Original title: The Crypto Game: How to Play & Win

Original author: Ignas, DeFi researcher
Original translation: Luffy, Foresight News

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

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

After the Terra crash, according to online records of a Korean father, a family of three (including a 10-year-old daughter) committed suicide due to financial losses. I would feel guilty if I publicly admitted that cryptocurrency is a game. Too many people have been scammed and lost their life savings.

But the mentality of viewing cryptocurrency as a game helps me stay sane and motivated to continue playing. Because the craziness we are experiencing in this industry is only one level, its biggest advantage is: it allows ordinary people to realize the dream of financial freedom.

As DegenSpartan said:

"After you graduate, you will have a short period of time to indulge in gambling, and then become an elite, or you can only live on wages for the rest of your life."

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

Rules of Crypto Games

Once you find the similarities between cryptocurrencies and (especially MMORPG) games, you can't ignore it.

In difficult economic times, without new capital inflows, the PvP (player vs. player) model will prevail. In a bull market, as new funds enter, we switch to the PvE (player vs. environment) model.

If you don’t like KOLs influencing you, we think of the phrase “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

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

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

For example, Pranksy, who was once a top NFT player, is now completely out of touch with memecoin. The gameplay has changed, but he still insists on playing the game that few people are interested in.

Sure, memecoins may be terrible, but the same thing was said about NFTs a few years ago by people who had no idea how to play the NFT minting and trading game.

You face two choices in the game: either adapt and participate, or wait for new ways to play the game. There is a third, more difficult choice, which is to change the rules of the game itself.

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

However, Memecoins also deserve praise because they actually succeeded in changing the rules of the game.

For the past year or so, we have played a "points" game. You deposit assets into the protocol, accumulate points, and pray for a rich airdrop. I know you like this game because "DeFi degen's bull market script" is still my most popular post.

Anyway, it turns out that a lot of people were deceived.

Since higher TVL means higher valuations, the FDV of token issuance is ridiculously high, and the only beneficiaries are those VCs, teams that entered at low valuations, and of course the wool party that sold airdrops.

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

While Pranksy is losing, memecoin protagonists Ansem, Murad, and the players who joined their tribe are winning.

“Don’t hate the players, hate the game”

We are constantly introducing new mini-games within the overall gameplay. You have to decide whether to participate. If you participate, make sure you understand the rules because there will always be opponents.

For example, daos.fun allows trading of tokenized funds. However, confusingly, the most popular “fund” ai16z is trading at 52 times NAV (net asset value). It trades similarly to memecoin.

Players are trying to understand it. Squiggly likens the fund to a “Grayscale structure” or the Friend.tech transaction fee Ponzi scheme. BREAD disagrees on the Friend.tech part.

Squiggly vs. BREAD, who is right?

Although it is the same product, the players understand it very differently. Players have to find their own advantages in the game and profit from it.

It may be simple. After the team announced plans to whitelist the new "fund" on the website, I expect degens holding other "fund tokens" may sell some of their old fund tokens and invest in the new fund. In fact, once the new fund was added, the price of all old fund tokens fell by about 50%.

Generally, the more confusing the gameplay, the more room you can profit from knowledge asymmetry.

The beauty of cryptocurrency is that there will always be some people who will jump on the new trend without fully investigating, and as long as you do a little basic research, there will be opportunities to gain.

That being said, I often try new things with a small amount of money first, then research and see how it works in practice. Learn by doing, and when you know whether you can win the game, invest more money.

Ton’s click-to-earn game thrives because it is the opposite of complex DeFi games: you just click buttons on the screen to earn money.

However, the rewards are low because the game is too simple; unless you game the system and click hundreds of phones with artificial fingers.

This is where crypto becomes more interesting and complex: there are multiple levels, roles, and strategies to choose from. There are also side quests if you want.

Let me give you an example.

Recently, I have been working on becoming an active representative on multiple DAOs, especially Lido, Arbitrum, and Uniswap.

DAOs promoted the vision of decentralized organizations, but it is an open secret that most DAOs are far from decentralized now. For example, in Arbitrum DAO, 14 addresses control more than 50% of the voting power, and the same is true for other DAOs.

The Uniswap DAO had no idea that Unichain would launch UNI staking. This also explains why the fee switch has not been turned on for months. Insiders knew that once UNI staking was implemented, the fee switch would not be necessary, and the DAO was kept in the dark.

The DAO recognized that voting centralization was a big problem. To solve this problem, they launched an incentive campaign to attract new participants. You can earn $3,000 to $10,000 by becoming an active governance delegate to a DAO.

But it's not easy. You have to actively follow forum discussions, comment, and vote on proposals. The hardest part is getting token holders to delegate their tokens to you, which touches on the political game.

An anonymous whale delegated 2.5 million LDO to me after I tweeted about aligning token holders and protocol incentives. To be honest, I received this delegation only because I am a bit famous for posting frequently on X. Playing the popularity game well on X will bring more opportunities in the crypto space that few people know about.

I am now contacted by multiple protocols to thank me for voting for their proposals or to ask me to support future proposals. There is a significant relationship building process for every DAO that is not on the X f information flow or even the DAO forum.

To be honest, I love this game. I firmly believe in the decentralized future and want to make an impact.

Player mentality

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

"I cried myself to sleep that day and realized how terrible centralized services would be. I quickly decided to quit." - Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik decided to quit World of Warcraft because he felt he could not influence the rules of the game.

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

Like blockchain, the crypto game is decentralized. VCs, retail investors, builders, KOLs: we all have a role, and some are more influential than others.

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

Slightly off topic, but I’m actually surprised by how little influence VCs have in shaping the narrative. Crypto VCs are supposed to advocate for their investments, but they pay very little attention to X.

Do they really not care? Or are they playing a different game?

A notable example is Kyle from Multicoin, who is trying to make money. More venture capitalists should share their views on the industry, advocate for their portfolio protocols, and provide in-depth research to shed light on current developments.

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

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

In Lineage 2, you choose a race (human, elf, orc, etc.) and a class (warrior, mystic).

You level up by gaining experience (XP) by completing quests and defeating enemies, and leveling up unlocks new abilities, better gear, and access to more challenging content.

I spent two years grinding away on just a few hours of sleep a day. These memories are etched into my mind and have shaped my perspective on cryptocurrency trading.

Just like you gain XP in games, in crypto you gain XP by learning about blockchain, studying DeFi, researching token economics, and more. The more you grind, the better you’ll get.

But you have to watch your HP (health points) and MP (mana points).

HP and MP are like your health, financial stability, and emotional resilience. Both crypto and gaming require relentless effort, and it’s inevitable that you’ll get burned out. In crypto, the pressure to stay ahead, constantly monitor the market, and not miss out on trends creates a high-pressure environment, like being in an endless game where you can’t opt out.

I burned myself out during the last bull cycle, so now I manage my "HP" by taking a break every three months.

Am I weird for looking at crypto in this light?

They are also similar demographically: crypto games are male-dominated, while only about 35% of MMORPG players are female.

Koreans are as obsessed with crypto as they are with esports (like League of Legends), and even more than "real sports".

I would say that a gamer’s mentality can help you excel in crypto. Just pick the right game and understand your role in it.

In Naval’s famous post “How to Get Rich Without Luck” he mentions “game” and “play” 15 times! His advice is:

· Ignore the status gamers who gain status by attacking the wealth creation gamers.

· Pick an industry where you can engage in long-term collaboration with others.

· Play the iterative game. All rewards in life, whether it’s wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compounding.

My favorite quote is:

· Acquiring specific knowledge feels like a game to you, but it feels like work to others.

So, what game are you playing in crypto?

What is your role in crypto?

Crypto has become increasingly complex in recent years. Before 2020, success was as simple as investing in ICOs and trading on CEXs. Since then, there has been an explosion of new games in the crypto space: DeFi, L2, NFTs, RWAs, Runes, Memecoins, and more.

How do you keep up?

Do you specialize in one area or try to "catch them all"?

In MMPORG, you first choose your race and then your profession. In Lineage 2, I decided to choose the least popular option because I wanted to stand out and improve my chances of becoming a "hero."

I chose the human summoner, and as experience points accumulated, I then specialized in the warlock, and then the arcane lord. This is the least popular profession because its specialty is to use pets to defeat enemies.

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

Many people lack the determination to learn specific skills and often jump between various narratives without really understanding them. They miss the knowledge required to master the complex mechanisms behind the game theory of a specific industry. They become exit liquidity.

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

However, I believe that specialization can bring rich results in the current stage of the market.

Specialization can be anything, such as:

· Crypto Koryo excels at Dune dashboard creation work and monetization;

· USD Denominated focuses on the stablecoin market, navigating the complexity of the market and extracting the highest returns;

· Andy is all in on the modular field;

· wale.moca focuses on NFTs;

· Bold Leonidas publishes crypto comics every day.

But always pay attention to what influencers say, because their motivations are often different from what you think. They play different games than the ones they promote. You don't want to play games where the rules are not in your favor. For example, Ansem recruits celebrities and makes money in a certain way.

Why do you think I posted on X?

My goals for posting on X are to: 1) stay informed about the market, 2) attract customers to my DeFi creator space Pink Brains, and more recently 3) build my influence and get token delegate votes.

This strategy has allowed me to explore multiple topics even though I am not an expert in any of them.

However, as you start growing your followers on X, you will choose an area you are passionate about. As you grow your followers, your topics should also diversify. Posting increases your influence, so everyone should do it.

Becoming an influencer is like becoming a hero in Lineage 2. Your character gains a special aura that not only improves your attributes, but also allows you to broadcast your message to the entire server. I chose the least popular character because it has less competition to become a hero.

Many of you work at cryptocurrency companies, and your work forces you to focus on roles such as marketing, market making, or sales. This gives you an advantage over those who are doing crypto as a hobby: leverage industry relationships, gain insights, and even influence the rules of the game.

Specialization is now where the real alpha is hiding.

While holding BTC or ETH is a sure win, to achieve a 100x return you need to dig deeper, like mining for gold in an already developed field. As Naval said, find work that feels like play.

Whether it’s DeFi, on-chain wallet tracking, or DAO forum hunting alpha, let curiosity lead you. By accumulating specific knowledge, you will discover opportunities that others miss. This niche market is small enough to escape the radar tracking of big players, but large enough to make you rich. Cryptocurrency games may be your gold mine.

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