Some time ago, I discovered an interesting phenomenon — traditional finance is actually playing the same "pump and dump" tricks as the crypto world.

The case of the Guotou Silver LOF Fund is very typical: its net asset value is only 2 yuan, but the secondary market price has been artificially driven up to 2.25 yuan, with a premium rate close to 12%! This is not an isolated case but a warning signal.

**The logic behind this is actually very simple: when the price deviates seriously from the net asset value, it’s essentially a rebranded version of the air coin pump scheme.** The manipulator’s tactics have never changed — using one hand to push the price up to attract retail investors, then the other hand dumping to cash out. Silver funds dare to play this game, let alone the cryptocurrency market, which has no limit-up or limit-down restrictions.

Any asset trading at a premium should ring alarm bells. Gold, silver, or Bitcoin — as long as the price diverges from the actual value, a bubble has already formed. Those marketing tricks that seem to limit supply or create scarcity illusions (like a fund with a purchase limit of 100 yuan) are no different from the "flash sales" at small exchanges — both are creating false demand.

The most dangerous role is the "net value chaser." Fund announcements clearly state that the premium is unsustainable; chasing high prices is just giving the manipulators a pension plan.

**For crypto players, this is a deep lesson:** When altcoins are flying wildly, look more closely at the underlying logic. Coins without ecosystem support or technological innovation, no matter how absurdly they rise, are just mirages — they will crash sooner or later. During the cycle of hot money rotation, keep some bullets in your cold wallet; the bull market’s biggest risk is going all-in — at least keep 50% of your position to handle pullbacks and shakeouts.

Conversely, the appearance of high premiums in traditional finance precisely indicates — smart money is starting to look for exits. At this point, flowing back into the crypto space to find undervalued mainstream assets (like staking and mining projects in the Ethereum ecosystem) is actually an opportunity for strategic deployment.

Now is the time to review your holdings: those coins that have risen ridiculously but have no story behind them — reduce your positions during the rebound, don’t wait for a crash to regret. Meanwhile, lay low on undervalued mainstream coins; when the market wakes up from events like the "silver bubble," you’ll already be sitting pretty.

The financial world is starting to borrow tactics from the crypto scene — what does this mean? It shows that the biggest difference is in insight. The premium that you don’t understand is actually a ladder for others to cash out — remember this, and you’ll avoid getting cut multiple times.