I have been in the crypto world for nearly nine years, and I summarized why in the last bull run, retail investors had a chance to make a profit, while in this round, most retail investors are left with feelings of regret and complaints. At least that's how I feel.

In the last bull run, retail investors actually did three things: bought what they could hold, held on without panic, and dared to hold even when prices fell.
Because at that time the secondary market was reasonable, the scale was still small, there weren't many coins, and the projects had just launched with low valuations, slow unlocks, and clean chips. The roadmap was genuinely progressing. You weren't betting on who would run fast, but rather accompanying the project in telling its story, so many people didn't get rich quickly, but slowly made money.

Looking at this round again, the situation for us retail investors has completely changed. Now, buying a project often means the first day on the market has a FDV of several billion, and when you look at the tokenomics, it's all about the unlocks, with almost every month having a reason for a dump.
You're not even trading trends; you're just guessing whether this wave will end up with you being the last one to take the hit. In such a market environment, it's a vicious cycle, and retail investors simply can't hold their positions. However, it has been proven that no matter where you cut losses on the day of launch, looking back a few months later, that is definitely a top exit.

So everyone stopped believing in "long-term value", not because retail investors became impatient, but because the market does not allow you to hold long-term; if you hold, you'll be gradually worn down as the unlock happens, and if you don't hold, you'll be thrown off by emotions, observing the narrative while the price completely does not cooperate.
This profound experience made me realize that the secondary market is no longer a place for retail investors to create wealth, but only an endless cycle of taking over.
The scariest sentence: It's okay, spot trading is not scary.
There is nothing to fear because the heart is already dead.

So over time, I've only learned one thing: don't talk about the future, just talk about when to run. But it is precisely in this context that memes have survived. Memes don't make promises, they have no white papers, no roadmaps, and no ecosystems under construction; a popular dog or a meme face can suffice 😂.
Up is up, and down is down. No one deceives you about the long term; even long-term construction can lead to zero, so there is a saying: the best return on long-term construction is slowly going to zero.
This is not a higher-level meme, but rather an opportunity compared to the secondary market, at least offering a sense of participation.
The emergence of memes is just the last resistance of retail investors in this environment. However, in the end, it turns out that meme coins do not create faith, but rather consume it.

So, wash up and go to sleep, we are just a speck of dust in the long river of crypto world history. Those who don't sleep will either leave the circle or wait for opportunities, waiting for the opportunities that belong to us retail investors... there probably won't be any opportunities.