Recently, most people have likely been flooded with various year-end reports, from Douban's annual lists to increasingly personalized annual reports from cloud music platforms, and even annual summaries from e-commerce platforms like Taobao. These visuals or data fragments showcase memories and snippets of our lives over the past year.
For those of us in the crypto industry, an annual summary might hold even greater significance. It not only represents our performance in the market over the past year but also sets the stage for the new year.
Recently, major exchanges have successively launched their own annual reports. Taking OKX as an example, the report allows you to see your trading situation over the year, including asset size, profit status, trading frequency, risk control level, and sensitivity to industry trends, resulting in a data radar of the past year.
If you are a trader, it's worth taking a closer look at this radar chart, as it can visually show what level of performance you demonstrated in the industry over the past year.
Especially sensitivity to trends—the market did not see the highly anticipated altcoin bull run over the past year, only rotations in certain sectors. Therefore, grasping trends has become particularly crucial.
Another important dimension is risk control. If you had a good level of risk control, you likely could have avoided the major crash on October 11th.
These are the reflections an annual report can bring us, and it can also serve as the starting point for our annual summary.
Additionally, it’s worthwhile to take a moment to write about your actions in the industry over the past year. After all, aside from market conditions, many interesting stories have unfolded in the industry. Through these stories, we can see how we participated in these narratives and reflect on which ones we missed.
For industry entrepreneurs, the founder’s annual summary is particularly important. It can serve both as a public annual summary for their company and as a form of brand building and communication.
Just like OKX CEO Star’s year-end article titled “2025: Steadily Moving Towards Financial Freedom,” which left me quite reflective after reading it.
Especially the title—who in the industry doesn’t desire financial freedom or financial independence? Even Binance co-founder He Yi once said, “I’ll retire after making 100 million.” But how to steadily move towards financial freedom is a test for both companies and individuals.
After experiencing the bloodbath of October 11th, I increasingly feel the importance of this statement: “Financial freedom is often misunderstood. It does not mean the absence of rules, but rather the possession of choices, and these choices are supported by a proven and effective system.” (Excerpt from Star’s year-end summary)
If all participants could pursue financial freedom and industry development within the rules, perhaps such epic清算 (liquidation) would not occur, nor would it hinder the progress of the industry or impact everyone so severely. After all, in an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent.
2026 is about to begin. No matter what we experienced in the past year, we must still pack our bags and move forward. The crypto industry continues to develop, and even those who have already achieved financial freedom, like Sister Yi, are still building. What about us?
Finally, a word to bid farewell to 2025: When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it.
See you next year.
