I muted the group, and the world suddenly became quiet... In the past, whenever there was a big order, someone would shout "Arbitrage window is open," and I’d get itchy to jump in. But when I actually checked on the chain, I realized that many times, what I thought was picking up money was actually delivering food to the sandwich: slippage + gas + being sandwiched, ending up as someone else’s fee.

After muting, I could focus more on the data, running a small script to catch abnormal transactions. Seeing the same addresses bouncing back and forth, I could tell: sure, there are opportunities, but most likely not for someone with my reaction speed. Recently, we’ve been talking about rate cut expectations, the dollar index, and risk assets rising and falling together. Basically, when emotions heat up, the chain gets more chaotic. I’d rather slow down first, put less chili in, and avoid scalding my noodles.