Back to mining bricks, and I’ll also add a Hong Kong short essay at the airport.

First, this is my busiest Hong Kong trip in recent years: as a sponsor of the BNB major event, randomly arranging private meetings and seizing opportunities at various event sites to discuss related collaborations...
Many brothers asked me how it feels to be a project side participant.
Actually, over the years, I’ve been involved in several projects each year, with similar pace and intensity. But when I go public, the mental pressure and anxiety are a bit greater.
But personally, one of my strengths is focusing on the present, not thinking about metaphysical or unmaterialized things.
Contrary to many friends’ observations, I think this year’s Hong Kong conference actually best exemplifies the resilience of the crypto community as an independent cultural group (note: not industry).
Tourists and role-players (pretenders) have left, and the “investors” and “rock stars” chasing the trend, enjoying the spotlight and flattery, are nowhere to be seen.
What remains are those truly “skin in the game,” genuinely coexisting with crypto participants:
- Exchanges and trading platforms that never fail to hold events
- Crypto KOLs (self-media) who curse the industry but are actually “million-dollar workers tied to livelihood”
- P-level warriors who are on the front lines regardless of bull or bear markets
- Market makers proactively finding breakthroughs in financial innovation paradigms
Of course, there are also the “real traffic breakers” — Brother Qiang, Empower Love, and Teachers Baolong.
Empower Love, which looks as rustic as it can get, hosts hundreds of people at a morning meeting. Many of these gatherings are not just simple brainwashing; they teach members how to set up VPNs, withdraw wallets, buy U, and deposit funds step by step.
Honestly, their contributions to crypto education, expanding outside traffic, and attracting new users make most of us “industry insiders” feel ashamed and embarrassed.
I also met some of the P-level young talents I took on previously on-chain: although everyone is coding in C online and shouting as teachers offline, you can’t deny that their qualities and research abilities far surpass the biases of simplified Chinese online public opinion.
Almost every one of them is an AI wizard, a self-taught quantitative expert, or a network culture researcher. Their professionalism, curiosity, and focus fully demonstrate that it’s no shame to lose to them — they are deserving of respect as young people.
When the industry’s filters fade, only those who remain steadfast can truly be called builders (if you must use that term).
I don’t know what the next hot spot will be, but I know victory will belong to those still at the table, not those sneaking out the back door under the guise of “going to the bathroom.”
If crypto practitioners still stubbornly cling to their almost prejudiced “political correctness,” fail to understand the inevitable changes caused by participation demographics and generational cultural shifts, don’t sincerely listen to every new participant (rather than abstracting them as “incremental users”), and don’t serve their needs for participation, gaming, and making money,
then we are not genuinely interested in industry development — we’re just protecting our fragile and worthless self-esteem.
You wouldn’t want a young (or old) “P-level” kid to walk up to you, shake his wallet phone, and say:
“Old Deng / Little friend, times have changed!”