crypto (specifically on chain) is becoming online poker in the early 2000s
for the youngin's that dont know
what basically happened was online poker got HUGE in the ealy 2000s
there was a small window early on when it was getting big
where if you were semi-decent to very good at poker you cleaned up and could make very consistent, huge money
and because of that it got heavily sensationalized with people flexing their money which go more eyes on it
& i even remember documentaries following around young kids who would rent lavish home in vegas for the summer to all play online poker, flex their wins, & live lavish lifestyle buying expensive clothes, dinners, clubbing, etc.
(sound familiar)
then very quickly the game changed
> regulations hit which made it harder to play
> people created & sold programs to optimize when playing & most people began buying and using them
> people in-turn got way better/more efficient at poker & there were less fish
because of all this the game was not seen as a fun thing for the average player anymore, so they stopped
and all that was left was highly optimized players all competing with each other all day long for scraps of what they used to make
all hoping for those early day vibes to come back
....they didnt
you can still make money with online poker today, but the big money/fish are all gone, & you'll never make those early 2000s numbers
and without maximum tooling, knowledge, & professional skillset you are basically throwing money into the wind
(sound familiar)
another layer of Vitalik’s opsec is that he became fluent in Mandarin and can overhear all seduction honeypot plans while getting bottle service in Asia