The third cup of coffee has gone cold, and I’ve been watching the order book so intensely my neck hurts. Just now, I saw a big order get squeezed tight between two sides—when that brother sees the execution price, does it feel like being charged two tolls at once? People say arbitrage is picking up free money, but we’ve got to first tell who’s the “wheat” and who’s the “scythe.” When you fixate on the price gap and rush in, the robots have already lined up to charge you “protection fees.” Lately, the Layer2 crowd has been comparing TPS and subsidies every day, making noise louder than the market—yet try actually making a cross-chain transfer? Slippage can ramp up to the max, and the moment liquidity is drained, there’s barely anything left—just a shadow. To put it plainly, no matter what ecosystem story you hear, first see whether the exit route is smooth; don’t wait until the price pumps and then find out you can’t run as fast as everyone else. Anyway, I’m getting more and more cowardly. If I can set a limit order in advance, I won’t chase the price. I’d rather make a little less than end up as someone else’s fee. That’s it for now.