The illusion of getting rich on BSC: Who is the real winner

The Dream of Getting Rich on BSC and the Reality of Wealth

Recently, the BSC chain has been exploding in popularity, with all kinds of new projects emerging endlessly. The screens are flooded with screenshots of overnight riches—invest a few thousand dollars before bed, wake up to an account with several zeros more. These stories play out daily in crypto groups, attracting more and more retail investors who abandon fundamental research on projects and stop paying attention to mainstream coins in the secondary market, just hoping to find the next 100x dark horse in the primary market.

But there’s a question few ask: whose money are you really earning?

This market always follows the 80/20 rule; there’s never a scenario where everyone benefits. Those profit screenshots are either the project team’s own wash trading or just screenshots of winning trades—losses are never posted. Institutions need these wealth-myth stories to attract a continuous influx of retail investors.

What are the truly smart money doing? They’ve already quietly withdrawn. It’s not that they don’t play these new projects, but the big funds are already flowing back into the secondary market, deploying liquidity into more stable, high-confidence core assets—Bitcoin and Ethereum. Those remaining on-chain are just small amounts trying their luck.

By the time retail investors realize that the “Golden Dog” has turned into a “Dead Dog,” and they want to chase mainstream coins, the market cycle is often already at its end. Those who made money early on with such projects have long since swapped their chips for BTC and ETH and locked them in.

Who ultimately profits?

It’s mainly three roles: institutions, KOLs, and developers.

Institutions team up with various KOLs to issue tokens, sometimes hundreds of projects in a single day, many controlled by the same accounts. As soon as one catches on a hot trend, a swarm of KOLs rush in—laying their chips in advance, then promoting on social media. Developers use automation tools to front-run, and retail investors open their eyes to find the price has already surged over 100x. Early entrants might still get some gains, but later participants become tools for wash trading.

If an ordinary person wants to launch a project? Unless you have KOL backing and hype support, no one will pay attention even to a good idea. Project teams aren’t really afraid of retail investors making money; they’re afraid everyone stops playing. The usual retail pattern is: make a lucky profit on one project, then lose everything in another. Over time, all the tokens they hoard end up zero, and their money flows into others’ wallets—mainly Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Honestly, this ecosystem design isn’t very friendly to genuine participants. If crypto continues to evolve in this direction, what prospects are there? Wall Street folks, seeing this scene, will probably be so angry they’ll spit blood.

Some leading exchanges, as promoters of this system, hold the most platform tokens. They first pump up the market to create hype, making the ecosystem the center of attention; then they team up with KOLs to create wealth myths—stories of “turning thousands into millions” spreading across the internet, attracting more people into the dream; KOLs loudly promote, creating the illusion that “everyone can get rich.” Meanwhile, those with early capital are cashing out at the top, passing the baton to the last to jump in.

For retail investors, if you lack technical advantages and reliable insider information, it’s best not to participate in this game.

True wealth accumulation never relies on overnight riches. Those who achieve financial freedom usually go through multiple bull and bear cycles—accumulating chips during market volatility, holding firm at lows. Mainstream assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum are the tools that can sustain wealth over the long term.

Instead of going all-in on risky projects, it’s better to calmly focus on building real value assets.

Those meme tokens might make some pocket money, but stories of “tenfold, hundredfold” riches ultimately belong to only a few. Most participants end up losing everything. Even if you’re lucky enough to profit from a project, if your wealth and ability are mismatched, you’ll eventually lose it back with your own strength.

The wealth myth on BSC has reached its climax, and the bag-holders are probably lining up. When this wave of meme coins subsides, the market’s focus will likely return to mainstream coins. The next real opportunity may not be on BSC, but in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

I don’t advise everyone to completely stay away from these projects; after all, they block the way of others’ money. I just hope everyone doesn’t get blinded by hype and maintains rational judgment.