In the crypto world, you need a more resilient investment philosophy.

Under the predatory market structure, how to establish a tenacious investment mindset in order to avoid becoming a leek at the bottom of the predatory chain of the currency circle? (Synopsis: After Bitcoin reaches a new high, how to quickly explain cryptocurrency investment to those around you? (Background supplement: Arthur Hayes Full text flip: Bitcoin's four-year cycle is dead, the longer it lives, the king ) Let's look at a MYX show that just happened. In early September 2025, its price on multiple exchanges was like a rocket. The highest rose to more than ten dollars in a week, and the media also amplified the heat. Immediately afterwards, the on-chain data team Bubblemaps posted a long post on X (formerly Twitter): “The same entity took about $170 million from the MYX airdrop with 100 newly funded wallets”, and also gave on-chain tracking details (from September 9). Subsequently, the industry media and news platform followed up and reprinted, and the matter quickly fermented. Ordinary users also gave a very direct feeling on different platforms: Binance Square user “Arfath 29” posted a reminder: “The first 5 addresses hold 72.63% of the total supply, once the market is smashed, retail investors are the last to take the baton.” (Mid-September, Binance Square). This is not a technical term, it is a vernacular: a few big households have the final say. Binance Square user “Lenora Opatz yMnL” is more blunt: “Many people short this rotten coin will lose all the money they have earned, like being sucked out of liquidity every hour, and they can't run away if they want to.” (Mid-September, Binance Square). This is the “dilemma” that retail investors feel in real volatility. Then from the next day to the third day, the media began to systematically sort out the whole thing: some articles called this wave of market calls a combination of “spot pull-squeeze contract shorts-ship while hot”; The timing of the unlocking of 39 million tokens was even compared to the price peak, reminding that this is the window for “the best liquidity and easiest distribution”. The date, the magnitude, the amount of liquidation, all give figures. Pull up the shipment, everyone can see clearly. In fact, the “gears” of this round of short-squeezing are obvious: low liquidity + spot price increase → index moves up → contract liquidation → passive buying pushes higher. The core principle is: spot small money leverages large leverage. As long as the price is pushed over a few key levels, the liquidation engine will continue to buy for the bulls, forming a feedback chain of “price increase-liquidation-price increase”, and the bears will be discharged. This is the immediate background to the September 8–9 set of “cumulative liquidations of more than $40 million.” However, MYX officials responded on September 10: denying fraud and manipulation, saying that the airdrop reward was “based on real transactions and LP contributions”, and said that it would pay more attention to preventing Sybil attacks in the future (the implication is that these airdrop tokens were fraudulently claimed by witches). Several English-language media outlets recorded the response on the same day, citing a link to Bubblemaps' long post on September 9. In other words, accusations and justifications are on the table at the same time, and everyone has their own opinions. (Coinspeaker) the most critical support for MYX not to admit manipulation is: MYX is currently around $15. However, if you think that MYX is not pulling up shipments, you are very wrong. The reason is simple: “standing high” does not mean “reasonable valuation”, but more a combination of structure and rhythm. MYX currently has about 197 million in circulation, accounting for about 20% of the total; Under the framework of “low circulation / high FDV”, the “elasticity” of the unit price is very large, as long as the new selling pressure is not fierce (MYX airdrop is unlocked on a monthly basis), and the market maker is willing to take it, the quotation can stay at a high level for a long time. In a word, the script of this round of MYX show is not new: small circulation holds up prices, derivatives leverage amplifies fluctuations, and forced liquidation “rolls” short positions into buying orders; The reason why the price is still at a high level is mostly the result of the combination of tight structural supply + more entrances + upgrade narrative. No matter which side you're on, think about at least two things first: whoever masters the order and traffic will be more able to dominate the rhythm; A high sideways position does not mean that the risk disappears. So, if you get involved in MYX trading and lose a lot of money, there's nothing surprising about that. Because this game is inherently more towards people who control the narrative and chips. For MYX, you are right if you don't touch it. If you're like me, there are airdrops to sell. If you abstract such recurring stories into a framework, its name is: Predatory Market Structure It is not a point scam, but a set of deliberately assembled “institutional arrangements + trading mechanisms + incentive design”, so that the more well-informed and centralized side can stably and repeatedly extract value from weak participants. To put it bluntly, the predatory market structure is a jungle society, and the only rule followed here is the law of the jungle. In traditional finance, this structure is hidden in order flow rebates and dark pool internalization, hidden in market momentum and deception pending orders; In the crypto world, it has transformed itself, using “high FDV, low circulation” distribution methods, pattern distribution and order rights (MEV), KOL amplification chains, and liquidation mechanisms to play out the old tricks faster and stronger. In other words, it is not a “bug” in the system, but a “feature” written into the product and system. Understanding this, the question is no longer “who cuts whom”, but why the structure works for a long time, what sustains the moat, and what we can do. Next, let's disassemble them one by one. 1. Why the “plunder” of the currency circle is “repeatedly banned” Just like the MYX above, on the surface, it is a certain project, a certain message, a certain stampede, but in fact, there are several long-term unchanged foundations behind it - who is smarter in information, who has the ability to turn information into benefits, and where are the gaps in the system. Only by understanding these three foundations can we understand why the same set of tricks can always be re-enacted, and only then will we know where to start to protect ourselves. 1.1 The three cornerstones of plunder If you only stare at one or two sharp rises and falls, it is easy to blame everything on “human greed”. Zoom out and you'll see a more stable “topography”: The first cornerstone is information asymmetry. This is not a new word - back in 1970, the economist Akerlof explained with the “lemon market”: when it is difficult for buyers to distinguish between good and bad, bad products will “squeeze” the good out of the market. “Lemon” is not a literary rhetoric, but a colloquial term for problem cars/defective products in American slang (the United States even has a special “lemon law” to protect buyers). In the early 20th century, the media used lemon to refer to “low-quality goods bought,” and later to refer specifically to used cars with hidden dangers. Akerlof used the used car market as a metaphor: sellers know the real car conditions best, buyers are difficult to distinguish, can only bid according to “average quality”, as a result, high-quality car owners are unwilling to sell, bad cars (lemon) “squeeze” good cars out of the market, the overall quality has been declining. In crypto, the project party knows more about token distribution, unlocking rhythm, and market-making arrangements than ordinary people, and the result is “high-quality scarcity and inferior quality”. This theory is not on paper, but an old problem that has been verified by generations of data. The second cornerstone is that there is always a party that has the ability and motivation to exploit the asymmetry…