The excerpts in the screenshot were written around the $HYPE TGE in 2024. Since participating in Hyperliquid in 2023, it seems that Twitter has only been discussing Hyperliquid in snippets. Today, I will provide a more complete summary of the essence behind its emergence as a phenomenon-level project, and use this opportunity to discuss the prevalent mindset in the industry. This is a stream of consciousness expression typed on a mobile phone, so the readability is relatively poor; those destined to understand will find it. The industry mindset is a useful way to make money, but it does not hit the essence directly. This is because the simplest and most effective way for people to recognize patterns is to judge through surface features. For example, when a project becomes popular, they look for similar projects in the same industry to invest in. Before Hyperliquid appeared, the Orderbook-style DEX industry from 2021 to 2024 was close to being disproven. No one believed that this type of DEX could surpass CEX. This is because, whether it’s the massively funded $DYDX or the $APX that Binance supports both overtly and covertly, or the attempts of $GMX, all have failed. From the industry mindset perspective, $HYPE is just another ordinary project. This is also why many in the crypto Twitter community had biases against Hyperliquid before its launch. However, often a phenomenon-level project can uplift an entire industry. As Hyperliquid became increasingly hard to ignore, people began to chase after the so-called next Hyperliquid using the industry mindset, such as pursuing Lighter Backpack, Aster, etc. This is understandable and can be a profitable way of thinking. These projects are not bad either. But to grasp the essence of a phenomenon-level product, we need to think deeper about its uniqueness. This is because capturing the leading project gives the opportunity for maximum profit. If you see a good horse, like the Red Hare, and you start buying everything else that is also a horse in the market, you'll end up with a flood of mediocre options. After making a small profit, you are left with emptiness. Developing your judgment through the assets is the eternal topic for every individual in this market. So what makes Hyperliquid stand out? As seen in the second image, I believe that a good product is just the most basic surface level. The top assets in the crypto space have a premium due to their spiritual attributes. A truly cult-like community is not built by cheap meme generators posting unfunny memes and spamming gmgn, but by generous profit distribution forming a tightly-knit community centered around the team. "Community-owned" You might think this sounds cliché, but let’s rephrase it: "Distributing wealth to the peasants" "Those who cultivate the land should own it" Familiar? This is also the core spirit of Hyperliquid that I defined before its launch in the first image. At that time, I never looked at so-called revenue or open interest data. This is because the story and the profit distribution pattern determine that the ceiling is very high for subsequent project progress. Many projects can also perform well, but following traditional financing methods, naturally leads to 20-30% of the chips being easily taken by the rentier class, and due to the cycle factors of LPs, once they leave, it’s hard to reinvest in the project. This is also the reason for the death of most VC projects in history. However, it is not uncommon to distribute a large amount of profit to the community, and having a strong leadership core is also not rare. But when the two are combined, the essence of the project changes. This is because most smart teams are willing to give up profits to VCs in exchange for low-risk startup funding. This is a reasonable choice for smart people. But a strong and visionary core leadership team uses its own funds to help the project through the cold start phase and shares profits with the community to grow together. This is rare and precious. The essence of human nature remains unchanged. The development of history will always reflect in certain temporal and spatial scenarios, providing us with wisdom to penetrate surface features and hit the essence. It has been a long time since I have seen a similar project in the crypto space.