Do retailers now understand this better? Individual investors have become smarter!

To be honest, I really have no idea when things started to change. It might have happened gradually, or it could have been a sudden shift. Perhaps some things can only be understood after the fact. The craze around Solana’s token might have played a role, but I’m not sure exactly why.

But somehow, the market became more sensitive and efficient.

I mean, in terms of practical implementation (laughs), it’s not strictly an academic discussion. It’s about avoiding the inefficiency that comes from relying solely on liquidity sources.

The gap between information and reality is shrinking.

Tools and information have come into play, changing the rules of the game.

The more tools and information we have, the less room there is for nonsense. A few years ago, it wasn’t like this. Even if you proposed the most predatory token economics theories, CT would still blindly follow them, because the motto at that time was “Follow blindly first, then ask questions later.”

Now, on average, CT users can easily find out all the necessary information by scrolling through CryptoRank. They can see the token economics model and unlocking timelines of various projects. Then they can immediately understand why these projects are being promoted so heavily on the timeline—major unlockings are scheduled for 48 hours from now!

Just like high-value stocks, you’ve probably seen them on plasma TV screens: the price of these stocks drops significantly within a few days after they are listed. You understand this pattern, so you immediately sell off your shares, knowing that any further holding would lead to great regret. After all, hardly anyone buys stocks whose prices have already been absorbed by the market on the first day of trading.

Attention can be quickly diverted.

All you need to do is choose any day and check the CT, to see how these stocks move from one point to another after the TGE.

Poor presentations are immediately punished and recorded, and people quickly move on to the next “shining Pokémon”. To be honest, I don’t know if this really is a good thing, as it creates an atmosphere of “this is the last day”.

Having a group of followers shows how far smart retail has developed.

You’ll notice that people pay attention to every word you say, analyze your opinions, etc…

Personally, I often monitor social media, carefully reading the comments section to see what people think about various things. I think aside from all that chaotic information, it’s actually quite complicated. People not only track wallets but also the spending habits of influencers. You’ll see information like this… Ah, don’t buy something from this person—he’s Ardizor’s friend.

So, combining all these factors together, you can see that people already know how to track wallets, token economy models, marketers (KOLs/influencers), etc., and can detect scams from a distance.

So, the downside of this approach is…

Is that really the case? Does efficiency really have any drawbacks in such situations? Let’s give it a try…

Efficiency can stifle potential for growth. I tend to believe that once everyone has access to information, the “ignorance premium” disappears. No one will hold onto assets just because they fear becoming a victim of liquidity withdrawal.

People don’t mind selling their assets early—after all, profit is still profit. It’s better than being caught in a situation where you have to wait for liquidity to dry up. That’s true, but sometimes I miss those days when the market was full of opportunities. There were plenty of cases where investors could get ten times higher returns.

By the way, there are many benefits to this approach.

Ultimately, efficiency is positive for the entire ecosystem. It makes everyone take it seriously.

It starts to punish predatory behavior. You can’t expect retail investors to provide liquidity if you use predatory token economics or promote bad products. You’ll be exposed! This reminds me of some users who recently criticized those internet celebrities who tried to whitewash Apriori. Haha.

Of course, this makes it harder for people to find investment opportunities that offer tenfold returns. But it also means that only projects that build something truly sustainable will succeed in the long run. Excess liquidity…

To be honest, I strongly support this trend, and I believe it will continue. You either adapt to this reality, or you’ll be left behind. This applies both to projects and the retail sector.