I read a pretty interesting legendary story in the crypto world. From a beef vendor in Shanxi to the hype man during the ICO craze, and then to a low-profile millionaire in the American estate—this guy’s experience is really worth pondering.

Speaking of Bao Er Ye Guo Hongcai, in 2013 he was still learning about the internet at Beijing Garage Coffee, when Bitcoin was only three hundred dollars each. His wife Jin Yangyang bought some, but he thought it was pyramid schemes and forced her to sell. Later, after meeting Li Xiaolai, this guy went all-in, borrowing money to buy hundreds of BTC, enduring the despair when it dropped to $100 in 2014. As a result, in 2017, BTC surged to $20k, and his wealth skyrocketed by several hundred million. At that time, he boasted on Weibo: "If BTC doesn’t reach $1 million, I’ll go live and eat××!" A live broadcast with 100,000 viewers, gifts flooding in, and this guy became a sensation in the crypto circle.

The real madness was during the ICO boom. Bao Er Ye founded the Bitangel fund, claiming to have invested in dozens of projects, but in reality, he was just making money from sponsorship fees. Projects like EOS and TRON endorsed him, and he set clear prices: 1% of tokens or tens of thousands of cash. Within three months, he endorsed 30 projects; his assistant said the boss took ten calls a day, trembling as he counted money. He also bought a 10,000-square-meter estate in the U.S., naming it "Chives Farm," posting pictures on Weibo with the caption "Harvesting chives, so satisfying!"—this move was indeed brilliant.

But the turning point came quickly. In September 2017, when the ICO ban was announced, Bao Er Ye reacted swiftly, taking his family and fleeing to the U.S. In 2018, BTC dropped to $3,000, and 90% of the projects he endorsed went to zero, with retail investors cursing on Weibo. He posted from the U.S., saying "ICO is just hype, I already ran away!" The industry immediately labeled him as the "Chives Harvesting Godfather." His intuition was sharp—whenever policies shifted, he ran, while retail investors still waited foolishly.

Recently, BTC hovers around 80,000 yuan, and Bao Er Ye lives low-key in the U.S., rumored to still have tens of billions in assets. He occasionally livestreams selling beef, joking "If it drops, I can still sell beef!" Weibo posts: "The crypto world is a casino; I’m the house." Interestingly, this guy has gone from a beef stall to today, experiencing three bull and bear cycles, and seems to live quite clearly.

Thinking carefully, Bao Er Ye’s story offers some lessons for retail investors. Don’t go all-in on the windfalls; he doubled down on BTC and turned around, but lost everything on ICOs. Endorsing projects doesn’t mean reliability—most of his endorsed projects went to zero, and blindly trusting big V influencers is just digging your own grave. The most important thing is to take profits—don’t hold onto billions; regret only when it drops back to $3,000. Also, stay sensitive to policy shifts—he ran before the ban, while retail investors still wait foolishly.

So, is Bao Er Ye a grassroots hero who made a comeback, or a casino dealer who’s just harvesting chives? Maybe both. His wild ride still echoes today, and retail investors should wake up.