A9 Myth to Million-Dollar Debt: A Meme Player's Five-Year Journey

Original by Odaily (@OdailyChina)

Author｜Golem (@web3_golem)

Da Gen is an ordinary civil servant within the system, a stable job with high social recognition. Especially in the current environment of the AI revolution and an unstable job market, many young people are willing to do anything to enter this stable and secure system. The internet often uses the term 'ashore' to describe young people who have passed the civil service exam, as if suggesting they have successfully escaped from a 'sea of hardship'.

However, the system is also a walled city: those outside want to get in, and some inside want to get out. Da Gen is one of those 'insiders' who wanted out, and five years ago, he stepped into the crypto space.

"Being a civil servant is great in many ways, but the income is relatively low. I also wanted to earn money and retire early. Plus, for a young person stuck in such a routine environment where 'life is set in stone,' you definitely want to challenge yourself." The desire to make big money and challenge himself were the main reasons Da Gen entered the crypto world. But perhaps at that time, he didn't realize he would achieve both goals he set upon entering, just not simultaneously.

For Da Gen, 2025 was the most tumultuous year: He came close to achieving A9 status (nine-figure asset in RMB) by capitalizing on the Trump (TRUMP) token launch, becoming a hidden crypto tycoon. However, he also ended the year with millions in debt after 'market-making' multiple Meme coins.

What exactly happened to Da Gen? How did this dramatic rise and fall affect his mindset? To understand Da Gen's volatile crypto journey, Odaily conducted an exclusive interview. The transcript is organized below, hoping to offer readers some insights.

The Rise: Entering the Space via DOGE, an Early Meme Player, TRUMP Brings Him Close to A9

Odaily: How did you earn your first pot of gold after entering the crypto space?

Da Gen: Let me start from the beginning. I entered the crypto space around the end of April 2021. I was attracted by the overwhelming news about DOGE. From April to May that year, DOGE surged over 10x, and its all-time high (around $0.73) was set during that period. Although I was a complete newbie, ignorance is bliss. I used 30,000 RMB to open a DOGE futures long position, pyramiding the profits. In less than a month, I turned it into over 2 million RMB.

Odaily: How did that feel?

Da Gen: I was just overjoyed. It immediately felt like I had come to the right place. The crypto space is truly a place full of opportunities. That was my first time making serious money. But that money didn't stay in my pocket for long, because during the '519' crash that year, I basically got liquidated on all the profits I had made from DOGE.

Odaily: After '519', the crypto market entered a bear market. Did you make money in any other sectors later on?

Da Gen: I didn't choose to leave the space. After 519, I kept chasing hotspots in crypto, but I didn't make any significant money from 2021 to 2023. It wasn't until early 2024 that I noticed some small-cap tokens on the Solana chain were surging massively on MEXC, sometimes even 20-30x. At that time, not many players in the Chinese-speaking community had ventured into this area yet.

So, I started looking for token information on Twitter. Back then, convenient tools like GMGN didn't exist yet. I manually tracked some addresses daily using Solscan, catching many early opportunities like BONK, WIF, and POPCAT. By early 2024, my assets had reached A8 (eight-figure asset in RMB) thanks to these Meme coins.

Odaily: So you are one of the earliest Meme coin players in the Chinese-speaking community. Which Meme coin made you the most money?

Da Gen: Because I made money in 2024, I was very confident in Meme coins and the primary market. If I fancied a coin, I would throw at least tens of thousands of USD into it. And because the market was good, I kept getting positive feedback. But returns and risks are two sides of the same coin; this habit ultimately led to my debt. (Details later)

The Meme coin that made me the most money was Trump's TRUMP token launched in early 2025. That was also the closest I ever got to A9 (nine-figure asset). I bought TRUMP very early, around $0.7. I noticed the address '0xsun' had bought about $2 million worth of TRUMP at around $0.6 on-chain. After researching and finding an official purchasing channel on the website, I concluded it was likely not a scam, so I bought $100,000 worth.

Eventually, when the price of TRUMP hit highs of over $70, I cashed out gradually along the way.

The Fall: Continuous Bottom-Fishing on Memes Leads to Losses, Blacklisting BSC Chain, Millions in Debt

Odaily: You achieved such great results with TRUMP, why didn't you choose to retire?

Da Gen: I was still fixated on reaching A9. I was close, and I thought it would be easy to get there. But I didn't expect the journey to become so extraordinarily曲折 (twisted and tortuous). I completely failed to realize that market liquidity had been deteriorating since the TRUMP launch. In the end, due to this obsession, I basically lost all the money I had previously made.

Odaily: Can you elaborate on your losing process?

Da Gen: I liked to play the 'second dip buying' strategy for Memes. But in reality, after TRUMP, most Memes were just one-shot pumps. I completely underestimated how quickly capital and attention would exit. Once a Meme coin starts falling, there really is no bottom. Plus, I tend to make large bets, so I lost a lot of money.

For example, GOAT. When it dropped to $0.3, I bought nearly $900,000 worth, accumulating almost 1% of the supply. Compared to the all-time high, the price had already dropped 90%, but I didn't expect it could fall another 90%. Similar losses occurred with VINE, TST, and BROCCOLI (714), among others.

Odaily: After experiencing such a significant loss, didn't you adjust your strategy?

Da Gen: That's the problem of path dependency. Because I had been making money this way all along, I thought the method was universally applicable, ignoring the changes in market environment and liquidity.

After accumulating large positions, I also participated in community building. For instance, with BROCCOLI (714), I was in a small group with Brother Paris and others, trying to figure out how to get 714 listed on Binance spot before the other two Meme coins with the same name. (Odaily note: BROCCOLI is the name of CZ's pet dog, but there were three Meme coins with the same name on the market at the time. Binance eventually adopted a community voting method for listing.)

Odaily: What did you guys do to promote BROCCOLI (714)?

Da Gen: One person in our small group sent 1% of the tokens directly to CZ's address. Based on the market cap of $100 million at the time, it was probably worth $1 million. Then, because Binance also had a trading competition, we organized and called on people to boost trading volume, combined with regular tweets and shilling. We even considered doing ground promotion, but considering the domestic regulatory environment, we didn't go through with it. No one was willing to take the lead.

But honestly, this coin wasn't really being 'manipulated' by the people in our small group. Ultimately, we were just some whales with large holdings, all trying to build up our own positions. We couldn't control the final outcome. Although BROCCOLI (714) eventually got listed on Binance spot, and we kept supporting the price, it still dropped 90%, and I lost over $1 million.

Odaily: How did this setback affect you afterwards?

Da Gen: BROCCOLI (714) was probably the last straw that broke the camel's back, both financially and in terms of my investment strategy. The community has always had a saying: Good projects don't need people to build them; projects that need building are just scamming people into buying the top. BROCCOLI (714) confirmed this result. This led me to develop a feeling of disgust and disappointment towards the BSC chain and projects launched by Chinese teams. I haven't touched BSC chain Memes since then.

Odaily: BROCCOLI (714) was a hot Meme on BSC in the first half of 2025. Afterwards, the BSC chain experienced multiple Meme frenzies, like the 'Binance Life' phenomenon in the second half of the year. Did you not pay attention to any of that?

Da Gen: After BROCCOLI (714), I basically blacklisted the BSC chain. So looking back now, I missed the entire bull run on the BSC chain in 2025. But I'm paying for my own认知 (cognition/perception). I only started playing BSC chain Memes again at the beginning of this year because I finally realized I shouldn't hold biases against any chain or project.

Odaily: So, to be precise, in 2025, except for the huge profit on TRUMP early in the year that got you close to A9, you were gradually losing money for the rest of the year?

Da Gen: Small wins, big losses. Especially after BROCCOLI (714), I went to other chains for PvP (player vs player trading). Within a few months, I had wiped out all the money I made before. Partly because I didn't have much capital left and was afraid to try and error too much; partly because I was a bit traumatized by the losses, grew more timid, had weaker (paper) hands, and lost the mental stability I had before.

Starting around August last year, when I ran out of money in my trading account, I began taking out bank loans.

Odaily: So are you in debt now?

Da Gen: Yes, I owe about 1 million RMB. My desire to make back my losses was too strong; I was really not rational anymore.

Odaily: Didn't you ever consider switching tracks? For example, playing with altcoins, prediction markets, RWA, or even US stocks? Or were you fixated solely on Memes?

Da Gen: I didn't consider altcoins. I did consider US stocks, but trading them was less convenient last year than it is now. Nowadays, whether through DEXs or exchanges, there are low-barrier channels for crypto people to trade US stocks. Those didn't exist back then. Plus, traditional broker platforms for US stocks had asset requirements that were already a bit difficult for me, so I gave up on that idea.

Ultimately, I still believe crypto is the best place for small capital to make big gains. Plus, it's what I'm good at. If you fall, you get back up where you fell. So I'm still playing in the Meme space.

Odaily: When you were close to A9 in early 2025, did you ever think about cashing out to save or buy some real estate?

Da Gen: I did withdraw some, but later, wanting to recover my losses, I deposited it back. I didn't make big purchases like cars or houses after making money because I already had a car and a house. And given my job, I can't really have flashy luxurious items.

Odaily: Has the lifestyle落差 (gap/disparity) been significant since going into debt? Has it affected your family?

Da Gen: Lifestyle-wise, my consumption level dropped sharply. I have to repay a lot to the bank every month, and I'm almost unable to keep up, so it has affected my family. But it hasn't reached the point of selling my car or house yet. If things drag on, I might have to sell them eventually.

Odaily: Looking back at these five years in the crypto space, what are your thoughts? You originally had a stable 'iron rice bowl' job, but these five years in crypto have been full of ups and downs, even landing you in debt.

Da Gen: I might just be a缩影 (microcosm) of countless people in this market. I used to hear people say the most common type of person in this space is someone who gets rich overnight and then goes bankrupt. I never thought I would end up in the same situation.

The biggest lesson I learned is not to be too path-dependent and not to be overly optimistic. If there's a chance to turn things around, I want to use my past experience and knowledge to take another shot.

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