Paid my tuition again last night… I originally wanted to catch a small move, but I ended up stepping into a “looks valuable but is actually shallow” pool. I’d set slippage, but I placed the order too fast—my order-splitting rhythm didn’t keep up. The previous trade effectively blocked the route for the trade that came right after it. Plainly put: I ended up using myself as the counterparty. After going back over it: depth isn’t just about looking at the order book size—you need to see how the curve bends after you take that chunk. And don’t treat slippage like a talisman; it only tells you “how bad it can get,” not that you won’t get hurt.

Lately, during the airdrop season, everyone’s been forced by task platforms’ anti-sybil/bot measures and points-based system to work like it’s a job—on-chain, there are trading traces everywhere from people trying to beat the clock. I got pulled into the rush too… Next time I’ll be more honest: better to go slower, split orders more carefully, and take another look.