From the crypto world big casino to the super individual era

Author: Xiao Mao Ge Mao

Since I posted that tweet saying I wanted to become a “super individual”, I've received quite a few friendly laughs from friends. Some friends said I invented a new term, playing with the “super” concept, while others joked that I might end up becoming a “super leek.”

But I am actually serious. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what a “Super Individual” (Super Individual) is, and combined it with my own experiences to establish a preliminary framework for becoming a Super Individual starting from the crypto world. After nearly eight years of hustling in the crypto space, I haven’t achieved big results but have gained quite a lot. As one of the lucky ones, I sincerely hope you can learn about this concept early on for reference. At the same time, I hope to connect with friends who share the same ideology through this article and grow together. Additionally, I wrote a somewhat naive post last week, which basically explained: Super Individual > Crypto Trading Life; and I used the absurd example of “Nine Generations of Chives” to illustrate it, laying a preliminary ideological foundation. At that time, my thoughts were not very complete, but the joy of sharing that moment of realization was worth it. If you're interested, you can take a look.

1. What is a “super individual”?

🔹 超级个体 = Super Individual

Super Individual is the closest to the original meaning, emphasizing “individual awakening and growth,” rather than just making money or starting a business. It can also be extended to three dimensions:

1/ Sovereign Individual 2/ Solo entrepreneur 3/ Self-Evolving Individual

In this era of AI + Crypto, the so-called “Super Individual” is, to put it simply, a person who can simultaneously master AI productivity and financial sovereignty in a world dominated by algorithms and capital, making their cognition, wealth, and influence independent.

If we are truly heading towards a cyberpunk world, a life that is “fed by AI”, “pushed by algorithms”, “led by market sentiment”, and “manipulated by insider trading” is actually quite suffocating.

I want to be the kind of ordinary person who has computing power, sovereignty, awareness, and the ability to grow. Not necessarily the one who makes the most money, but someone who can control the rhythm of their own life and is not trapped by most of the rules and constraints.

Don't think that only super tycoons like Musk can break free from the framework. In fact, true freedom has little to do with money or status; it is a mindset, an attitude. Confucius said that at seventy, one can achieve a state of “doing what one desires without overstepping the bounds.” I believe that in this era, even if one is not the “chosen one” making big money, this generation of Crypto Natives has the opportunity to achieve this by their twenties or thirties.

2. Why does this concept only exist in the era of AI + Crypto?

In the Web2 era, people were fed by algorithms, hijacked by traffic, exploited by data, and wrapped in values; in the era of Web3 + AI, we finally have two easily accessible tools and powers:

1/ The first major weapon: AI = Amplifying your cognition, creativity & productivity

Empowering individuals with the strength of a “thousand-person think tank” reduces knowledge barriers and creates “cognitive compounding.” A person who can use Vibe Coding and is willing to leverage AI to enhance their productivity can achieve productivity levels comparable to those of a traditional company.

2/ Second Major Weapon: Crypto = Amplify Your Wealth and Financial Sovereignty

A wallet allows individuals to have absolute sovereignty over their assets for the first time, no longer dependent on banks, institutions, or intermediaries.

The combination of the two is the starting point for the “super individual.” AI provides you with productivity, while Crypto gives you financial sovereignty. If you can still learn independently, earn money independently, and express yourself loudly, no longer being controlled by algorithms, institutions, or emotions, then I believe you are not far from being a “super individual.” As for how to proceed from there, I am still exploring.

Three, five stages to become a super individual starting from the cryptocurrency circle.

Our generation is very special. Because of the existence of cryptocurrency, we have more time freedom, wealth accumulation, and we have figured out our own way of survival. Some rely on trading coins, some on claiming airdrops, some write research, and some create content.

In simple terms, every person who has survived is closer to awakening than those who are still in the casino from the previous round.

But the hardest part of the crypto world is not “surviving”, but “understanding it clearly”.

I, as the author, am still struggling in the bitter sea of the crypto world today, and often worry that I am not the chosen one who makes a lot of money and achieves great results. But I have coexisted with this idea and am determined to become a super individual. Perhaps the following framework can inspire you:

Stage One: Awakening - From Digital Anxiety to Mental Clarity

Realizing the limitations of the “炒币人生” (trading coin life). We think the end goal of the market is financial freedom, but that is just an illusion. The wild fluctuations in coin prices are merely the illusion of a bull market; the real main point is whether you can achieve your desired expectations in it and stay clear-headed.

Cultivation Direction: 1/ Stop defining the value of a day by profit and loss. 2/ Begin introspection, observe your desires (what you truly want) and fears (what you truly fear).

Mindset: Find a rational anchor between greed during surges and panic during crashes. The sign of awakening is: you feel that you are no longer just watching the market, but starting to focus on your inner self.

Phase Two: Balance — Integrating Investment into Life Systems

One day, when you make a lot of money and are not overjoyed, or when you lose a lot of money and are not as upset as you imagined, you will realize that the gains and losses of investment are just one dimension of life. True growth comes from balance: thinking and practice, AI and humanities, wealth and health, solitude and socializing all need to be balanced. The market is just one of the training grounds for us to achieve the middle path of balance.

Cultivation direction: 1/ Dedicate 40% of your energy to the “non-market self” every day. 2/ Make creation, reading, and exercise the remedy against anxiety.

Stage Three: Autonomy — Rebuilding the Value System

The biggest illusion in the crypto world is the belief that “others know the answer” through comparisons. True autonomy is comparing only with yesterday's self and redefining one's belief system.

Cultivation Direction: 1/ Not being influenced by major exchanges, KOLs, token issuers, and social opinions. 2/ Establish your own “mental research model” and “asset allocation system”. 3/ Extend wealth sovereignty into time sovereignty and spiritual sovereignty.

Phase Four: Long-term Compounding and Sovereign Self — Growth is Faith

Compound interest is not just the growth of asset curves, but also the multidimensional accumulation of cognition, personality, skills, influence, and mental strength. The market is volatile, but only time will compound for the awakened. When you start to learn to stretch time, such as thinking in ten-year units, you will be more at ease and adept in the market.

At the same time, sovereignty is the core keyword at this stage; it represents a sense of control that not only means you have control over your assets, keys, and identity, but also that you can control your emotions, choices, attention, and the rhythm of your destiny.

Cultivation Direction: 1/ Design a life blueprint in ten-year increments: Wealth, Skills, Works, Connections, and Spirit across five dimensions. 2/ Let AI be your cognitive lever: Learn faster, express stronger, and gain deeper insights. 3/ Let Crypto be your capital lever: Understand the underlying logic of ownership, liquidity, and value transfer. 4/ Build your own Life Operating System (Life OS): Consisting of five major modules: Mind Management, Information Intake, Learning Cycle, Financial Review, and Creative Output.

Mindset: True freedom is not about doing whatever you want, but rather - not being forced to do anything. When you possess sovereignty, you no longer rely on external stimuli to confirm your existence, because you have become the “Root Node” of your own system.

Stage Five: Infinite Possibilities and Infinite Games

At this point, your goal is no longer to “make money” or “win the game,” but to enter a state of the Infinite Game.

In a finite game, people pursue victory or defeat; in an infinite game, people pursue continuity and creation. Starting from the cryptocurrency market, you begin to understand that the market is not a casino, but an energy amplifier. It allows you to continuously unlock infinite possibilities while transcending cycles, using the laws of the market to feed back into more dimensions of life.

In investment: based on stability, aiming for significant gains with small investments, you no longer chase the dream of getting rich quickly, nor do you easily go all in. Instead, you establish your own mechanism of “long-term stable allocation + small high-risk attempts”:.

Big head position, used for steady compound interest - stablecoins, BTC, are the dividends given by the times.

Small position, reserved for those seeking excess returns and high-risk exploration.

Can afford to lose, and can earn joyfully; both winning and losing can bring learning and inspiration.

In life: Let the market feed back to life. When you are no longer bound by money, money begins to serve you. Having any of the following mindsets can actually be very helpful:

Making money is not the goal; it is to buy back time and freedom.

The returns on investment are not just numbers, but they give you the freedom to read, travel, exercise, and create.

The frustrations and fluctuations brought by the market have instead become the most authentic psychological training camp for you.

Cultivation Direction: 1/ Build your own asset portfolio and cash flow system: focus on stability, with trial and error as a supplement. 2/ Let making money be the fuel that drives the quality of life, rather than a source of stress. 3/ Let losses be feedback, not punishment. 4/ Use market cycles as the rhythm of life, leveraging wealth compounding to drive the compounding of time, health, and cognition.

Mindset: A true expert is not someone who exits the market, but someone who can continue to evolve in life amidst market fluctuations. The end point of an infinite game is not “winning,” but continuous upgrading, sustained existence, ongoing creation, and perpetual growth.

🌌 Summary

Finally, I want to say to the ordinary people who are still struggling in the crypto world (including myself) about money: don't be that Loser who makes a lot of money but feels empty, anxious, and pretentious. “Super individuals” might be a way of life that even the big shots who have made money over the past decades envy.

Towards this goal, wealth may just be a byproduct of the energy you emit. Your true product is a self-driven life system.

This preliminary framework is actually an evolutionary chain from speculators → investors → long-term compounders → infinite players → super individuals.

Although there are still many imperfections, I plan to establish a small-scale, long-term “super individual” group in the near future, and the group will be formed solely through member recommendations.

I hope to gradually transform from “trading friends” in the crypto world into real-life friends. I hope to slowly evolve from a “trading life” in the crypto world into a “super individual” who controls my own destiny.

Perhaps this is just a little utopian fantasy of mine, a moment of clarity. Will a careless move lead to total loss? Am I still sinking in the sea of trading misery? Am I still close to the upside-down dream? I don’t know.

But what I sincerely look forward to is this path to becoming a super individual.

The road ahead is long and has no end. Being able to encourage and grow with like-minded people may increase the chances of success!