Thirty-fifth Birthday
Today is my 35th birthday. Life seems to have been fast-forwarded: Earlier this month, the total supply of stablecoins exceeded $80 billion; on the 24th, I rang the opening bell on Tron; this week, I'll be staying in the Astronaut Village to prepare for my upcoming space flight. Yet, all this still seems a little late for me.
Take space launches, for example. When I purchased my seat on Blue Origin's NS-16 mission in 2021, fewer than 200 people in human history had traveled to space. Four years later—now aboard S-34—I will become the 682nd person. Back then, commercial spaceflight was still a Russian monopoly; now, Blue Origin and SpaceX have each completed 18 missions, ushering in a glorious era of private spaceflight.
Going public tells a similar story. Since founding our company in 2012, our IPO plans have been repeatedly delayed for various reasons, leaving us helplessly watching as friends, one by one, ring the exchange bells—"When the time comes, things will work out, and the journey never ends." At one point, I almost gave up, resigned myself to fate. But in the end, we hit a new all-time high.
The entire blockchain industry has followed a similar path. If we were rookies in 2012, by 2017, we were already mired in a quagmire, facing pressure from all sides. The pressure was so intense that a single day in the cryptocurrency world felt like a year in the real world. The recognition we receive today isn't so much a victory as a hard-earned respite from the world.
All of this is just us gritting our teeth, waiting for change.
There are still heroes in this world. Times create heroes, and heroes create times; the two are indistinguishable, like the mountains and rivers. The president's decision roars like the Yangtze River crashing against a cliff, swept into the torrent of history—fate and timing are beyond human control. Even though the outcome is set, we must exert all our might, pursuing the enemy, overcoming numerous obstacles, to reach Beijing, to Beijing, to Beijing! The Ming Dynasty endured the turmoil of 1644, which dragged on for another eighteen years. The broom is too short to sweep the dust.
Ten thousand years is too long; today's battle is a thousand-day battle.
People yearn for the fullness of youth. Not everyone, like Yamal, is fortunate enough to debut early and endure the hardships. When we have weathered the storms, washed away the dross, entered middle age, and shouldered the heavy responsibilities, people marvel that Pulisic is only 27. Next year is the World Cup.
How come you're only 35?
Good food is never late
