First, let me say something that really hurts.
Hey guys, how have you been lately?
I know you probably don't want to answer this question.
I glanced at my holdings, then at the calendar – damn it, another red day, no, the kind of red that's so bad it's like my own mother wouldn't recognize me. The candlestick chart has been more convoluted than my life.
Yesterday, a programmer friend asked me to go drinking. He's 34, with even less hair than me (and I'm already losing a lot). He works as a coded programmer at a big company and trades cryptocurrency in his spare time. After a few drinks, he said something to me with red eyes:
"Brother, I feel like I'm risking my life for money."
He said he stayed up for 7 days straight last month to keep track of a project's TGE, but the project team went straight to the bank. Not only did he not make any money, but he also ended up in the hospital - sitting for 12 hours straight caused deep vein thrombosis in his lower limbs, and he almost died from a pulmonary embolism.
The doctor said, "If you had come 30 minutes later, your mother would have been making your funeral arrangements."
When I heard that, I almost dropped my wine glass.
This is not a joke. Zhengzhou People's Hospital just released a case a few days ago. A 34-year-old programmer had this problem. You think you're young and you think you can handle it, but your blood vessels don't think so.
Our industry appears glamorous on the surface – “Web3 elites,” “blockchain practitioners,” “digital nomads.”
What is the reality?
He's still monitoring the stock market at 3 a.m., drinks coffee like water, has mountains of takeout boxes, and doesn't dare to go for a physical exam even once a year for fear of finding something wrong.
Making money is one thing, but the question is – in the current market, can you still make money?
Second, with the arrival of AI, even the opportunity to do manual labor is gone.
To be honest, I used to think I was pretty awesome.
Writing Solidity code, tweaking contracts, and occasionally doing data analysis—making a living in this field isn't a problem.
Then AI came along.
Do you know what AI can do now?
For Junior Solidity developers, AI can already handle 80% of the work; standardized contracts are generated directly, and you only need to review them.
Data analyst? In-depth reports that used to take three days to write can now be completed in minutes by AI.
Traders? High-frequency trading, arbitrage, market making - AI reacts 100 times faster than you, and it doesn't need to sleep, eat, or trade emotionally.
You might think you're a "trader," but in AI's eyes, you're just a "commission contributor."
What's even more disheartening is that AI can now respond in multiple languages 24/7 even for tasks like community management, and it won't argue with users.
What else can we do?
To be honest, I was confused for quite a while.
Until I encountered this system.
III. An Accidental Discovery
The cause of the matter was quite cliché - his health collapsed.
After staying up all night for several nights in a row, I started experiencing heart palpitations, insomnia, and hair loss (this was the most unbearable). I had no energy during the day and couldn't sleep at night, feeling like a walking corpse.
My wife (yes, I actually have a wife) put up with me for three months, and finally snapped:
"You either go and take care of your health, or you die. Choose one."
So I started researching the health industry.
At first, I was resistant – the word "health preservation" sounded like something a middle-aged, greasy person would do, like someone who would wear slippers and pat trees in the park.
But there's nothing you can do; your body is honest, and if you ignore it, it'll give you a hard time.
During my research, I stumbled upon a set of knowledge and systems about "big health".
I originally just wanted to find out what I could eat to stop hair loss (which turned out to be asking too much), but I ended up discovering something that really gave my business acumen a boost.
IV. From "All In" to "A Second Leg"
You know better than I how volatile the crypto market is. When it's going up, you're a "god," and when it's going down, you're a "dog." Riding this rollercoaster for too long is too much for your heart.
One day in 2025, I looked at the bright red profit curve on the exchange and felt a chill run down my spine.
It's not just a slight coolness; it's a bone-chilling coolness that runs from the top of your head to the soles of your feet.
My 200,000 has turned into 80,000.
It's not an exaggeration, it's true.
That night I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned in bed, my mind filled with thoughts of "If only I hadn't bought it back then... If only I hadn't believed that 'insider information,' If only I hadn't invested all the money my wife had asked me to put into investing..."
You ask me if I regret it now?
regret.
I regret not writing this article sooner.
Let me start with a joke.
A guy of mine went all in on Dogecoin in 2021, and at its peak, his account increased tenfold. He was so excited that he told his wife, "We're financially free now!"
My wife asked, "Should we move to a different house?"
He said, "No rush, let the bullets fly a little longer."
Then, the bullet flew and flew until 2026.
Now their family is indeed financially free – they can afford to pay their mortgage freely.
What lesson does this joke teach us?
The reason is this: in the cryptocurrency world, the phrase "let the bullets fly for a while" is probably the most costly phrase in the world.
V. A discovery that made me envious
After having trouble sleeping that night, I got up and scrolled through my phone, where I saw a post on WeChat Moments.
It was sent by an old classmate, and the content is:
"I closed another deal, and my income today has exceeded five figures. Thank you to the team, thank you for your trust, and thank you to myself for making that choice."
The accompanying picture shows a bunch of nutritional supplements, and the packaging looks quite high-end.
I thought to myself: Which WeChat seller is ripping off newbies again?
However, out of a desire to "study my rival," I clicked on his homepage.
Then I realized – I know this guy.
The guy who sat behind me in high school, who once scored 18 points on a math test.
He can earn over 10,000 yuan a month??
I admit I was a little jealous at the time.
But it was precisely this "sour grapes" mentality that made me start to seriously study this track.
6. My friend who used to trade cryptocurrencies has now switched to cooking.
A couple of days ago, my old classmate Aqiang, who was posting on his WeChat Moments last year about "The Year of Web3, All in!", suddenly messaged me: "Bro, do you have any reliable side hustles lately?"
I paused for three seconds, then scrolled through his WeChat Moments - the last update was three months ago, a screenshot of his wallet with the caption "I'll break even tomorrow," and then, nothing more.
I asked him, "What about your NFT projects?"
“That’s it.” He sent a facepalm emoji: “No one’s even talking on the project’s Discord channel anymore. The last message was from the administrator: ‘Sorry, we did our best.’”
I held back my laughter, not because I'm kind, but because I almost bought that "Boring Monkey's Distant Cousin" NFT series last year. If my wife hadn't said, "If you dare to use your year-end bonus to buy that crappy picture, I'll put you up for sale on Xianyu," I'd probably be stuck at home eating instant noodles and pickled vegetables like A-Qiang.
Ah Qiang is not alone.
Over the past two years, countless people have rushed to Web3 like lemmings chasing rising prices – buying coins, mining, creating nodes, speculating on NFTs, and playing GameFi. Everyone's face says "I want financial freedom," but in the end, their wallets have all been freed to go to zero.
It's not that Web3 is bad, it's that there are too many sickles and not enough leeks to harvest.
Last month, my friend Da Liu treated me to dinner at his home kitchen. The main dish was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and the side dish was a plate of smashed cucumber.
I glanced at the stove: "Didn't you always take your guests to Japanese restaurants? What about that 'kaiseki' meal that costs two thousand yuan per person?"
While flipping the eggs, Da Liu sighed, "Don't even mention it. Last year, I poured my down payment for a house into that 'decentralized lunar zoo coin,' and the project team ran away in three days. Now, let alone kaiseki, I can't even afford bibimbap."
I patted him on the shoulder: "So what are you going to do now?"
“I’m doing a side hustle.” He scooped out the eggs and looked at me seriously: “I teach people how to make low-fat meals on Douyin. My account is called ‘Former Web3 Chef,’ and I have almost 10,000 followers.”
I initially thought he was joking, until he showed me his backend data – an advertiser had actually approached him to promote a zero-calorie candy, offering 800 yuan.
Liu smiled smugly: "Although it can't compare to the rate at which we lost 20,000 a day back then, at least it's positive cash flow."
I fell into deep thought.
In the past two years, my friends who are into Web3 can be roughly divided into three categories: the first category no longer mentions Web3, and their eyes well up with tears when they do; the second category is still persisting, but every time we chat, they will say, "This project has strong technology, but it just doesn't pump the price"; the third category - that is, smart people like Liu Cixin - have quietly switched to another track.
That track is health + side hustle.
Now let's not talk about technology, consensus mechanisms, or Layer 2. Let's talk about something practical: After Web3 stops making money, what can ordinary people rely on to turn their lives around?
VII. Three truly heartbreaking anecdotes
Joke 1:
Q: What's the difference between a Web3 project team and a micro-business selling health products?
A: Web3 project teams will at least send you a white paper - even if you don't understand it, their attitude is there. Micro-businesses don't even have a white paper, they just post on their Moments "So-and-so used our product and lost 30 pounds".
But guess who makes more money?
(Hint: Not the one who wrote the white paper.)
Joke 2:
I have a reader named Xiaolin, 27 years old, a programmer. Last year, he spent 20,000 yuan to buy an NFT avatar - a cartoon cat wearing sunglasses.
I asked him, "Why do you want to buy it?"
He said, "It's a symbol of status."
Three months later, the cat's market price became two hundred yuan.
He came to me again: "I feel like crying whenever I see that cat now."
I said, "Then replace it."
He said, "Change what?"
I said, "Say it from your real identity - an ordinary office worker who needs to take care of their health and exercise."
Now he has changed his WeChat profile picture to a photo of himself working out, and his Moments signature has been changed to "Five kilometers a day, fewer bugs in code". He also serializes "(Programmer's Neck Spine Self-Help Guide)" on Xiaohongshu, and people in the comments section urge him to update every day.
Joke 3:
A few days ago, I saw someone post an ad in a group: "New Web3 project, zero pay, just click once a day, earn over 10,000 a month!"
Someone replied: "My mom heard this kind of sales pitch when she was trying to get a discount on Pinduoduo."
Someone else added fuel to the fire: "If you can earn over 10,000 yuan a month with just one click, then does that mean you'll be financially free with just two clicks?"
The last person concluded: "If you think making money with Web3 is easy, it means you haven't experienced a bear market yet. If you think making money with health is easy, it means you haven't experienced the exhilaration of successfully losing weight."
The group fell silent instantly.
Because what the last person said was true.
Anything that promises to make you rich overnight is also set to make you poor overnight.
Only those things that make you better day by day will reward you day by day.
8. My current pace of life
I'm no longer anxious, and I don't have insomnia anymore.
It's not because we've made money - to be honest, in this market, nobody dares to say they've made money.
It's because I have a "second leg".
I know that even if the crypto market goes to zero tomorrow, I still have a channel to generate cash flow for me, and even if I lose my job tomorrow, I still have a system to support my life.
This sense of security is something candlestick charts can't give me.
My current lifestyle is like this:
During the day, I write code and monitor the market. Before bed, I take a nutritional supplement and get a good night's sleep. On weekends, I meet up with friends and share what I've been eating lately.
If you'd like to learn more about this system, and want to know how to combine the nutrients, how to consume them, and how to start this "passive income" business, feel free to add me on WeChat (comioco) to chat.
I won't create groups or bombard you with questions; I just want to chat with you about how an experienced investor, who has honed their skills by studying candlestick charts, found this new investment opportunity.
P.S. I heard that another programmer recently died from overworking. Whether you're interested in health or not, be good to yourself. If you collapse, the company can find someone to replace you the next day, but your mother can't.
Feel free to share your story in the comments section: Which industry did you stumble in? Are you planning to switch careers now?
Previous Highlights:
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When the crypto market cooled down, I found a new way out.
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