How to be a 100x Degen by 2026

TechJD
5 min readFeb 6, 2025

--

There’s no easy way to say this, so I won’t sugarcoat it: You’re broke because your network is trash. You’re losing because you keep playing this game alone, thinking knowledge and effort are enough. They aren’t. They never were.

You’ve watched your portfolio bleed out over the past weeks. The biggest liquidation in history of crypto just wiped out billions. Red candles stretch across your screen like a slow, cruel execution. You thought you were smart. You thought you were ahead. But while you were staring at charts, someone else was staring at their contacts, making calls, moving before the herd even smelled blood.

This isn’t about intelligence. This is about access. And right now, you’re locked out.

The Market is Rigged, But Not Against You — For Them

You’ve heard it before: “The market is manipulated.” And it is. But not by some omnipotent force. Not by institutions alone. Not by shadowy whales pulling strings from a bunker in Singapore.

It’s manipulated by people who know each other.

A single conversation in a Telegram group moves a token before news ever hits Twitter. A single dinner in Dubai reshapes an entire project’s future before retail investors even realize what’s happening. You think this game is played with candlesticks? No. It’s played over cigars, on yachts, behind closed Discords with five-figure entry fees.

This is crypto market manipulation at its finest. And you? You’re still outside, begging to be let in, wondering why your Ethereum price crash was inevitable.

Biggest Liquidation in Crypto History happened on February 3, 2025

The Only Real Alpha Is Proximity

You think alpha is in a chart. In a thread. In some influencer’s half-baked market update.

Alpha is knowing the right people before they make the right moves.

By the time you see the tweet, it’s already too late. The wallets have moved. The trades have cleared. The exits are planned. The exits are done. And you? You’re left holding, wondering why your entry — so perfect in theory — turned to dust in practice.

But here’s what the few will never tell you: They weren’t smarter than you. They weren’t faster. They were just closer. Closer to the right information, the right moves, the right exits.

And proximity? That’s something you can control.

You’re One Connection Away from Never Being Poor Again

There is a single person out there who, if you knew them, would change your entire financial trajectory. One person who could get you into the right rooms, introduce you to the right people, put you on the right trades before they ever become public knowledge.

But you won’t meet them playing small.

They don’t care about your cold DMs. They don’t care about your “grind.” They care about people who already move like them, who already understand how the game works. And right now, you don’t.

So here’s the uncomfortable truth: You either start networking like your life depends on it, or you keep eating the scraps of people who do.

Stop Playing for Attention, Start Playing for Power

Most of you are networking wrong. You think it’s about exposure. About followers. About clout. You’re still operating on old instincts, the kind that make you think visibility equals value.

Visibility is for the audience. Power is for the players.

The richest, most powerful people in this space? You barely know they exist. They move in silence. They don’t waste time tweeting hot takes. They don’t argue in replies. They don’t need to.

They are too busy making calls, shifting capital, reshaping the market from the inside. This is how crypto whale manipulation works.

You want in? Then stop looking for attention and start looking for leverage. Because leverage — not luck — is what separates winners from losers.

The Three Rules of Winning This Game

  1. Your Reputation is Currency — Nobody wants to work with a liability. If you are unknown, your word means nothing. Build a track record people can trust, or you will never be invited to the table.
  2. Access > Knowledge — The best trade ideas in the world mean nothing if you hear about them too late. Networking for crypto traders is the only real advantage. Get closer to the people who move first.
  3. You Must Be Useful — Nobody cares about your existence unless you bring something to the table. Alpha, capital, execution — something. Be valuable, or be ignored.

Your Next Move Determines Your Future

You’re either going to read this and go back to lurking, hoping things will magically change.

Or you’re going to realize that nothing changes until you change. Until you start networking like your life depends on it. Until you start putting yourself in the right rooms, around the right people, with the right opportunities.

You’ve lost enough in this bear market. Now it’s time to start winning. But only if you’re willing to do what it takes.

So what’s it going to be?

Astraea is an analyst with a rich background in finance, having worked at various research firms where he gained deep insights into investments and corporate strategies. Now, he blends this expertise with a unique perspective, crafting content for those venturing in finance, tech, or crypto. For more information check out Ascendant Finance.

https://twitter.com/ascendantfi
https://twitter.com/cryptocadetapp
https://twitter.com/thetechjd

A Word of Caution

Nothing in this article is financial advice. This was written purely for entertainment purposes, and we don’t hold or own any of the coins mentioned. If you’re tempted to jump into the meme coin frenzy, remember to do your own research — or at least check if the developer is live-streaming from a dog cage or toilet first.

--

--

TechJD
TechJD

Written by TechJD

Law, programming, and everything in-between! Coming up with fun coding projects with real-world application.

No responses yet