Fly over the Ethereum madhouse
Original Author: Yanz & Liam
Original Editor: Liam
"This time I really sold!"
On April 22, the ETH/BTC exchange rate briefly fell to 0.01766, hitting a new low since 2020.
Lin Feng, who has continued to invest regularly and firmly held Ethereum for 4 years, couldn't stand it anymore and issued a heartbreak declaration in the circle of friends. Compared with a simple cut of meat, this is more like a collapse of faith, a farewell to dreams.
Also on this day, institutional investors are also taking action.
Galaxy Digital swapped ETH to SOL, and crypto VC Paradigm also transferred 5, 500 ETH (about $8.66 million) to the brokerage platform Anchorage, which is suspected to be preparing for a sale.
The most ironic thing is that there is also an institution that has joined the army of coin sellers, the Ethereum Foundation. A wallet linked to the Ethereum Foundation deposited 1,000 ETH (about $1.58 million) into Kraken.
Ethereum, once seen as the standard-bearer of the blockchain revolution, seems to have reached its darkest hour.
Behind this collective exodus are stories of being forced to say goodbye to their ideals, as well as difficult choices of faith and interests.
And all of this is recorded, witnessed, and remembered in that group chat called "Ethereum Asylum".
Ethereum Asylum
"The name of our group at the beginning was not actually 'Ethereum Asylum', but "I was wrong, I regret buying Ethereum".
On February 3, 2025, the cryptocurrency market fell collectively, with Ethereum plummeting 25% at one point, reaching a minimum of $2080.19 per coin, catching many Ethereum holders off guard, including Tangerine.
Tangerine, who previously worked in a venture capital firm (VC), entered the crypto market in 2021, and his research on Ethereum technology established his belief in entering the circle.
However, the drop in the price of Ethereum to $3,300 made Tangerine feel bad and muttered repeatedly, and the group chat "I was wrong, I regret buying Ethereum" came into being.
On February 3rd, Tangerine panicked all of a sudden—"I can't run away, so what about the brothers?".
In order to seek psychological comfort and warmth, this small group of only 6 friends began to usher in more "wrongdoers": there are super big families like Da Chengzi and Du Jun, as well as high-level VCs, everyone gathers here to heal each other and seek psychological comfort.
As Ethereum continued to fall, the number of "patients" increased day by day, gradually expanding and stabilizing to 250 in just one month - Tangerine said, "Buying Ethereum is 'two hundred and five'", a deliberately controlled number with a bit of self-deprecation.
"At first, there were people who shouted to buy the bottom when it was $3, 000, then it fell to $2, 500, $2, 100, and the bottom buying voice became quieter and quieter. In the end, everyone began to ridicule, saying that the person who wanted to copy the bottom asked Mr. Yang Yongxin to call. So we changed the name of the group to "Ethereum Asylum" because everyone thought they were crazy."