Ten years in the crypto world is like living a century. This phrase couldn't be more fitting for Mao Shihang.

Speaking of Shen Yu, many veteran players have heard of this name. At 21, while still a sophomore at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Mao Shihang first encountered Bitcoin in the library. At that moment, he was deeply attracted to this decentralized digital currency. From then on, he skipped classes to hang out on overseas Bitcoin forums, researching Satoshi Nakamoto and community interactions all day.

In early 2012, Shen Yu decided to fully commit, buying a few graphics card mining rigs to start mining. After earning 1 million from mining, he founded China’s first Bitcoin mining pool—F2Pool, later known as Fish Pool. This decision changed the entire industry.

2013 was a crazy year. Bitcoin soared to over $700, and Mao Shihang’s account skyrocketed to hundreds of millions. That feeling is probably a dream for every investor. But the market is never gentle forever. In 2014, Bitcoin entered a bear market, and the entire mining industry fell into crisis. He was forced to shut down his company in 2015.

Interestingly, on May 8, 2014, Shen Yu married his girlfriend he met in the Bitcoin community. On their wedding day, he didn’t buy a diamond ring; instead, he transferred 25 Bitcoins to his wife from a mined block. He specially prepared a wallet address starting with “TLoveYou” and left a message in the transaction details: “Holding your hand, growing old together. Shen Yu to Dongdong.” This story spread in the community, touching many people.

By 2016, Bitcoin gradually recovered, and Mao Shihang reopened his company. This time, he set his sights on Ethereum. He accumulated nearly 100,000 ETH, then sold all of it, earning about 2 million yuan. But this is where Shen Yu’s biggest regret lies—if he had held on until now, those 100,000 ETH would be worth over 2 billion.

Whether it’s getting rich overnight or losing everything overnight, Mao Shihang has experienced human greed and fear over these ten years. He has seen people jump off buildings due to losses and others lost in the confusion of sudden wealth. This is the true portrait of the crypto world.