Many people who have entered society reminisce about their high school days. Although they feel nostalgic for their lost youth, a smile unconsciously appears on their lips. In this interview, we invited a 17-year-old high school student who entered the cryptocurrency field after dropping out of school. He has made considerable profits in battles such as Arb and Starknet. Why did he choose to return to school despite his impressive achievements in the cryptocurrency field?
(Introduction:
Starknet Airdrop Storm: Community Questions 70% Pre-determined Wallets, Institutions Swiftly Unlock $STRK.. CEO Skillfully Defends: We Are Different
)
(Background:
Starknet Airdrop Arrives! Nearly 1.3 Million Addresses Qualify, Detailed Distribution of STRK Tokens
)
Table of Contents:
The ups and downs and losses before entering the circle
Lost all capital in a music class
10 ETH stolen from pledging Eigenlayer
Selflessly sharing airdrop tips
Observing the hidden “project party” data on the chain
The “profit-loss ratio” before entering the market is crucial
To succeed, aim for the top 1%
How to create a “premium account” to ward off witches
Plans to join high school clubs and take university entrance exams after returning to school
Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Starknet recently opened the query for its airdrop. However, due to the anti-witch mechanism and unconventional token distribution mechanism, many airdrop communities, studios, and KOLs were almost “wiped out.” Some even came out to criticize the unfair distribution of the project’s airdrop, revealing that as early as August last year, up to 900,000 addresses were predetermined and undisclosed.
However, there is a KOL who has achieved great success in this airdrop. In his tweet, he mentioned that he owns a large number of addresses that qualify, and conservatively obtained tens of thousands of STRK tokens. For a moment, he once again gained attention from both sides of the community. Perhaps you have already seen his airdrop tutorial. Today, the person we exclusively interviewed is the 17-year-old “high school student” – Hank, the cryptocurrency enthusiast.
Hank shares his joy with the community on X.
On the day of the interview, when the team arrived at the interview location, they unexpectedly found that Hank had arrived early. Carrying a backpack and wearing glasses, he looked just like an ordinary high school student. He then followed the team to the interview seat. Through a brief conversation with him, we learned that he had indeed rushed over right after school, and today was his first day back at school after taking a break.
The scene before us was noticeably different from the previous interviews we had conducted. In this everyday setting, Hank appeared particularly genuine as a “student.”
In 2022, Hank first entered the U.S. stock market and started to explore. It wasn’t until around June that he began to delve into cryptocurrencies together with his family. Recalling the first month, Hank chose to participate in contract trading and immediately encountered a bear market. Ethereum plummeted from $2,000 to $800 within two weeks, resulting in Hank losing all his $7,000 capital.
After losing all his capital, Hank did not lose heart but instead actively participated in various cryptocurrency races, including options, spot trading, and, of course, “airdrop hunting.” It was in April 2023 during the $Arb airdrop that he obtained good returns. He then made the firm decision to drop out of high school and embark on the path of “professional airdrop hunting.”
After entering the airdrop field, like many others, Hank joined various relevant community groups and began his learning and exploration journey. He admitted that he was once a beginner who constantly asked questions and even encountered some failures and setbacks along the way. When it comes to “airdrops,” Hank believes that in the cryptocurrency industry, airdrops are not only a form of incentive mechanism.
Regarding the topic of airdrop hunting, Hank has a different view on the issue of opportunity costs that many people are concerned about. He believes that from last year until now, most people have not incurred significant losses in airdrops because most people are hunting LayerZero and Zksync.
Regarding the recent controversial Starknet airdrop, many voices in the market have pointed out that the project team may have arranged some predetermined wallet addresses in advance, excluding users who genuinely participated early on, leading many professional studios to experience a “reverse airdrop.” Hank, on the other hand, takes a reverse-thinking approach. He believes that closely monitoring the on-chain data of these projects can greatly improve the win rate by following the project team’s addresses.
In addition to observing on-chain data, Hank emphasizes the importance of analyzing the “profit-loss ratio” when determining whether to enter a protocol. He believes that in addition to carefully observing on-chain data, judging whether a protocol is worth investing in also requires a thorough consideration of the potential profits and costs of the interaction process.
Interestingly, regarding the recent influx of LRT (Liquidity Reinvestment Token) projects in the market, Hank reminds readers to pay attention to their own liquidity. In addition, he jokingly mentioned that he also “irresponsibly” predicts that there may be risks among these project teams.
In September 2020, the well-known DeFi project Uniswap allowed users who had conducted transactions on the Uniswap platform to participate in an airdrop. However, in the past two years, with the rise of “airdrop hunting,” blockchain project teams have improved their ability to identify “real users,” and the anti-witch mechanism has become more stringent. Hank selflessly shared his method of cultivating “premium accounts” and believes that there is no need to worry too much about the anti-witch problem.
On the other hand, when determining whether to enter a project using robots, programs, or scripts, Hank also shared his insights. He further explained that he divides all wallet addresses into three categories. The first category is “trash wallets,” which are simply used to fill in project forms and hold addresses that can be discarded or sold after use. This is because selling such wallets outside the platform is more convenient without the need for private key delivery.
The second category is “interchangeable wallets,” which are specifically used to interact with protocols that generally do not check for witches or transaction records. The last category is the so-called “premium accounts,” which can be further subdivided based on usage.
During the in-depth discussion on the process of airdrop hunting with Hank, although his eyes were filled with enthusiasm, he revealed that he did not involve his family and friends in what is commonly known as “airdrop hunting.” His family expressed trust and did not interfere, thus agreeing to his decision to take a break from school. During his year off, he did not want to waste time, so he focused most of his energy and time on cryptocurrencies, often spending 16-18 hours a day researching projects and airdrops.
With remarkable achievements in the cryptocurrency field, why did he choose to return to school? Hank stated that during his break from school, his former high school friends became distant…
In addition to returning to the youthful life of high school, Hank also expressed that his goal has always been to “get into a good university.” He believes that everything must return to knowledge and resources themselves.
After a year off, when asked if he feels a lot of pressure to catch up with the recent return to school, with difficulties keeping up with schoolwork, he answered with a smile:
In the final stage of the interview, Hank further shared that over the past year, he has gained not only wealth but also important management skills. This includes managing funds and wallets, but he believes the most critical aspect is “not being lazy.” Many people complain to him about not having time for airdrop hunting, and he feels helpless because the biggest cost of airdrop hunting is time.
Perhaps in the cryptocurrency world, one day is equal to ten years in the real world. Although Hank is only 17 years old, every word he speaks is mature and humble. For Hank, returning to school is not about facing the past but embracing a more exciting future. And of course, youth cannot be measured by the “profit-loss ratio.” We wish him the best!
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