I've been pondering this question — in 2000, Japan's GDP was four times that of China; now in 2023, China is 4.2 times Japan's size. This flip can be summarized in one sentence: "The world has changed."

Did you know? This logic is exactly the same as the "dark horse comeback"套路 in the crypto world.

Back then, who wasn't dazzled by the "Made in Japan" halo? That feeling was like everyone in 2017 believing "hundredfold coins are easy to find," and in 2021, everyone rushing to chase star projects. Short-term winners can easily create illusions, making people think this is the eternal truth.

But after twenty years, the story has reversed. Japan relied on post-war dividends to sit in second place, but in the tracks of technological iteration and infrastructure upgrades, its pace gradually fell behind. In contrast, China chose a different path: focusing on R&D, investing heavily in infrastructure, and filling in the gaps, transforming the "chaser" script into that of a "leader."

Applying this logic to the crypto market becomes a textbook warning. I've seen too many people clinging to those "once glorious" projects, just like some believe "Japan will always be second." The harsh truth of crypto is: there are no eternal kings, only eternal trends.

The "public chain king" crowned in 2018 now has a market cap that’s just a fraction of what it was; meanwhile, sectors like Layer2 and AI+blockchain, once overlooked, suddenly exploded like new energy vehicles. The underlying logic is completely aligned with China's twenty-year development trajectory: continuous investment + technological iteration + ecosystem building = an irreversible trend.

Why did Japan fall behind? Ultimately, it comes down to a few factors — slow R&D investment growth, reliance on external technological input, and infrastructure being hijacked by capital interests. The contrast is very clear.