Recently, I’ve been thinking about a very interesting phenomenon. Over the past decade of development in the crypto market, there has been a widely circulated joke in the community—"Playing coins belongs to someone." What this phrase reflects is actually an extreme concentration of market power during a certain period.

A few years ago, a major exchange indeed controlled most of the market traffic. At that time, the industry landscape was very simple—most funds and users flowed into the same platform. But looking back now, this phenomenon has gradually been changing.

One detail worth noting is that last year, the founder of a certain exchange was sentenced to four months in prison due to regulatory issues and had to pay a hefty fine. This incident had a deeper impact on the entire industry than it appeared on the surface. It forced the market to rethink the importance of compliance and created opportunities for newcomers to fill that gap.

From market data, the current exchange landscape is different. 24-hour trading volumes are dispersed across various platforms, and competition has become more intense. Of course, some leading exchanges still hold significant positions, but the era of monopoly has indeed passed.

What’s even more interesting is that the former industry figure, after being released, chose a completely different life path. He began to focus on education and charity work, and even developed an interest in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence and biotechnology. This transformation itself is quite intriguing—shifting from "playing coins" to "playing" a bigger game.

My personal observation is that the impact of the four months of detention on the entire industry might be greater than its impact on that individual. It made regulators and market participants realize that the era of wild growth is over. Now, in 2026, with BTC above 66K, the market has entered a more mature and regulated stage.

New-generation exchanges and projects have already prioritized compliance from the start. That’s progress. And those former "coin-playing legends" are still participating in the industry’s evolution in different ways. The story is far from over; only the plot is being rewritten.