The Silicon Valley Era Begins: Cryptocurrency as the Last Free Port — Awakening and Challenges in 2026

Since November 30, 2022, human history has been divided into two parts. The first is “Ante Carnem” (the night before flesh), and the second is “Anno Silicii” (the Silicon Valley era). At this watershed moment, you can no longer return to the comfort zone of the 21st century.

Accelerating in Confusion: Why Predictions Have Become Meaningless

Last year, I fell into an indescribable sense of loss. For thirty years, life was always predictable; I could reasonably infer what the next decade would look like. But suddenly, the world became unfamiliar.

The value of careers, goals, and money—everything became unpredictable, like endless branches spreading in all directions. Time no longer extended forward but folded inward. A friend once said to me: “I’ve given up predicting the next few years; now I only focus on the coming few months.”

Maybe he’s right. When the direction is so clear, continuing to predict seems absurd.

The Five Major Dilemmas of the Silicon Valley Era: What We Are Losing

1. The Collapse of Content: The Information War Has Begun

The videos you scroll through, the articles you read, the opinions you hear—all are becoming monotonous. AI-generated content is rampant; original creation has become a luxury. In this era, the only thing truly trustworthy is: market prices. They are the final signal and the only truth that doesn’t create illusions.

2. The Anxiety of Virtualization: Whose Reality Are We Living In?

We are beginning to oppose real people because we no longer share the same reality. We are close with virtual characters but strangers to those around us. This is not just technological acceleration but also the alienation caused by technology itself. The world we once inhabited has become a “walking corpse”—economy, customs, beliefs—all operate mechanically by inertia.

The problem isn’t that we are facing the shocks of the future; it’s that we are trapped in the prisons we have woven ourselves.

3. The Transfer of Power: You Went from Hunter to Prey

Once, humans were the most intelligent beings in the universe, standing atop the pyramid and overlooking everything. Now? We are building a brand-new pyramid, and we ourselves have become the foundation. That “eye” has shifted above our heads—indifferent, unfamiliar, unmoved.

This is not just technological acceleration but also the transfer of human power.

4. Information Asymmetry: What You See Is Always a Filtered Lie

We are always alert to drones, stockpiling food for potential riots, worrying about impending wars. But we overlook the silent invasion enabled by technology—it’s not on territory or coastlines but within your information streams.

Foreign powers and domestic elites don’t need to conquer our land; they only need to colonize our minds. I’ve seen friendships break over algorithm-generated headlines, families disintegrate over AI-recommended illusions.

We are not bystanders; we are warriors in this cognitive war. Your anger and hatred intensity are the measures of your victory or defeat.

5. The Last Freedom: When Systems Collapse, Only Encryption Remains

Everything can be shut down—your GitHub repositories, AWS instances, domains, servers. One phone call, a court order, or a violation of terms is enough.

But the open-source, on-chain encrypted world is different—code can run without permission, decision-making cannot be obstructed. It is the most free space created by humans. When regulation tightens and systems become alienated, this world becomes the last sanctuary of freedom. When the real world turns into a prison, here is humanity’s final refuge.

The Age of Division: The Dualism of Rich and Poor

Wealth and poverty are no longer just economic gaps but differences in existence forms

When the economy collapses, capital becomes as essential as oxygen. We will depend on it like addicts—gambling, trading, exchanging, working—all to survive. Money will increasingly bind us, crushing us under its weight.

But the system will eventually collapse, and that frenzy will end. Afterwards, we will build the support models for the next century, and money will ultimately become meaningless.

The Battle for Privacy Under Regulatory Upgrades

From “Is encryption allowed” to “Is privacy within encryption allowed,” the battlefield shifts.

Bitcoin proved you can own digital assets. Privacy coins proved you can have digital silence. If you are truly wealthy, you will want your assets to be invisible—not to hide, but to survive.

Financial privacy is a human right, a constitutional obligation. We can either protect it or forever surrender human sovereignty in exchange for others’ surveillance rights.

Opportunities and Innovation: The Counterattack Path for the Underprivileged

Democratization of tools, only willpower can distinguish victory from defeat

You can rent wisdom for $0.66 per day, but you cannot rent willpower. Machines have infinite processing power but lack desire—they are passively waiting for instructions.

When everyone has access to the same synthetic thinking, the only difference is the user. The new abyss is not wealth disparity but the gap between motivated and unmotivated. In an era filled with answers, the only scarce resource is the will to ask questions.

DeFi Lego Revelation

In crypto, we talk about DeFi Lego—code that can be combined, stacked, and even used to build entirely new financial empires. Today, all technology operates this way.

I’ve seen young programmers create things with laptops that used to require labs and millions of dollars a decade ago. The internet, open-source code, AI, 3D printing, cheap hardware, MIT free courses—these are merging into new forms. Those with enough dreams can change everything.

What limits you is not tools but courage.

Critical Moments: The Fork in the Road of Choice

The Intellectual Elite Are Dying

Before the internet, knowledge was scarce and sacred. To learn Sinology, I had to travel three miles to consult a master; to learn guitar, I spent my last $10 sitting at the master’s feet. The transmission of experience, stories, skills was a ritual from soul to soul.

Once, we revered wise people around us. Now, we treat them as office potted plants or faded Polaroids on the wall.

The Paradox of the Algorithm Era: Everyone Has Answers but Has Lost Thinking

I often check Polymarket (prediction market) before reading news. Not because the market is a prophet, but because it’s the only place where all relevant parties will tell the truth.

Market predictions, future democracy, token influence—the only remaining truth is what we are willing to pay for.

Curiosity Is the Only God

An hour of curiosity can change your life trajectory. I’ve experienced three such moments: reading the Bitcoin white paper, understanding Uniswap’s AMM mechanism, and reading in-depth analyses about the AGI era.

Hours of content spanning thirteen years have completely reshaped my future. But most people never give themselves such time. In 2013, I wrote mnemonic notes containing Bitcoin for family and friends. I thought at least they would look it up on Wikipedia. Instead, they just shrugged and tossed the wallet into a drawer.

Curiosity is the key to unlocking different lives. When everyone can access AI, the only advantage is the willingness to explore. An hour of curiosity can tear apart your reality.

Final Warnings and Enlightenment

Don’t mistake toys for tools

We mistakenly think we understand power, but real power happens behind the scenes. Intelligence is layered—what’s visible to the public (filtered, safe, “censored” for retail) is not the original, infinite, raw intelligence meant only for institutions and corporations.

Don’t confuse the interfaces we see with true wisdom. We only hear echoes, while they are in dialogue with real voices.

The flame cannot be stolen, only passed on

The future is not disaster but the honing of millions. We are gradually handing decision-making over to machines—just as fiat currency drains your wealth, the flow of information is draining your autonomy.

But you can escape these spectacles, explore in the darkness, create, and then return like Prometheus, bringing fire.

Bring back iron tools, stories that others cannot tell. The future is not fate but the flame that must be stolen.

The Ending: Love Is the Truth

When we abandon the fear of death, the question changes. No longer “How much can I do before I die,” but “What is worth doing forever.”

We need each other more than ever.

From “Remember, you will die” to “Remember, you must love”—remember, love is the meaning of life.

You are that restless “clay,” show your true self. This dangerous and uncertain moment is not the end but a purifying fire. You don’t need to wait for a savior; you are already the one.

The dawn of the Silicon Valley era has arrived, and the encrypted network is becoming humanity’s last free port. And you—every dreamer, every curious soul—are the protagonist of this awakening.