Ten Questions with Bitget Researcher: 40x Returns, Establishing the Industry's First PEPE Dashboard, Insights on Coin Hunting and a Day in the Life of a Researcher

Introduction

CEX's self-established research institute and the reserve investment research team have gradually become an industry trend. The competition in investment research is essentially a competition for talent.

A strong talent reserve and self-research, along with more analysis of the on-chain dark forest, allow for the early identification of potential assets. This is an indispensable part of guiding crypto players' investment operations and paving the way for listing and secondary strategies.

Besides independent analysts from external networks, how professional are CEX's investment research experts?

In this issue, we invite Jack, the Chief On-Chain Analyst at Bitget, to engage in an in-depth dialogue about the daily realities of investment research work.

As an OG who made his first million in the early days through GameFi, with meme profits like PEPE exceeding 40 times, and the first in the industry to establish an on-chain data dashboard for PEPE, as well as building structured data dashboards for DEX when the Base chain was still overlooked, Jack's perspective on the market may differ completely from that of the readers.

We are also curious about what it's like to be a researcher at Bitget. How does Jack view the Meme craze, and what wealth secrets can he share?

Deep Tide TechFlow: Hello Jack, could you briefly introduce yourself and how you jumped into the Web3 crypto rabbit hole?

Jack:

I originally came from a technical background, working in data development and analysis at a Web2 financial software company.

My entry into the crypto rabbit hole was somewhat accidental. A friend told me I could mine ETH using a graphics card, so I started mining ETH with an idle machine at home, and the returns were quite good. As I accumulated more ETH, around 2021, I began participating in some secondary markets. It was during the zoo market and the GameFi wave that I seized the opportunity and made my initial profits.

So initially, I saw the opportunity in this industry and gradually accumulated experience and understanding from Web2 to Web3, eventually becoming a part of this industry. Looking back, it was an interesting process.

Deep Tide TechFlow: How did you make your first pot of gold? Do you have any publicly shareable "achievements" from this bull market?

Jack:

My first pot of gold came from the previous GameFi market boom.

There was a game project called RACA, where I invested less than $1000; it subsequently skyrocketed, and within a month and a half, I made over 1 million RMB in profit.

However, at that time, my understanding of the project and its gameplay was quite shallow. Many times, I would just mindlessly invest in an address, and sometimes I would inexplicably catch opportunities that multiplied tenfold or a hundredfold, but due to a lack of understanding, I ended up losing profits in the process (laughs).

Now, our investment research logic is vastly different from back then, and we can discuss that in detail later.

In terms of results, the BOME and PEPE of this cycle, if calculated theoretically from the moment I discovered them to their peak, averaged a 35-40 times increase. Many times, you can't capture the entire increase, but you can use a systematic analysis method to secure your share of the profits during the upward trend.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Do you think your Web2 data analysis experience helped you achieve these gains? How does one become a qualified Web3 researcher?

Jack:

The biggest difference between data analysis in Web2 and Web3 is not in the data itself, but in the business context.

Web3 data is very direct; to put it simply, it's "money-related." Therefore, your analysis only needs to focus on three questions:

First, where is the money; second, where is the money flowing; third, who is most likely to be making money?

These three different questions correspond to different analytical tools and solutions, and they are not closely related to Web2 data analysis; rather, you need to understand the business logic.

For example, when you look at contracts on Uniswap, you need to find their capital flow and understand the underlying reasons for each trading behavior, corresponding to how the on-chain data manifests, so that you can analyze the intentions of the people controlling the contract addresses and ultimately support your trading decisions.

Therefore, overall, having Web2 data analysis experience, combined with an understanding of Web3 business, is essential for conducting real data analysis.

Deep Tide TechFlow: How do you manage to discover and identify these data points earlier than others? As the first person to establish the PEPE on-chain data dashboard, what experiences can you share?

Jack:

The discovery and identification of popular assets in the spot market is always the first step.

I believe early discovery and identification can be divided into two dimensions: on-chain and off-chain.

On-chain, all investment behaviors will produce an on-chain result. More importantly, the short-term dynamic results on-chain are generally understood as a window. For example, the early distribution of a popular asset must come from some energetic individuals or entities; either there is a large team behind it or significant capital.

For instance, large capital is reflected in having a relatively good pool. Some good projects on Solana have pool sizes exceeding a million dollars, indicating that there is capital pushing them.

When such a pool is created, you need to dig into it immediately. You can notice that many high-net-worth addresses are continuously buying in the initial blocks, and you can detect on-chain anomalies within the first half hour.

Another scenario might not involve huge capital but has abundant resources. For example, if you have a large community and high community consensus off-chain, or have quality promotional channels, such as small Alpha communities sharing information.

Thus, on-chain information is fairer, but it requires analytical skills and an alert system, while off-chain tests your ability to aggregate information and reach core promotional circles.

Deep Tide TechFlow: What do you think your investment research analysis contributes to an exchange like Bitget?

Jack:

For a CEX to conduct spot business, it actually needs to solve several core issues.

The first is that users can find the asset here, and the second is that the trading varieties are relatively "high-quality," which can create a wealth effect. This is how we can attract more users. Therefore, our early investment research analysis work is to detect popular assets as soon as they appear, allowing CEX to connect early.

Every token has a time and traffic window. In the face of fierce market competition, acquiring users and assets during this window to drive the growth of CEX's spot business is where our investment research adds value.

At the same time, we also produce a dedicated "Wealth Daily" to track daily market hotspots and dynamics, providing useful references for crypto players.

Deep Tide TechFlow: How did you come to be associated with Bitget? We are also curious about what a "day in the life" of an analyst at an exchange looks like.

Jack:

The process was quite interesting. I had previously created on-chain data dashboards for PEPE and other popular assets, which garnered some attention in the industry.

Friends from Bitget reached out to see if I could come on board as a data researcher. After our conversation, I felt that Bitget is closer to Web3; everyone here is very familiar with and knowledgeable about the industry and is genuinely concerned about daily events and trends.

For example, there was a famous MEV BOT on Ethereum called JaredfromSubway. A colleague even dug into the possibility that the name originated from the author's epiphany after eating at Subway, which made me feel that everyone here truly finds this industry interesting and is passionate about it.

So I believe that a group of like-minded individuals focusing on this industry will create more opportunities.

As for "a day in the life," it can be summarized into three main areas:

First, spot operations, which involve discovering and identifying quality assets. As mentioned earlier, we identify promising projects and then review them to ensure their quality, fundamentals, and team are all satisfactory, allowing users to gain profits through high-quality projects, achieving faster, more comprehensive, and better wealth effects.

Second, supporting business strategies. If internal teams or regional product operations need support or are unfamiliar with certain projects, our research institute will collaborate with them.

Third, brand content output. Every day, we analyze wealth creation opportunities, as well as reports on market hotspots and competitive analysis, regularly publishing information that the industry and users care about.

That's a day in the life of a researcher.

Deep Tide TechFlow: What is the difference between doing research at an exchange and being an "independent researcher" or KOL online?

Jack:

I think a key point is that the sources of information are broader.

CEX's Listing Managers have numerous channels and can provide us with some good projects, along with resources from quality VC projects, which creates an early information advantage.

Additionally, CEX has its own operational logic and judgment regarding whether a token can be listed and its potential, which inherently increases this information advantage. For example, after a certain type of asset is listed, you will have a more intuitive sense of what its valuation might reach.

Every platform has its unique resources to ensure its hit rate, forming its own information and logical gaps, which may provide an advantage compared to independent researchers who lack resources.

Deep Tide TechFlow: What do you think about a group of "eternally profitable influencers" making calls? Their hit rates seem particularly high.

Jack:

I usually consider the density of calls as a dimension to assess the heat of public sentiment. For a project to launch successfully, two key things need to be distributed: one is token distribution, which determines the chip structure and is crucial for later market operations; the second is traffic distribution, which directly affects the number of users and capital that can be attracted, and is essential during project operations.

Since the vast majority of players are here to make money, the market has created the persona of "eternally profitable influencers" as an effective way to attract traffic. Some "eternally profitable influencers" derive their profit logic from traffic monetization rather than secondary trading, so I generally assess the heat of public sentiment based on the density of calls for a project.

Deep Tide TechFlow: What do you think about CEXs starting to establish "research institutes"? It seems to have become a standard and trend; what do you think Bitget's advantages are?

Jack:

I believe this trend reflects that companies are exploring their core businesses more deeply.

CEX's spot and contract businesses can bring significant revenue to the entire company if operated well during a bull market. Therefore, to improve this part of the business, it is necessary to have a dedicated group of people and resources to observe the market. These individuals need to be very familiar with the entire industry, the group, and competitors to segment and improve their operations. So I think this trend is quite foreseeable, as it is indeed an important part of the group's strategic level.

Regarding our specific advantages, I believe the primary point is that Bitget has a very comprehensive research team, where everyone is experienced in their respective fields, possessing significant industry experience and personal capabilities, which serves as a foundation for collaboration and output.

For instance, based on the teamwork mentioned above, when a hot event occurs in the industry, we can quickly gain insights into the significance and motivations behind the event and decide whether to follow up or adopt it.

Deep Tide TechFlow: For ordinary users, how do you view the Meme craze, and what wealth acquisition methods can you share to "teach them to fish"?

Jack:

First of all, the market always needs some tradable targets, and MEME coins are relatively simpler compared to other mainstream projects:

The project itself doesn't need to tell a particularly complex story, nor does it have to go through the lengthy process of seeking financing, forming a team, developing products, and launching tokens; for MEME, the entire process only requires capital operation and core narrative support, making its listing cost very low and speed very fast.

The mindset of most players in the market is that as long as there is a wealth effect, they will chase it, which has led to the Meme craze.

So overall, it is still determined by market demand; MEME can be said to be the most primitive part of the fast-paced crypto world. For example, when ChatGPT is popular, and Musk mentions Grok, immediately there will be a Grok concept MEME to satisfy the market's speculative needs.

Events, hotspots, trending memes, emojis, etc., anything that has a certain basic flow and can generate community consensus can serve as the core narrative for issuing MEMEs. Therefore, when there is a lot of hot money in the market and user sentiment continues to FOMO, it creates the Meme wave.

From a secondary perspective, for a new project, I believe you first need to understand the project's core narrative and token distribution logic.

The core narrative addresses whether there is a sustained speculative demand for this project in the current market environment. For example, if someone is focused on keywords from Musk's tweets, then a Meme coin composed of words related to what Musk says essentially has its core narrative in the celebrity's flow effect; when there is an A word, there will be a B word, becoming a temporary speculative target.

Now, at this time point, with the upcoming ChatGPT version 5, if the AI sector rotates, and you discover an early project that meets the above conditions, you likely have a chance to get in, but you can't draw a definitive conclusion; you can only judge its core trend and that the heat will last for a while.

After determining the core trend, you need to assess the token's distribution logic.

The distribution logic determines how much user volume this project can leverage and the exchange's attitude towards it.

First, you need to assess whether its chip structure is healthy. For example, some tokens distribute airdrops to mobile/NFT holders; you need to realize that this is actually distributing chips, leveraging a portion of users to attract larger traffic and dissemination effects; if the addresses being distributed are high-net-worth players recognized by the market, then this project is more likely to be favored by more resources and promoted for success.

If the chip structure is highly concentrated, and among the top 10 holding addresses, there are EOA addresses (indicating human-held rather than contract addresses) holding 20-30% of the total supply, then the risk of a dump is quite high.

Additionally, when participating in secondary projects, especially MEME coin projects, to achieve relatively considerable returns, aside from assessing the core narrative and distribution logic, there are several important points:

First, build your own "smart money" list. Although the concept of smart money is often overused, publicly available smart money does not actually have Alpha value; you need to find your own list and people to follow. Some individuals may not be KOLs, but they might publicly discuss a coin before its listing at sensitive time points, indicating they could be stakeholders with Alpha information, allowing you to gradually accumulate continuous attention on such individuals.

Second, always prioritize risk. For instance, assess the security of the contract, whether it is a PiXiu pool, trading taxes, whether balances can be altered, etc. You must conduct your own checks and judgments, especially when you are eager to jump into a project early. Another aspect of safety is the health of the chip structure, being alert to the risk of being dumped.

Third, find your own milestone selling points. Knowing when to sell is actually a difficult thing to standardize; you need to have your own expectations. For example, if there is a favorable news announcement, you can sell some, or you might choose to sell when it gets listed.

Finally, looking at recent hotspots, I believe the AI sector will be relatively strong, with clear effects of sector rotation. The risk for individual Meme coins is relatively high, and I personally share less about them. Interested readers can also follow the daily Wealth Sector Daily published by our Bitget research institute, which will provide more valuable information to aid decision-making and judgment.

The Era of Super Individuals: The Mutual Achievement of Talent and Opportunity

At the end of the interview, we feel that Web3 super individuals like Jack contain greater energy.

Highly capable individuals can unleash powerful momentum and achieve success in their professional fields; at the same time, super individuals still need the injection of organizational resources to have a broader space for development on larger platforms, influencing more people and pursuing greater achievements. Correspondingly, leading organizations must also give enough respect and space to super individuals, allowing them to shine in suitable positions, achieving a win-win for organizational interests and personal value.

The talents and organizations in crypto investment research are like the relationship between a fine horse and its rider, thriving together and complementing each other.

Leading CEXs like Bitget are undergoing a "sublimation reaction" similar to that in the physical world: absorbing heat from the surroundings, drawing talented individuals into their teams, and accumulating momentum for identifying quality assets;

While excellent crypto talents are leveraging better platforms to conduct a "condensation reaction": releasing heat to the surroundings, illuminating the paths of every explorer in the crypto dark forest with knowledge and advice.