Recently, friends in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have been sharing feedback: The previously vacant shops downstairs in their neighborhoods are being renovated, and prime spots in malls that were up for transfer now have new takers. Even consumer stocks like Moutai, Yili, and Haitian are starting to recover. I feel like China’s real economy might be hitting bottom and rebounding. The money released by the financial system earlier was just circulating within the stock market and banks, but now it’s starting to flow into the real economy. Another piece of evidence is that new home and second-hand home transaction volumes in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are warming up, prices have stopped falling and are slightly rising. China’s stock market and real economy are sometimes like a seesaw— it’s hard for both to thrive at the same time. Why is that? Because the U.S. stock market is like a casino connected to a church— some people go to church, some go to the casino. China’s stock market is mainly driven by retail investors, and they treat the stock market like a casino. When the real economy isn’t making money, people turn to the stock market to gamble. When they lose everything or the casino goes bearish and stops making money, they go back to the real economy. There was a spot-on summary before: During Chinese New Year, childhood friends back home were playing poker at the village entrance. After losing everything, they went back to work on the second day of the new year. To break free from this cycle, don’t be a gambling dog—be the house. That’s the only way to make money long-term. In the crypto world, the casino chips are USDC. Now even U.S. stocks can be traded with USDC. Become a small shareholder in USDC’s parent company— buying CRCL means you’re a small shareholder in the casino itself.