Recently, I saw someone interpret large on-chain transfers and hot/cold wallet movements on exchanges as "smart money is coming" again... I really feel a bit numb; whether the money moves from A to B, who is trusted in the process, is what I care about more.

Taking IBC/message passing/bridges as an example, a single cross-chain transaction involves quite a few components that require trust: the source chain itself must not rollback, the light client/validation logic must not be broken, relayers must not go offline or send incorrect messages, and the execution environment on the destination chain must not be stuck; if multi-signature/escrow is involved, it's even more straightforward—trust the person + trust the process. I've seen a few incidents before, and many weren't because "hackers are too strong," but because some link assumed you wouldn't get unlucky.

Lately, I also don't want to push myself too hard; I’ve scaled down my goals: before cross-chain, understand the path and verification methods clearly, and be willing to wait longer for confirmation... Anyway, I’m already very experienced at staying up late.