Came to a realization today that if you’ve been actively trading onchain day in day out for 12+ months you’re considered a veteran now.

Just as we had multiple months of outperformance across alts only a few years ago, we’ve flipped the script to where narratives struggle to last longer than a week.

In turn, those who’ve showed up everyday and taken shots have lived through dozens of mini cycles within isolated eco’s. Essentially speed running your tuition or a term some of you might prefer, Fortnite creative mode.

For the younger crowd who were Fortnite demons like myself, there was a night and day difference between pre creative mode and post creative mode.

Pre creative mode meant you had to acquire skills from playing in long form games with limited opportunities to trial new strategies.

I’ve held the unique view for many years now that your natural ability in video games may be the purest and the most accurate IQ test available.

Post creative mode meant that every 16 year old with an abnormally high IQ was able to grind 18 hours a day, trialling every possible build battle in existence.

You could akin post creative mode with the onchain rotations we see on a weekly basis.

Competitive video games are essentially dynamic IQ tests, they measure how quickly a person can recognize patterns, hold multiple streams of information in working memory, adapt to new rules or metas and make high quality decisions under pressure.

You might think “elite players succeed through reflexes”, instead it’s by combining foresight, creativity, and planning, skills that mirror core components of fluid intelligence.

In a environment where every choice is tested instantly by opponents, the game becomes a live audit of cognitive ability.

This is why there’s a constant inflow of new traders crushing it onchain. The S tiers from 2021 are nowhere to be seen, probably due to realizing there’s more to life than screentime, but also the fact that they’ve been outclassed by a younger crowd who’s speed running their abilities onchain.