"Bitter Lesson from $PEPE: From Millionaire Dream to Loss in Just a Few Hours"

Just a few months ago, my friend Lucas was riding the wave of memecoin frenzy, where promises of quick wealth and fame were irresistible. The center of his excitement was $PEPE, a coin inspired by the famous internet character Pepe the Frog. Influencers in the cryptocurrency space flooded social media with claims of its potential, calling it the "next big thing". For Lucas, this seems like an opportunity not to be missed. He decides to go all in, investing all of his savings—$1,000. What's his reason? "If I don't seize this opportunity, I might miss out on something big." The joy of climbing At first, Lucas felt like a genius. In just a few days, his investment had tripled in value, up to $3,000. Each time he refreshed the price chart, his dreams became bolder. He began to envision in his mind the car he would buy, the vacations he would take, and how he would finally achieve financial freedom. 'We will go to the moon,' he said to me confidently. But beneath the surface of this rapid increase is a fragile platform. Lucas did not realize that memecoins like $PEPE are inherently volatile and driven more by hype than any tangible value. Sudden collapse As fast as your luck increases, they collapse. Large investors, called "whales", began to liquidate their positions in $PEPE, causing a rapid and brutal price decline. Lucas, like many others, was taken by surprise. He helplessly watched his $3,000 decrease to $1,000 and continue to sink. In a panic, he decided to cut losses and sold at a price of $300 - losing 70% of the initial investment amount. The exciting journey of potential wealth ended in pain and regret. Difficult Lessons to Learn Reflecting on this experience, Lucas shared some important lessons that apply not only to cryptocurrencies but also to investing in general: Rigidity is not a strategy The appeal of memecoins is their virality, but this hype can cause irrational price fluctuations. Decisions based on emotion or FOMO (fear of missing out) often lead to trouble. Understanding Risk Memecoin is a speculative asset with little or no fundamental value. They are highly susceptible to manipulation and their prices can fluctuate strongly in both directions. Do not gamble with what you cannot afford to lose. Lucas has invested all of his savings in $PEPE, leaving no room for error. A smarter approach would be to only invest a small portion of his investment portfolio in high-risk assets. Profit when you can. When his investment tripled, Lucas had the opportunity to preserve his profits by selling a portion of his shares. Greed and excessive confidence prevented him from doing so, and in the end, he paid a high price. Prepare for sudden losses. Volatility is part of the memecoin game. If you are not ready to witness large losses, these assets are not for you. Moving forward For Lucas, this experience is a painful but valuable lesson. Currently, he has a more cautious approach to investing, focusing on assets with real use cases and diversifying his investment portfolio. While memecoins like $PEPE can offer the lucrative prospect of overnight wealth, they also come with significant risks. For every story of a person turning hundreds into millions, there are countless stories of people who lost everything they had invested. What is the key point? The cryptocurrency world is not a lottery game; it is a high-risk market where only those with careful planning, emotional discipline, and realistic expectations can thrive. So before you jump on the next hype train, ask yourself, "Am I prepared for a possible collapse?"