Original article by Odaily Odaily( @OdailyChina )
Author｜Golem ( @web3_golem )
Da Gen is an ordinary civil servant within the system, a stable job with high social recognition. Especially in the current environment of the AI revolution and unstable job market, many young people are willing to fight tooth and nail to enter this stable and secure system. On the internet, the phrase "getting ashore" is often used to describe young people who pass the civil service exam, seemingly indicating that they have successfully escaped the "sea of suffering."
However, the system is also a walled city. People outside want to get in, and some people inside want to get out. Da Gen is one of the "people inside" who wanted to get out, and he stepped into the crypto 5 years ago.
“Being a civil servant is great in every way, but the income is too low compared to other jobs. I also want to earn money to retire early. Besides, young people who stay in this kind of conventional and predictable environment for a long time will definitely want to challenge themselves.” The main reasons why Da Gen chose to enter the crypto were to make a lot of money and challenge himself. But Da Gen probably didn’t expect that he would achieve both of the two goals he set when he entered the circle, just not at the same time.
2025 was the most tumultuous year for Dagen: he seized the opportunity of Trump's coin launch (TRUMP) to make his wealth approach A9 and become a hidden tycoon in the crypto, but he also suffered losses due to "manipulating" multiple Meme coins in the same year, resulting in a debt of millions.
What exactly happened to Da Gen, and how did this dramatic rise and fall affect his state of mind? To understand Da Gen's tumultuous experience in the crypto, Odaily conducted an exclusive interview with him. The interview transcript is compiled below, hoping to provide readers with some insights.
Rise of the Tide: Entered the scene through DOGE, one of the earliest meme players, with a single Trump token approaching A9.
Odaily: How did you earn your first pot of gold after entering the industry?
Da Gen: Let me start from the beginning. I entered the crypto around the end of April 2021. At that time, I was attracted by the overwhelming news about DOGE. From April to May of that year, DOGE rose more than 10 times, and its all-time high ($0.73) was also reached at that time. Although I was a newbie when I first entered the circle, ignorance is bliss. I used 30,000 RMB to trade DOGE contracts, rolling over my long position, and in less than a month, it grew to more than 2 million RMB.
Odaily: What were your feelings at the time?
Da Gen: I was just so happy, it felt like I'd made the right choice. The crypto is definitely a place with a lot of opportunities, and that was the first time I made a lot of money. But that money didn't stay in my pocket for long, because on May 19th of that year, I basically wiped out all the money I'd earned on DOGE in one go.
Odaily: After " 519", the crypto entered a bear market. In which sector did you make money after that?
Da Gen: I didn't choose to leave the crypto world. After May 19th, I continued to follow the hottest trends in the crypto, but I didn't make any big money from 2021 to 2023. Until early 2024, I noticed that some small-cap tokens on the Solana chain on the MEXC exchange were rising very sharply, with increases of up to 20 or 30 times. At that time, there weren't many players in the Chinese-speaking region involved in this area.
So I started looking for token information on Twitter. At that time, there were no convenient tools like GMGN, so I manually tracked some addresses every day using Solscan. I seized many opportunities in the early days, such as BONK, WIF, and POPCAT. With these Meme tokens, my assets reached A8 in early 2024 .
Odaily: So you were one of the earliest Meme coin players in the Chinese-speaking region. Which Meme coin made you the most money?
Da Gen: Because I made money in 2024, I had a lot of confidence in Meme Coin and the primary market. I would invest at least tens of thousands of dollars in any coin I set my sights on. And because the market was good, I consistently received positive returns. However, profits and losses come from the same source, and this habit eventually led to my debt. (See details below)
The Meme coin that earned me the most was Trump, launched by Trump in early 2025, which was also the closest I ever came to A9 . I bought Trump very early on, around $0.70. At the time, I noticed on-chain monitoring showed that the 0xsun address had bought about $2 million worth of Trump at around $0.60. After researching the official website and finding a legitimate payment channel, I figured it was unlikely to be a scam, so I bought $100,000 worth.
Finally, when the price of Trump rose to a high of over $70, I gradually cashed out and left the market.
Tide Falls: Continuing to buy the dips in Meme incurred losses, blacklisted the BSC chain, and incurred millions in debt.
Odaily: With such great results at Trump, why didn't you choose to retire?
Da Gen: I was still obsessed with A9. I was just a little short of it back then, and I thought I could make money easily. But I didn't expect the process to become so complicated. I didn't realize that market liquidity had gradually deteriorated since Trump. In the end, because of my obsession, I lost almost all the money I had earned in the past.
Odaily: Could you elaborate on how you lost money?
Da Gen: I used to like trying to buy the buy the dips in two stages with Meme, but in reality, most Meme coins after the Trump event were just a one-off drop. I never expected my funds and attention to disappear so quickly. Once Meme coins start to fall, there's really no bottom. Plus, I was already investing quite a lot, so I lost a lot of money.
For example, with GOAT, I buy the dips nearly $900,000 worth of shares when it dropped to $0.30, acquiring almost 1% of the tokens. Compared to its peak price at that time, it had already fallen by 90%, but I didn't expect it to fall another 90%. Similar losses occurred with VINE, TST, and BROCCOLI (714).
Odaily: After experiencing such a significant loss, did you not adjust your strategy?
Da Gen: This is a problem of path dependence. Because I have always made money this way, I think this method is always applicable, ignoring changes in market environment and liquidity.
After acquiring a large amount of tokens, I also participated in community building. For example, with BROCCOLI (714), Paris and I were in a small group, working together to get 714 listed on Binance spot before the other two Meme coins with the same name . (Odaily note: BROCCOLI is the name of CZ's pet dog, but at the time there were three Meme coins with the same name on the market. Binance ultimately adopted the method of community voting for listing.)
Odaily: What did you do to build BROCCOLI (714)?
Da Gen: One of the people in our small group directly sent 1% of the tokens to CZ's address, which should have been worth $1 million based on the market capitalization of $100 million at the time . Then, because Binance was also holding a trading competition at the time, we would organize and encourage people to boost trading volume, along with regular tweets and shill. We even considered developing on-the-ground promotion, but later, considering the regulatory environment in China, we didn't proceed, and no one was willing to take the lead.
But actually, this coin wasn't being "manipulated" by our small group. In the end, we were just some big players with a lot of tokens, all building up our positions. In the end, we couldn't control the outcome. Although BROCCOLI (714) eventually got listed on Binance spot, and we kept trying to support it, its price still dropped by 90%, and I lost over $1 million.
Odaily: How did this setback affect you later?
Da Gen: BROCCOLI (714) was the last straw for me, both financially and in terms of my investment strategy. There was a saying circulating in the community that good projects don't need construction; projects that require construction are just ways to lure people in and take over . BROCCOLI (714) perfectly illustrated this. This led to a sense of disgust and disappointment towards the BSC chain and Chinese-funded projects. I haven't played any BSC chain memes since.
Odaily: BROCCOLI (714) was actually a popular meme on BSC in the first half of 2025. After that, there were many meme crazes on the BSC chain, such as Binance Life in the second half of the year. Have you stopped paying attention to it?
Dagen: After BROCCOLI (714), I basically blacklisted the BSC chain, so looking back now I missed the entire bull market on the BSC chain in 2025. However, this is also paying the price for my ignorance. I only started playing with BSC chain memes again at the beginning of this year because I only now realized that I shouldn't be prejudiced against any chain or project.
Odaily: So to be precise, apart from earning nearly A9 on Trump at the beginning of 2025, you gradually lost money throughout the rest of the year?
Da Gen: Small profits and big losses, especially after BROCCOLI (714), I went to other chains for PVP and within a few months I had lost all the money I had earned. On the one hand, it was because I didn't have many backup plans and dared not try too many mistakes; on the other hand, it was because I was also afraid of being beaten, so I became timid and more cautious, and my mentality was not as stable as before.
Starting in August of last year, when I ran out of money in the market, I began to take out bank loans.
Odaily: So you're currently in debt?
Da Gen: I was in debt for about 1 million RMB. At that time, I was too eager to get my money back, and I wasn't really thinking rationally anymore.
Odaily: Have you ever thought about switching to a different track? For example, trying Altcoin, prediction markets, RWA, or even US stocks, or are you still focused on Meme?
Dagen: I didn't consider altcoins. I did consider US stocks, but trading US stocks last year wasn't as convenient as it is now. Now, both DEXs and exchanges offer low-threshold channels for crypto people to trade US stocks. Back then, these weren't available. Moreover, traditional brokerage platforms have asset restrictions for trading US stocks, which made it a bit difficult for me, so I gave up on the idea.
Ultimately, I still believe that the crypto is the best place to make big profits with small investments, and it's also something I'm good at. I can get back up from where I fell, so I'm still playing in the meme field.
Odaily: When you made nearly A9 in the crypto in early 2025, did you ever think about cashing it out and saving it or buying some real estate?
Da Gen: I did withdraw some money, but later I wanted to get my money back, so I deposited it back. After I made money, I didn't make any purchases like buying a car or a house, because I already had a car and a house, and given my job, I couldn't have any desire for luxury cars or mansions.
Odaily: Did you experience a significant drop in your life after taking on debt? Did it affect your family relationships?
Dagen: In terms of living standards, my consumption level has plummeted. I still have to pay a lot of money to the bank every month, and I'm almost unable to afford it anymore, so it's affecting my family. However, it hasn't reached the point of selling the car or the house yet, but if things get too difficult, I might have to sell them.
Odaily: So looking back on your five years in the crypto world, what are your thoughts? You originally had a stable "iron rice bowl" job, but your five years in the crypto have been full of ups and downs, and now you're even in debt.
Dagen: I may just be a microcosm of countless people in this market. I used to hear people say that the most common type of person in this circle is someone who gets rich overnight and then goes bankrupt. I never thought I would end up like that myself.
The biggest lesson I learned is that I can't be too reliant on past paths, nor can I be overly optimistic. If there's still a chance to turn things around, I want to use my past experience and knowledge to try again.
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