The crypto ecosystem is the Wall Street of the virtual world

In the previous article, I detailed the books I read by the two gentlemen, Buffett and Munger, in 2024. Some readers have repeatedly asked about this, so I will list them again here.

The main ones I have read are: the transcripts of Buffett's speeches at the shareholder meetings, Buffett's letters to shareholders, "The Tao of Charlie Munger," and "Poor Charlie's Almanack."

My approach to these books has primarily been to understand the investment philosophies of the two gentlemen. The most enlightening part for me has been Buffett's speeches at the shareholder meetings.

These speeches essentially answer all the questions investors have when trying to understand the investment processes of the two gentlemen. The books are excellent, but the only issue is that they are quite thick, and I estimate that very few people can patiently read through them.

However, if one can thoroughly read these speeches, I believe they can not only generally understand the investment methods of the two gentlemen but also grasp their series of actions in the investment market (such as the recent large-scale sale of Apple stocks and the massive buying of XX company's stocks during this period), without being led into various speculations and assumptions by a plethora of self-media.

Nonetheless, I believe these books also have limitations (I am not saying the two gentlemen have limitations, but rather that the scope of the books themselves is limited). They still reflect the "Lushan" view of "Lushan," showcasing the judgment methods of the two gentlemen in the micro field, especially regarding specific companies and projects.

I always hope to stand at a higher perspective and use methods that step outside of investment itself to understand the tracks, assets, development, and trends of our investments.

This year, I read another book that gave me a bit of this feeling—it made me more convinced of the future of the crypto track and more certain that the crypto ecosystem is the future for countless ordinary people like me.

It is "The Great Game: The Rise of the Wall Street Financial Empire" (CITIC Press).

This book narrates the development process of Wall Street from nothing to becoming the financial center of the United States and even the world.

In the early days, Wall Street was a completely unregulated and chaotic market. The market was filled with disreputable forces trying to profit without any credibility. People came to Wall Street not to buy good companies but to raise money, cash out, and commit fraud.

In the early days, even the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury colluded with Wall Street speculators, and even Supreme Court justices were bribed by speculators to serve their interests.

At that time, Wall Street was seen as a thorn in the side by several U.S. presidents.

But in such a market, despite its chaos, its freedom attracted financial capital from all over the world, and this capital continuously fueled the vigorous development of American industries and the economy during every technological revolution and industrial wave experienced by the U.S.

In the early days, every industrial revolution in the U.S. became a subject of speculation for Wall Street without exception. Countless speculators on the street would paint a glamorous narrative, and financial bubbles would be touted as luxurious and dazzling. Among 100 companies that went public after packaging, perhaps only 2 were genuinely doing business, 3 were barely doing business, 25 were misrepresented, and 70 were outright shell companies.

Each of these bubbles would change the fate of countless "penniless" individuals, while the severe depression following the burst of the bubble would lead to the ruin of many "big players," even triggering societal upheaval and crises.

Whenever such upheaval and crises affected society as a whole, the American people would use their power to force the U.S. government to take measures to regulate the illegal activities within.

On the other hand, the vested interests of Wall Street were unwilling to be openly restrained; they would always maneuver and negotiate with the U.S. government using their money and influence, struggling for survival.

The compromise resulting from the tug-of-war between these two forces led to the outcome that, on one hand, illegal activities that provoked public outrage were regulated, while on the other hand, the freedom of financial innovation continued to remain on Wall Street, planting the seeds for the next innovation.

It seems that Wall Street is the source of repeated disasters, repeatedly cursed and scorned by society, yet after each disaster, it can resurrect, once again becoming a home for "dream chasers," and once again leading the technological and industrial revolutions in the U.S. financially.

This mixed market of good and evil, with its vibrant freedom, possesses qualities unmatched by any other financial market in the world, which ultimately makes it the financial center of the globe.

The crypto ecosystem is essentially a virtual-world version of Wall Street.

The current sordidness of the crypto ecosystem resembles the dirtiness of Wall Street in the past, the current chaos of the crypto ecosystem mirrors the disorder of early Wall Street, and the pervasive lies in the crypto ecosystem are akin to the widespread fraud of early Wall Street.

Like Wall Street, every innovation explosion in the crypto ecosystem is not lacking in "wealth creation myths," and every bubble attracts "penniless" dream chasers.

What is fairer than Wall Street is that the crypto ecosystem does not believe in background or pedigree, has no biases, no barriers, no discrimination, and no censorship; it always opens its doors to adventurers, providing equal freedom and rights to all participants.

Wall Street has contributed a continuous flow of funds to every industrial and technological revolution in the U.S., and similarly, the crypto ecosystem also provides a continuous flow of funds for every revolution and technology that erupts within it, from the earliest Ethereum to DeFi, NFTs, and now AI agents, without exception.

However, compared to Wall Street, the crypto ecosystem has incomparable advantages: all its gameplay is open, all transactions are transparent, contracts are the law, and they cannot be violated or interfered with.

Wall Street has played an immeasurable role in achieving today's status for the U.S., and I believe the crypto ecosystem will also make an immeasurable contribution to achieving the future status of the virtual world.

Over 200 years ago, outcasts, rogues, and heretics fled persecution, sought sustenance, and searched for hope in the new land, ultimately establishing a new emerging nation.

More than 200 years later, ordinary people, in order to change their life circumstances and realize their wealth dreams, cautiously enter the crypto world, which will surely lead to the creation of an even greater and better new world.