People think doing crypto full-time is all freedom. Some days, yes. But when you get a really bad day in the markets, and you're sitting alone with a red screen and nobody to talk to about it, it kind of sucks. It really helps to vent on CT, though.

When I started in crypto, my goal was a number. If I hit X, I'm free. I hit that number a while ago. And nothing really changed in my head. I just picked a new number. Then another one. I think a lot of us on CT are like this. The market runs 24/7, so there's always someone doing better, always another trade, always a reason to keep going. I'm not complaining, I'm genuinely grateful. But lately I've been trying to enjoy the stuff outside the screen more. Seeing friends, being outside, not checking the price every hour. I really ruined my sleep schedule in 2023/2024 because I slept with heavy perp trades. Looking back this was so unhealthy, and my health felt like shit. At that time I didn’t see any other option though. I had to make it.

Anyone picking up any altcoins here? If so, which ones?

I agree with this post. Especially the part about working so hard to build a life that you forget how to live it. And I think basically everyone on CT can relate to this: "The irony is that every time I reach a milestone I once dreamed of, the goalpost just moves further. What once felt like more than enough suddenly doesn't feel like enough anymore." You might have doubled your portfolio, but someone you follow did a 20x. Suddenly, the result you would have celebrated hard AF a year ago feels like you're behind. It's wild because IRL I feel like I've won the lottery, but then I log in here and feel that I'm quite average again. This can be both good and bad, though. Good because it pushes you to the limit. Bad because no number is high enough. Which means I am actually a part of another hamster wheel. I escaped the 9-5, but I replaced it with a market that runs 24/7. With that said, I am truly blessed to be here, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The algo on Twitter is actually insane. On days when the market is in a downtrend, you really feel like it's the end of the world and that it'll never come back.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what consequences it will have (if any at all) for $ETH when Tom Lee stops buying? Bitmine is approaching its target of owning 5% of the ETH supply. Lee has said that once they get there, they’ll stop accumulating. Bitmine has bought ETH every single week since launching the strategy in June, 2025. The last 4 reported weekly purchases were: 15,112 ETH on October 4 12,532 ETH on October 11 12,535 ETH on October 18. 10,452 ETH today. $ETH at $2,350 means approx. $120m in buying pressure over a month. Bitmine now holds 6,051,933 ETH, and we should have approx. 5-ish more weeks with buying to reach 5%. Anyway, maybe it doesn't matter though. Everyone knows this buying is about to end. It's "priced in". Maybe. Idk. And it's not like they're going to dump it anyway.

If you work in crypto full-time (either at a firm or your own), but never post on CT, you're leaving a lot on the table. Let people see what you're thinking, what you're researching, and what you're trying to figure out. Over time, those conversations can turn into friendships, opportunities, and a network you couldn't build by lurking. You don't need to be an expert to start. Being curious and willing to share is enough IMO. Personally, I’d never have come this far if I hadn’t shared so many threads back in 2021/2022. Those threads opened doors that are still leading to new opportunities today.

Let's go through this because I used to be fascinated by products like this. So $QQQI is an ETF with a dividend yield of around 14%. If you invest $1,000,000, that’s roughly $140,000 a year in distributions. I understand why people find it attractive. You get almost $12,000 a month without having to sell any shares. But not selling shares isn’t the same as preserving your capital. Let’s say you invest $1,000,000 and receive $140,000 over the next year, but your shares are now worth $700,000. This is a hypothetical example, not $QQQI’s actual performance. You now have $840,000 between the shares and the cash. You’ve lost 16%, despite receiving a 14% payout. This is why you should care more about the total return than dividend yield. QQQI holds Nasdaq-100 stocks and uses an options strategy to generate income. But you’re still exposed to stock market losses, and the options strategy can limit how much you benefit when the market goes up. Then there’s compounding. If you spend the distributions, that money is no longer invested and won’t generate future returns. That’s perfectly reasonable if you need the money to live on, but you can’t spend it and expect it to keep compounding. Since inception (2 years ago) through September 30, 2026, QQQI returned approximately 19.9% annualized, compared with 23.6% for the Nasdaq-100 index that QQQ tracks. Both figures include reinvested distributions. I don’t think $QQQI is necessarily a bad product. I can see the appeal for someone who wants monthly income and understands what they’re giving up (dividends where I live will be taxed hard, though, so I don't think this would be suitable for me). But if I’m still trying to grow my portfolio and don’t need the income, I don’t see a large payout as a reason to buy it. Personally, I’d rather have a higher total return than a higher monthly payment. With that said, @Ondo and @xStocksFi should definitely tokenize this product.

People are max bearish after seeing stocks nuke over the last week. But calling for Black Monday is too much IMO. So first of all, we won't have a Black Monday like 1987 again, when it went down 22% in a single day. After this event, Wall Street implemented circuit breakers where the stock market pauses for 15 minutes if it goes down 7%, then another 15 min break if it keeps falling to -13%. Then full close for the day if it nukes 20%. Like... this won't happen IMO.

Over the last month, I've been more or less away from the screen on Saturdays, and to my surprise, I didn't really miss much at all. Feels good to have some more grass time. It's been a habit to always be online, especially since I lost a lot on a Saturday when BTC and ETH dropped by about 15% (August 2023) and I was AFK. Since then, I've been better at protecting my bags and have more long-term investments than perps going on at all times. Hopefully I don't jinx it this Saturday, though (the market looks a bit weak).