Professionalized yield farming is not just a game of luck; it is a comprehensive test of information acquisition, risk management, and execution capability.
Author: Deep Tide TechFlow
On September 17, 2025, the $Aster TGE launched and officially went live on Binance Alpha. CZ publicly promoted it on X, and within 24 hours, the price of $Aster peaked at a staggering 1650%, with a trading volume reaching $310 million, and the total trading volume on the platform exceeding $1.5 billion.
After the airdrop distribution, the price continued to rise. Currently, the price of $Aster is stable at around $2.1, with a 7-day increase of over 2000%.
As the $Aster TGE reignited the market, many KOLs discussed it as "the largest yield farming event in history," with numerous individuals earning over a million from a single token.
Crypto yield farming KOL Literature @wenxue600 (On-chain Expert) also achieved impressive results, lamenting that selling 98,000 $Aster tokens at $0.11 was a missed opportunity, but this operation still brought him considerable returns.
What is even more impressive is his investment myth in Pudgy Penguins: in 2021, he bought a penguin NFT for 0.7 ETH (about $2800), and subsequently gained unexpected returns through various external airdrop projects. In an interview, he mentioned, "I used the money from these airdrops to buy a house in a good school district, which was indeed very fulfilling."
From entering the crypto space in 2018 due to Xu Xiaoping's call to "embrace blockchain," to quitting his job at the end of 2021 to become a full-time yield farming blogger, Literature has witnessed the complete evolution of this industry from fervor to calm, from simplicity to complexity. In this speculative sub-sector, he has proven a principle over more than three years: professionalized yield farming is not just a game of luck; it is a comprehensive test of information acquisition, risk management, and execution capability.
Now, as more and more studios flood into the yield farming space, the survival space for retail investors is constantly being compressed. How did this KOL, who transitioned from traditional media, achieve results? How does he view the changes in the industry? How does he filter out truly valuable opportunities among the vast number of projects?
Key Points Summary
Transition from venture capital media to yield farming blogger: The best way to enter an industry is still through media. After feeling a career bottleneck at an exchange, he discovered a market gap for high-quality overseas content creators and decided to quit and become a self-media creator.
The investment myth of Pudgy Penguins: In 2021, he bought a Pudgy Penguins NFT for 0.7 ETH ($2800) simply because he liked it and held it. Later, he gained $70,000 to $80,000 in returns through various external airdrops, directly using the airdrop money to buy a house in a good school district, which was indeed very fulfilling.
Rational exit from the $Aster project: The expected price was $0.1, and calculating based on a cost of $20 for 2000 tokens, a 10x return is already quite good. He does not regret selling early; the yield farming mindset is to quickly achieve results, secure profits, and then move on to the next project.
Multi-dimensional background checks for project selection: Look at the popularity of the sector, the amount of financing, the background of investors, and the team's pedigree. Projects exclusively invested by Binance can be followed without hesitation; European and American funds are preferred over domestic funds, and projects from Indian and domestic teams are the most concerning.
The biggest change in the yield farming space: The most obvious change is that it is becoming increasingly competitive, with large players diluting the points of small retail investors. However, yield farming will exist long-term because project parties need users, and users need returns; this supply-demand relationship will always exist. Project parties, exchanges, VCs, and yield farmers are in a mutually competitive and symbiotic relationship, and none can be absent.
Survival strategies for retail investors: It is recommended to diversify efforts, engaging in both yield farming and community contributions, transforming outputs into other identities. Solo operations are no longer viable; professional team collaboration is the mainstream.
Lessons from the BTC ecosystem: Having participated in numerous assets like inscriptions and runes, he fantasized about making a profit, but most ended up worthless. One must believe that 99.9% of emotional assets will go to zero and set expectations to take profits in time.
The importance of mindset management: No one is a deity; it is impossible to sell at the highest point every time, not even Buffett. What matters is meeting one's own expectations and establishing multiple sources of achievement.
Promising future directions: He is more optimistic about the Perp DEX direction, particularly StandX, which is being developed by teams from Binance and OKX, as there are significant early opportunities. He is most looking forward to Abstract Chain (Pudgy Penguins ecosystem L2), as its gameplay is not easily exploited by studios. The parent company of Pudgy Penguins may go public in the US, and the applied ETF is expected to pass.
The sense of achievement for yield farming bloggers: The greatest sense of achievement is not how much one has farmed, but the gratitude received from fans who made money through discovering projects and sharing tutorials; this sense of achievement is indescribable.
Leaving the Internet, quitting the exchange, and stepping into the yield farming space
Deep Tide TechFlow: How did you enter the crypto industry?
On-chain Expert: I previously worked in traditional internet venture capital media. From 2016 to 2017, it was the peak of entrepreneurship, with shared bicycles, various O2O, B2B, and B2C models all the rage.
In early 2018, Xu Xiaoping's remarks in the entrepreneur group were widely circulated, calling for everyone to embrace blockchain, with phrases like "those who follow will prosper, those who resist will perish."
I was already involved in venture capital media and had encountered some blockchain projects, so from that point on, I began to seriously understand this field. Upon learning more, I found that the opportunities in blockchain are indeed much greater compared to traditional internet sectors. During 2017-2018, various ICOs grew wildly, and many people became wealthy overnight.
At that time, I thought the best way to enter an industry was still through media.
In mid-2018, I joined a leading crypto media outlet, starting from scratch to learn about various blockchain concepts and technologies while researching and producing content.
During my time in media, I experienced many significant industry events: the launch of the EOS mainnet in 2018, DeFi mining, Bitcoin halving, BCH forks, exchange wars, and so on. Although the market was not good at that time, the industry was very lively.
Two years of media experience allowed me to grasp the entire sector, but as you know, media work is often high in volume and low in pay (laughs). I then identified two directions: one was to enter VC, as it allows direct investment in projects and access to first-hand information; the other was to join an exchange. Both are at the top of the industry.
Later, I joined a leading exchange, mainly doing copywriting work, but after some time, I felt a clear career bottleneck.
On one hand, as a newcomer, it is difficult to quickly advance in a large exchange; the cycle is long, and writing is not a core business, leading to a "can see the end at a glance" situation. I felt that if I wanted to achieve significant results in this industry, I could not develop in a step-by-step manner.
Secondly, I enjoy researching new things. During the first wave of DeFi Summer in 2021, many people in the marketing department didn't even have wallets, weren't participating in mining, and didn't know about impermanent loss. I felt that the information was too closed off, but there were actually many opportunities in the industry.
The third opportunity was discovering an industry pain point. In 2021, domestic regulations were strict, and major financial bloggers were banned, transitioning from Weibo to Twitter, but high-quality overseas content creators were scarce. We had budgets but couldn't find suitable channels for placement, and I jokingly said to my colleagues, "Why not just do it ourselves?"
Coincidentally, that year, my child was just born, and I wanted to spend more time with my family. Since the market was good at that time, I thought, "Should I come out and do something?"
Deep Tide TechFlow: How did you get into the yield farming space after quitting?
On-chain Expert: When I quit at the end of 2021, although I had some early airdrop experiences like Uniswap, there wasn't a specific "yield farming" concept at that time; it was more about participating as an on-chain player. I was determined to do self-media, but I hadn't figured out exactly what to do.
At that time, chain games were very popular, and I deeply participated in the Wolf Game community, reporting project updates like a broadcaster, chatting, and attending meetings in the community. Since my assets were also involved, I was extremely enthusiastic. This helped me accumulate my first batch of followers.
After the chain game cooled down, I began to focus on overseas channels. I used the time at night to feed my baby to scroll through Twitter, quickly translating Vitalik's articles and some overseas research reports to post on my public account. Coming from a media background, I understood the importance of "original + first release." A few viral pieces I posted at night would receive many requests for reprints from other media the next day.
In 2021, there were very few Chinese Twitter users, and there were almost no bloggers specifically focused on yield farming information; the leading bloggers mainly focused on the secondary market. Later, I transitioned from my public account to Twitter, starting to share "wealth code" content like NFT whitelist spots and project financing participation methods. When I had a few thousand followers, each of my "wealth code" tweets could reach tens of thousands of views, which made me realize this was a blue ocean market.
After that, I began to focus on the yield farming space, participating in various projects like Arbitrum, and received recommendations from some leading KOLs in the yield farming space, gradually building my own follower base.
Investment Review: Sold $Aster Early, but I Have No Regrets
Deep Tide TechFlow: Can you share your experience of achieving results with the $Aster project?
On-chain Expert: My gains from $Aster were quite good. I acquired 98,000 tokens with my main account and about 1500-2000 with my secondary account. At its highest value, it reached $200,000, but I sold early.
In fact, I knew about this project quite early because a VC friend introduced it to me, and I was aware of its relationship with Binance. There was actually an opportunity to invest in the private round, but since the allocation was less than I expected, I impulsively declined it, which turned out to be a mistake (laughs).
Since I couldn't invest, I could only participate in their activities. The activities were mainly divided into two parts: one was depositing money to earn deposit points, and the other was trading to earn trading points. Because I understood this project well, I started depositing money from the very beginning, and after finishing the deposits, I didn't manage it much, just waiting for the airdrop.
Deep Tide TechFlow: Were there any key operational nodes?
On-chain Expert: There are two key reminders. The first is that they launched a referral activity specifically for new users, setting trading volume thresholds of $10,000, $100,000, and $1,000,000, unlocking corresponding points upon completion. After a comprehensive assessment, I felt this activity was very cost-effective; completing it with new user standards was much more advantageous than for old users.
To be honest, old users were all defending their rights during that activity, but defending rights indicates that the interests of old users were affected, so new users would definitely rush in. I directly posted the entire analysis on Twitter, with the strategy being to create 100 accounts, each reaching a trading volume of $100,000, and I also made reminders in the group.
The second key reminder is that after the activity ends, I reminded everyone to remain active, as there might be loyalty rewards. As a result, during the airdrop, my guess was indeed correct—those who continued to participate after the activity could secure at least a few hundred tokens per account, with the highest reaching nearly 1000 tokens.
Deep Tide TechFlow: What were your expected returns from this project? Do you regret selling early?
On-chain Expert: Yes, I had an expected price of $0.1, and $0.5 would have already exceeded expectations. Based on our costs, after the airdrop, we could get about 2000 tokens for a cost of around $20, which at $0.1 would mean $200, a 10x return is already quite good for yield farming.
The private round valuation I learned about was $200 million, which at $0.1 would mean an $800 million market cap, which is still acceptable. I didn't expect it to rise to $0.5 and continue climbing, but I had already sold.
As for selling early, I don't really regret it because I had already met my expectations. Our yield farming mindset is different from the secondary market; yield farming is more about quickly achieving results, securing profits, and then moving on to the next project to roll the funds. In the secondary market, they may focus more on long-term holding because they enter later than us and can directly buy hundreds of thousands with large capital, making even a doubling of returns significant.
Deep Tide TechFlow: With the surge of $Aster, many people are now paying attention to the perps DEX track. What are your thoughts?
On-chain Expert: Now that the entire sector has taken off, participation is essential, but it may be very difficult to make quick and easy profits like with $Aster.
I am currently focusing on several popular projects, such as Hyperliquid, and I am participating, but the expectations are not as high as for $Aster. It has become extremely competitive, with many large players trading, effectively diluting the points of small retail investors. It feels a bit late to participate now unless you put in several times the effort to research; otherwise, it’s hard to achieve significant returns.
In contrast, I am more optimistic about StandX, which is being developed by teams from Binance and OKX. This project is still in its early stages; currently, you can only participate by depositing money, forming LPs (Liquidity Providers to earn fee shares), or swapping tokens. The contract products haven't launched yet, and the earliest they might be available is in October.
So, everyone is at the same starting line for contracts; once they are released, we can go all out. Early project opportunities are greater.
I haven't focused much on the future of yield farming in the sector. What we think is very practical: either invest time and effort or put in some money to scout projects, and wait for good returns when tokens are issued.
As for how the sector is doing or how the projects are, to be honest, most yield farmers don't care (laughs). As long as I earn within my understanding and capability, that's fine; the bigger picture doesn't concern me, just making money in rhythm.
Deep Tide TechFlow: What is the most impressive or successful yield farming experience you have had?
On-chain Expert: Of course, it’s Pudgy Penguins; this counts as yield farming but also as an investment.
I started paying attention to NFTs at the end of 2021 because they were very popular, including Pudgy Penguins, Bored Apes, and many other star projects.
I really liked Pudgy Penguins from the start, but I missed the mint and could only buy on the secondary market.
Pudgy Penguins exploded upon release, quickly rising to several ETH; at that time, ETH was very valuable, over $10,000 each, which was quite expensive.
I didn’t buy immediately but kept an eye on it. Then one day, I saw it drop below 1 ETH, and when it hit 0.7 ETH, I started buying continuously. I held onto it simply because I liked it and didn’t sell, even if it went to zero, I still thought it looked good.
I really didn’t expect such returns.
When I bought, the entire penguin community was chaotic. The first team did a terrible job, leading to community division and many rumors about finding someone to take over. Later, Luca Netz took over, and the project began to get back on track, leading to a continuous rise.
However, it was unexpected that it could still rise during a bear market, including the later token issuance, which was completely unforeseen. It was essentially because I held onto it that I benefited from a series of good events.
Pudgy Penguins later received many project airdrops, with one external airdrop estimated to be worth $70,000 to $80,000. After Pudgy Penguins issued tokens, they also airdropped generously to holders, which was basically unprecedented.
The only comparable project might be the monkeys, but for penguins to achieve this in the market at the end of last year was already impressive. I directly used the airdrop to buy a house in a good school district for my child, which was indeed very fulfilling.
Deep Tide TechFlow: Conversely, do you have any particularly regrettable yield farming experiences? What lessons have you learned from failures?
On-chain Expert: The most regrettable experience was in the BTC ecosystem. At that time, I participated in many inscriptions, runes, and small cards, and I had quite a few popular assets.
The BTC ecosystem was very crazy back then; an asset could multiply several times on the day it was released, and I fantasized about making a profit from these assets.
However, I didn’t expect the windfall to come and go so quickly. When the market dropped, I was unwilling to cut losses, and in the end, most of the assets went to zero. The loss was significant, to the point where I didn’t want to calculate it.
In my view, trading must grasp the bottom line. One must believe that 99.9% of emotional assets will definitely go to zero later. The few that can escape are truly rare; don’t fantasize that you have an inscription that will be the next ORDI; those claiming to be "the next" usually don’t succeed.
Once you understand this, set expectations for yourself, like how much profit you need to take your leave. If you want to gamble a bit, leave a portion behind; don’t think you can eat a big meal in one bite; that’s very difficult.
Multi-dimensional background checks, maintaining a balanced mindset
Deep Tide TechFlow: How do you filter out projects worth paying attention to among the many new projects in the market?
On-chain Expert: This process is actually quite similar to the due diligence done by VCs when investing in projects; I look at it from many dimensions.
First, I look at the sector; it should either be currently popular or have promising future prospects. Then I check the financing amount; a larger amount indicates a higher necessity for participation.
The investors are also very important; I consider two aspects: first, the past investment cases of the investors; if they have invested in some successful projects, those institutions can be prioritized for following; second, I look at the institutional background, such as whether it’s a European or American fund or a domestic fund. European and American funds are definitely prioritized, while domestic VCs and projects often run away.
Team background is also crucial; currently, the projects with the worst reputations are from Indian and domestic teams.
For example, $Aster’s most attractive condition is its association with Binance. This project was one of the key projects supported by Binance in its early stages. Binance’s leading position in the industry is unshakeable, so projects it supports can be followed without hesitation.
However, there are still things to be cautious about because Binance Labs invests in many projects, but these projects are different. Some are exclusively invested by Binance, while others are co-invested by Binance, which has different levels of credibility. Projects exclusively invested by Binance often have stronger strategic intentions, while those fully supported by Binance can be expected to perform well.
Deep Tide TechFlow: What channels do you usually use to obtain quality project information and conduct due diligence?
On-chain Expert: As a network blogger, the accounts you follow from the beginning essentially become your database. I follow founders of exchanges, VC institutions, project teams, etc., all of which provide first-hand information. The news on Twitter is the most immediate.
For financing information, I often use Chain Catcher and RootData. RootData is most aligned with the habits of Chinese users and is comprehensive and timely enough for beginners.
Regarding project information, I now use AI to search, which provides comprehensive results. I usually use Grok, inputting the project’s Twitter ID, and I can find almost anything I want, which is sufficient for making yield farming judgments.
Yield farming will always exist; retail investors need to diversify their efforts
Deep Tide TechFlow: What significant changes have you observed in the yield farming space over the past few years? Will yield farming continue to exist long-term?
On-chain Expert: The most obvious change is that it has become increasingly competitive. In the past, you could casually participate and still achieve decent returns; now, it requires more strategy, earlier positioning, and more systematic operations.
Now, more large players are entering the market with significant capital, directly diluting the points of small retail investors. Therefore, to achieve good returns now, you either need to be earlier than others or put in more effort to research and execute.
However, I believe yield farming will continue to exist long-term because project parties need users, and users need returns; this supply-demand relationship will always be there. The gameplay will just become more complex, and the barriers to entry will be higher.
Project parties, exchanges, VCs, and yield farmers are in a mutually competitive and symbiotic relationship; none can be absent.
Deep Tide TechFlow: What advice would you give to retail investors regarding yield farming?
On-chain Expert: My advice is to diversify your efforts.
I am a good example of this; in the beginning, I was both participating in interactions to yield farm on-chain activities and contributing to the community. For instance, after discovering a project, I would continuously output follow-up content and post it in the community’s content channel.
After posting frequently, I would directly reach out to the project, saying I had been contributing and asking if they could give me a higher status. We could discuss long-term cooperation, etc. This status itself would also lead to airdrops.
The ideal situation is to yield farm a project while simultaneously outputting content, transforming that output into other identities, rather than just focusing on interactions or merely mingling in the community.
If yield farming is done well, it’s actually quite easy to build an account from 0 to 1 and establish your personal IP.
For yield farming bloggers, the greatest sense of achievement is not about how much you farmed yourself, but the gratitude received from fans who made money through discovering projects and sharing tutorials; this sense of achievement is truly indescribable.
Deep Tide TechFlow: Are you considering a career transition in the future?
On-chain Expert: It’s not so much a transition; it’s more about considering more collaborations with studios and scientists. Everyone can complement each other’s strengths; you have resources, I have resources, and we can work together, then share the results afterward.
In the future, professional teams and collaboration will definitely be the mainstream. Solo operations can only yield the profits of one account, but it’s very difficult to achieve excess returns with multiple accounts.
I have limited energy and can’t control everything myself; now I leave the rest to the studio. Some tasks require direct scripting, while others need manual work; each project is different, and strategies are formulated based on the project and activity type.
It’s like this; if you don’t dive deep, it’s really quite difficult.
Deep Tide TechFlow: Can you share a few projects you are currently optimistic about that have not yet issued tokens?
On-chain Expert: I am currently involved in many projects, but the one I am most looking forward to is Abstract Chain, the L2 project in the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem. I have high expectations for it because this project’s gameplay is not easily exploited by studios, and seasoned players who participate deeply should see good returns.
Pudgy Penguins has tremendous resources; they can leverage almost all the resources you can think of, including the U.S. government.
According to my calculations, the parent company of Pudgy Penguins is very likely to go public in the U.S. stock market, and with the previously applied ETF, it should pass without any issues. If it does pass, it will not only be a boon for the project itself but also a significant positive for the industry.
Deep Tide TechFlow: How do you maintain balance amid the monotony of yield farming and psychological fluctuations?
On-chain Expert: You still need to focus. Every day, research new things, new projects, new gameplay, and new activities, while maintaining continuous output.
You need to establish multiple sources of achievement; don’t always think about escaping at the peak every time; even deities can’t do that. Timely satisfaction is important; if you post a tweet and get good views and interaction data, that’s also a sense of achievement.
I consider myself an old hand, having participated in many ups and downs; many things that seemed life-or-death at the time are, in retrospect, just trivial matters, and there’s no need for internal conflict.
Selling early is inevitable; what you can do is set a target for yourself, and once satisfied, gradually exit. If you’re worried about selling early, leave a portion behind; the main goal is still to participate, achieve results, and secure profits.
No one is a deity; it’s impossible to sell at the highest point every time, not even Buffett. Just meet your own expectations.
To be honest, there are many opportunities, and as you yield farm more, such situations become very common; you can’t expect to hit the peak every time; it’s 100% impossible. The important thing is still the mindset.
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