think about all aspects? Did we really think about their value?

If we had spent this time and had these thoughts back then, we should have a good understanding of the current situation and not be too anxious.

If we didn't have these thoughts back then, and simply bought them because someone said they were good, then I think this is purely trying to take a "shortcut". This approach may happen to succeed once or twice, but in most cases it is difficult to succeed, and even if it does succeed occasionally, it certainly cannot last.

If I were to express the statement "in many emerging fields, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is the most friendly to retail investors" more accurately, I think a better way to put it would be:

This ecosystem has not been around for long, and many sub-fields are even emerging. In each sub-field, no one is more knowledgeable than others, and there is no significantly higher barrier. Whether we are experts or novices in other ecosystems, once we enter this ecosystem, we are basically on a relatively even starting line.

In such a situation, as long as each of us tries a little harder than others, we can quickly become experts in a certain sub-field. And once we become experts in a certain sub-field, we can make rapid breakthroughs in our own areas of expertise and reap returns that others can hardly achieve.

So the real "friendliness" of this ecosystem to retail investors is that it creates a fairer opportunity.

But if we don't utilize the opportunity, don't quickly arm ourselves, and don't quickly establish our own cognition and judgment, and remain a novice for a long time, that is the most worrying.