2019-2021, Foreign Investment Stage#
- In 2019, I lost confidence in the A-share market and did two things:
- I accidentally discovered the US and Hong Kong stock markets because I saw an advertisement for the international version of Dongcai on Dongfang Finance. With a try-it-out attitude, I opened a door. I learned about it online and found that the well-known domestic software Futu NiuNiu had already entered the US and Hong Kong stock markets several years ago.
- At the end of 2019, I returned to the cryptocurrency market because I didn't find US and Hong Kong stocks satisfying enough and wanted to explore more investment opportunities. I had dabbled in cryptocurrency with a few hundred yuan earlier, but at that time, I was solely focused on the A-share market. Towards the end of 2019, I remembered the cryptocurrency market again.
Hong Kong IPOs and US-Hong Kong Trading#
- Alibaba's return to the Hong Kong stock market added fuel to the fire of Hong Kong IPOs. I remember seeing it on Dongcai and that's when I entered this field. The special features of Hong Kong IPOs are the ability to finance and the availability of gray market trading. I remember that I made a few thousand yuan in profits from participating in Alibaba's IPO and I got really excited. I went all in and truly made a profit from Hong Kong IPOs.
- However, the pace of Hong Kong IPOs is relatively slow. You have to choose high-quality new stocks, otherwise, they are prone to breaking below the IPO price, and the waiting period is long. I couldn't stand the loneliness, and at that time, I saw the daily rise of the US and Hong Kong stock markets and couldn't resist jumping in. I vaguely remember that the hottest stocks at that time were new energy vehicles like Tesla, NIO, and Xiaopeng Motors. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the US stock market experienced epic crashes triggering circuit breakers multiple times. I lost some money and it was truly regrettable.
Cryptocurrency Market#
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At that time, the hottest trends were decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and borrowing, as well as liquidity mining. New concepts were being hyped every day, and I got caught up in the frenzy. I took out some money and used it for DeFi lending and borrowing, accumulating nearly 30 Ethereum (I vaguely remember the cost being above 260 US dollars per unit), fantasizing about it taking off. However, the price kept dropping every day, and before long, it had fallen by 20-30%. I was devastated.
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When the pandemic hit, the cryptocurrency market and the US stock market experienced synchronized crashes, but the difference was that the cryptocurrency market only took one night. I vividly remember a cold and windy evening when the prices plummeted. I saw Bitcoin at 3,000 USD and Ethereum at 80 USD. My positions were almost at the brink of liquidation. The next day, the market didn't recover much either. The terrifying part was that the DeFi lending and borrowing positions were close to being liquidated, which would have resulted in a total loss. I quickly used emergency funds to buy 5,000 RMB worth of Ethereum.
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After that, I became a bit disheartened with the cryptocurrency market. I lost tens of thousands of yuan and was reluctant to cut my losses. However, miraculously, despite the panic during the pandemic, the cryptocurrency prices didn't drop much further. I was stuck for half a year, but miraculously, things turned around. Later, NFTs became popular, and I sold my Ethereum and moved on to other investments, successfully missing out on the cryptocurrency bull market of 2021.