Martians and Bitcoin

Some people are born ordinary, spend their whole lives walking the path that others have taken; some people are born extraordinary, and they strive to create legends.

Of course, life is not what you say it is, and there will be no master to guide you, or to take out a martial arts secret book and praise you as a one-in-a-million martial arts genius. (You may say, "Wow! How can I come across this every day?" Don't doubt it, it's the master who wants to cheat you out of your money.)

I have written about stress-resistant people and other legends in the cryptocurrency world before. Time flies, and I have seen so many stories in the cryptocurrency world that I am no longer surprised by them. But today, I still want to surprise myself and tell you the story of the Martians’ counterattack. (I can’t help it. I am still short-sighted and have not seen enough examples of losers’ counterattacks.)

1. First acquaintance

I met Martian at the end of 2013, when the price of the currency was 8,000. People were so crazy that they only thought about buying coins to make a fortune. It seemed that one coin was worth 10,000 dollars. I am also a layman, and I am not immune to it. Looking back now, it is hard not to feel a little embarrassed. However, the days when I saved money to buy coins are really unbearable to recall.

Later, I was too poor to buy coins, so I started writing articles and received my first reward in life: 0.8m Bitcoin...

At that time, in the dialog box of Weibo, a message popped up strangely saying "Well written, 0.8m donation", which made me feel very emotional. There are so many people reading articles in the cryptocurrency circle, but I have never seen anyone willing to pay for it. I thought it was some rich man who was in a good mood and gave a reward. I found out that it was Ryan from Mars.

At that time, Martian's articles had been all over the world and became a trend in the cryptocurrency circle. I thought that writers appreciate writers, so I started chatting with him. After chatting, I found that Martian was not only not rich, but also a real poor guy... I laughed so hard.

Martian said at the time that he had more than 20 coins at most, and then 8,000 was trapped, and he cut several of them one after another. That was not all, he was superstitious about buying at the bottom, so he sent money to BTC-e through an underground bank, but it turned out that "chickens flew and eggs broke". The underground bank held tens of thousands of yuan in his hands for nearly a month, and by the time he sent the money, the money was gone. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, avoiding a big drop, and the Australian dollar exchange rate rose a little bit... He also sighed that it was inexplicable and life was unpredictable.

But he suddenly came to his senses at that time and firmly believed that炒币绝对发不了财.

Don't doubt the importance of this sentence. It was only after I fell several times that I finally understood this truth. For those who enter the market at a high position, even if they are successful in buying at the bottom and escaping at the top, it is nothing but a mirage. If someone says that they have made a fortune by speculating in cryptocurrencies, don't doubt it, they are definitely deceiving you.

How can I get rich without trading in cryptocurrencies? I asked the Martian curiously. He gave me an answer at the time: hoard cryptocurrencies! It will definitely be worth $100,000 in the future!

At the same time, he also demonstrated to me how to write articles! In his words, sometimes he wrote three articles a day, and he felt dizzy and almost vomited... But soon his popularity increased. His Weibo followers exceeded more than 10,000, which must be a reward for hard work.

I was very excited to post comments, but one day I found that the Martian’s update frequency was getting lower and lower, sometimes even not updating for several days. I asked him why, and he said helplessly that it was not possible, because the coins earned from writing articles were too few, and it was tiring and not worth it.

So I asked the Martian what he decided to do next? He replied, I don't know either.

2. Start a business

After a month or two of silence, the Martian returned to China for a tour. He was impressed by the relaxed atmosphere of Bitcoin entrepreneurship in China, and the vigorous development of numerous trading platforms/information platforms/mining industries. He slapped his thigh and thought, damn, I still have to start a business to make money!

So he used his personal credit guarantee and a copy of his ID card as collateral to raise money to start a business. He gradually collected more than two million in start-up funds, which was considered as angel investment from the "people", and established the Bitcoin Group. He then obtained the source code of the Pixiu Exchange and established his own exchange after returning to Australia. He also went to the Australian Chinese Radio Station to promote it desperately. At that time, he still had a grand idea to make these exchanges flourish all over the world.

But the idea seems wrong. The exchange still depends on the rise and fall of the currency price. At that time, the currency price fell terribly, falling 15% this month, and 20% next month... Each time it fell, it was healthier. The popularity of the exchange is hard to say. The major domestic exchanges have serious user loss every month, not to mention Australia.

It's funny to think that after the Bitcoin Group's radio promotion, there was a cemetery advertisement. We joked that you really fooled Australians into buying Bitcoin, and then had a heart attack and went to the grave after buying the Bitcoin, meh haha!

Don’t be afraid, as long as it can be established, it is a business. The Martian’s consciousness is extremely firm, and he put all his energy into it. During this period, the FBI of the United States came to auction 20,000 bitcoins, so he flew back to China in a hurry and contacted people in the circle to do crowdfunding. He stayed in my small shabby house to collect funds to prepare for the auction. (I have written about this in previous articles, so I will not repeat it again)
Interlude: He lived in my shabby rental house, and the old landlady next door almost kicked him out as a "vagrant"... Who the hell could have thought that this guy, in such a secluded and cramped little house with a train passing by in the middle of the night and a toilet that got clogged three times in two days, would run a business that could easily collect millions of dollars.

The auction was ultimately unsuccessful, and he returned to Australia. During that time, I asked him how he was doing. He said on WeChat: The pressure is so great...

3. Encountering a quarrel

There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. This saying is not only powerful in the political officialdom, but also applies to other fields.

Therefore, before making much money, the Bitcoin Group encountered a split crisis. It would be unrealistic to say that this segment was cancelled. But in detail, it is particularly sad. The Martians did not even see a single profit, and were kicked out in a confused manner. It can be described by the words of Li Qingzhao: sad, miserable, and sorrowful...

If you were to leave with nothing, it wouldn't be a problem. Didn't Steve Jobs also suffer this kind of treatment? But the problem is... your sister's more than 2 million startup funds were basically collected by Martians through crowdfunding!

At that time, Yi Ke had just bought a house in the capital and felt very uncomfortable with the loan of 500,000 yuan. After talking with him, he was immediately drunk. In his own words, it was: "What you have is nothing. I haven't done anything, but I have a debt of more than 2 million yuan for no reason." Counting with my fingers, the debt he owed was more than the entire house payment... When I got this news, from my short-sighted perspective, it seemed that the Martians were going to be tricked to the end this time and end up in a complete mess.

What does it matter? At most, they can start another business. Martians did the opposite. When this road failed, they opened another Bitcoin branch. This time, they targeted mining as the company's fundamental business, contacted mining machine manufacturers in China and looked for corresponding power resources.

But on the other hand, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. After a lot of trouble, the situation turned around. The split of the Bitcoin Group began to gradually bridge the gap because of common interests. Finally, the two companies merged into one and returned to the track of "striving for listing".

At this time, the Martian's concept of Bitcoin was upgraded again. I remember in that barbecue restaurant, I ate a string of lamb, and he asked me with a smile: Do you think I am hoarding Bitcoin now?

I glanced at him a few times, shook my head and said: He certainly doesn't look like the type of person who hoards coins.

He also picked up a skewer of mutton and said slowly:

“Bitcoin can go up, but life cannot depend on the increase of Bitcoin. Whether it goes up or not, I can make a fortune from it. The most valuable thing about a person is his brain, but unfortunately many people cannot understand this truth.”

4. Today

The bitterness and fatigue will not be eliminated soon. When I chatted with Martian in May and June this year, he was still in a state of "dying of poverty". His wife was upset because she moved all her money to support the company and wanted to break up with him. Because of the rent problem, he simply moved into the office to live for free.

How much perseverance does a person have to firmly believe that he can succeed?

Go public, go public, must go public! The white paper was revised over and over again, he slept less than three hours a day, went around to promote the company to rich people, couldn't afford to hire people to advertise, so he went out on the street as a puppet... He jokingly said in a fashionable way: I have to pretend to be awesome, and I have to finish pretending even if I cry... He also talked about his mentality at the time. If it didn't work out, he would go bankrupt to pay off the debts. If it went public, at least he would give an explanation to those early investors.

Even when he was the poorest, he never forgot to reward articles about Bitcoin. As the author who received the most Bitcoin rewards from him, I feel deeply ashamed.

Hard times will eventually come to an end, and after all the suffering, only sweetness will follow. He is getting smoother and smoother in receiving investment, and the price-earnings ratio in the white paper is so good. After repeated publicity, it is now being sought after by wealthy Australian investors (it is said that they have to queue up for appointments). Bitcoin Group has also gradually become less poor, and its employees are equipped with high-end suits worth tens of thousands of yuan. When they go out, they have upgraded their weapons and Lamborghinis to kill investors in seconds. Everyone will only " pay more attention " to what Bitcoin Group says.

Martians also brought in the top domestic certification agencies to do rating and certification for their company again. During the period, I passed by Xingkong’s private residence and had the honor to have a meal there. I laughed and watched the two of them talking and discussing (pretending) with each other. I can only lament that domestic financial institutions are not open. Otherwise, with the strong strength of Xingkong, they should not be limited to mining in China. They should... (This paragraph involves commercial secrets, so it will not be broadcast). Martians have revitalized their assets and used Bitcoin to mortgage various banks, which was very enjoyable.

Two days ago, Martians just announced that the Australian Securities and Futures Commission had approved their listing application and made the signed English notice public.

I can imagine the scene that night, but I can't imagine the emotions in his heart. He touched his bald head and muttered to himself: People still have to have dreams.

5. Later

The most amazing thing about life is that you don’t know what will happen next. I really can’t imagine what will happen next.

But the Martian is not short of money now, and he lives a happy life. He also won his wife back with his beautiful bags, and his career is also flourishing and on the rise. But sometimes he has some regrets and tells me:

"In fact, when I think back to the days when I was writing, I felt quite comfortable. I could say whatever I wanted about something and scold whomever I wanted. Unfortunately, I can't do that now. As an entrepreneur, I always have to pay attention to my words and actions, and maintain good relationships with my peers."

I laughed at this: If there is a parallel universe in this world, then you continue to write articles and I will start a business, okay?

Hearing this, he also laughed out loud.

Will the Bitcoin Cult be able to rule the world for thousands of years? I am not sure, but the Martian, the guardian of the cult, has truly carved out a vast world for himself with Bitcoin. Even if Bitcoin fails and returns to zero, he has proved to everyone his ability to make money, whether it is fiat currency or Bitcoin.

Bitcoin may not make people rich overnight, but it carries hope after all. Isn’t hope the most beautiful thing in the world?

Finally, I wish all my colleagues who persist in the cryptocurrency circle to be successful in their careers.