🧐 Ethereum's Decade is also My Eighth Year in the Crypto Space | The Turbulence of Ethereum's Decade, My Eight-Year Faith Evolution——

Ethereum's decade has been a truly tumultuous time for the WEB3 world, as well as a decade of flourishing blockchain technology:

If Bitcoin is an awakening of currency, then Ethereum is a reconstruction of civilization.

And Ethereum's decade is also my eighth year in the crypto space——

In these eight years, tides have risen and fallen, narratives have shifted. I have experienced the ICO frenzy of 2017, the DeFi revival of 2020, the peak of the bull market in 2021, and have endured the collapse of LUNA, the downfall of FTX, and countless nights of "ETH is done for."

Especially in this eighth year, the entire community began to FUD Ethereum, with voices of pessimism rising and falling, even the once die-hard ETH supporters became uncertain.

But the more FUD there was, the more resolute I became. Because I do not rely on hype to judge the future; I rely on understanding to align with the main narrative.

The following is an article I wrote four years ago titled "The Twisted Journey of Ethereum," which has been my anchor for holding onto ETH. Today, I have decided to continue writing it.

If you are an old fan, you surely remember that in May four years ago, when Ethereum broke through $4000, I posted this on my Weibo account [Bi Te Wu Lao Shi]:

【The Twisted Journey of Ethereum】 (This article is priced in RMB)

Many people do not know how Ethereum (ETH) came to be and how it has come this far. I, Old Wu, will share my experiences to enlighten everyone. The journey is truly filled with blood and tears, a thousand times more exciting than any TV drama. Without further ado, let's begin:

Step One: In July 2014, ETH was issued at a price of 1.86 RMB, fluctuating between 1.4 RMB and 4 RMB. It remained stagnant for a whole year, and most people could not hold on, selling their coins in that first year, essentially making no profit, with some even incurring losses.

Step Two: In August 2015, it rose to 23 RMB, finally increasing 12 times. Many people took profits and exited, but by November, it fell back to 2.7 RMB, a 90% drop. During this major rise and fall, over 90% of people had sold their coins, some even at a loss. It was during this phase that Shen Yu sold 100,000 ETH at around 10 to 20 RMB. If he had held onto those 100,000 ETH, they would now be worth two to three billion. But don’t panic; do you think you could hold on if you didn’t sell at that time? Let’s look at the thrilling year of 2016!

Step Three: In 2016, this year deserves special mention because it was incredibly exciting. In March, it entered a bull run, skyrocketing to 98 RMB, a 36-fold increase in just one month. Unfortunately, less than 10% of people enjoyed this wealth increase. In April, a thunderbolt struck, and it fell to 45 RMB. Many began to shout that Ethereum was a scam, unaware that by June, it would soar to 138 RMB, then drop to 54 RMB in August, rise to 92 RMB in September, and fall to 38 RMB in December. This year was truly dramatic and volatile. To say how difficult it is to hold coins, just think about it: if you had 100,000 ETH during this process, could you hold on? To be honest, I, Old Wu, could not. I started trading Ethereum in 2016, but only dared to do short-term trades, and I lost money.

Step Four: A glorious life began: Although 2016 was tumultuous, it laid the dual foundation of popularity and market for Ethereum. So, in March 2017, it surged to 350 RMB, increasing nine times in three months. Then came the well-known ICO boom in China, where all projects issued tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, raising funds in ETH. From that moment on, its dominant position was established! There was no more suspense.

Thus, in June 2017, it rose to 2660 RMB, a 70-fold increase in six months. In July, it fell to 850 RMB, an 78% drop. In October, it rose to 2520 RMB, in November to 3280 RMB, and in December to 7510 RMB. In January 2018, it reached its then highest point of 9100 RMB.

Three-Year Summary: In just over three years, it increased 4900 times. You think that’s exciting enough? Keep reading. Everything has its cycles, and Ethereum's performance is particularly prominent. The good show continues, but you might feel like this is a replay of the previous story:

Step Five: In 2018, the bear market began, starting in March when the price fell from over 9000 RMB to 2280 RMB, a 75% drop. In April, it rose to 5380 RMB, but by September, it fell to 1070 RMB, an 88% drop. The most severe was in December when it plummeted to 525 RMB, a direct 90% drop.

Step Six: In June 2019, it rose to 2350 RMB, then fell to 720 RMB in December. In March 2020, everyone was terrified during the 312 crash, dropping to 550 RMB, an over 88% decline. For a long time, no one dared to touch Ethereum. This sentiment lasted until the rise of DeFi from October to December, when it climbed to 5720 RMB. Then, it began to rise again.

Step Seven: In May 2021, it reached 28000 RMB.

In less than six years, it increased 15000 times. Initially, with 1000 RMB, you could own 15 million RMB, but that’s all just talk. If you carefully examine the stormy journey I, Old Wu, have experienced, ask yourself honestly, can you really hold on?

So, I previously mentioned: In this circle, two things are the easiest ways to get rich: one is mining, and the other is holding coins. Their underlying logic is the same.

Two things are the easiest ways to become poor: randomly investing in projects and leveraged contracts.

After experiencing years of ups and downs, those who can hold on are the winners. Great wealth does not require brilliance; it only requires enough patience. Those who achieve great things must have great perseverance.

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The above article was widely shared and has been my anchor for holding onto Ethereum. I have decided to continue this legend (the following article is priced in USD):

Step Eight: This is the story of the last two years.

In 2022, Ethereum made a historic leap: The Merge went live, transitioning the mainnet from PoW to PoS, reducing energy consumption by 99%, marking the end of mining history, and initiating the expectation of "ETH deflation." During that time, the most popular saying in the circle was: Bitcoin is the gold of the past, while Ethereum is the financial internet of the future.

However, the market did not take off as a result; instead, it faced consecutive blows from LUNA and FTX, with ETH dropping from $3500 all the way back to $1100. Another round of collapse and reshuffling, another round of faith questioning.

And this time, I did not run.

I began to understand that the story of ETH is no longer just a speculative script, but a grand narrative rooted in the innovation of financial order.

It carries the technical foundation of almost all mainstream narratives, including stablecoins, DeFi, RWA, Restaking, and AI chains. It is the smart contract platform with the most global developers, the widest applications, and the most prosperous ecosystem, the "king of protocols" in the public chain world.

You can question its high cost, slowness, fragmentation by Layer 2, and governance chaos, but you cannot ignore that: regardless of bull or bear markets, regardless of how new public chains innovate, the most critical assets and funds still choose Ethereum as the ultimate "settlement layer."

In the eighth year, I am still present. I am still buying ETH.

The year 2023 has begun as a special year.

From the start of 2023, the entire community began to FUD Ethereum.

Some say it can't rise as much as altcoins, others say Ethereum is congested, has high gas fees, and low governance efficiency. Many claim it is not as good as other new public chains, and holding it is completely useless. Some have started betting on "new paradigm public chains," Solana, AI chains, modular chains… Some even ask, "Could ETH be the next LUNA?"

You can almost see such rhetoric in every corner of social media: "The era of Ethereum is over," and those holding ETH are out of their minds!

Yet I have always been in the midst of it. But I have never wavered. I continue to talk about Ethereum, its logic, its value, and its future.

Because I firmly believe:

The value of Ethereum lies not in short-term market hype, but in its position as a global financial operating system, quietly penetrating the world.

Stablecoins are Ethereum's first killer application, with hundreds of billions of USDT/USDC mostly issued on Ethereum and compatible chains;

80% of DeFi protocol's TVL is based on ETH as the core settlement asset;

RWA, AI, Restaking, Layer 2 modular ecosystems… almost every narrative you can think of ultimately lands on Ethereum or its derivative networks.

It is the endpoint of capital flow, the anchor point of narratives, and the highest level of security.

Today, as the entire community FUDs Ethereum, it is precisely my most reassuring eighth year.

I once wrote: "ETH is a financial civilization that is slowly being built. It is not a container for speculation, but the framework for global value collaboration."

Ten years have passed, tides have risen and fallen, narratives have flourished and waned. We have seen too many stories of explosive popularity followed by silence, too many instances where behind enthusiasm lies a cold bubble. Only the main narrative of ETH has remained unbroken, step by step from concept, protocol, code, application, to consensus, completing its self-verification.

This is why——

I do not bet on trends; I bet on the main narrative.

I do not chase hotspots; I guard the foundation.

Conclusion——

May we still be present in the next decade, still telling the story of ETH, not out of faith, but out of understanding.

Not because it can make me rich, but because I see it becoming an "irreversible infrastructure," a consensus container for future global assets, identities, and collaboration.

Ten years, one chain, one person, a weaving of destinies.

The script of Ethereum has never repeated, but it always hits the future.

May we hold onto our original intentions amidst the storms and embark on the next great journey together through cycles.

Follow Ethereum's decade, and pay attention to the OKX 50% off ETH buying event:

Entry: https://www.okx.com/zh-hans/campaigns/okx-eth-campaign?channelId=4776174

Thank you for reading this far. Those who reach this point are loyal fans of Ethereum and will surely make big money!

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