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As professionals in the industry, studios must also find their own position in the process. Tutorials on the market are either teaching TX and large-scale interactions, or they are doing differentiated things, fully utilizing their own advantages. Only in this way can they increase their chances of getting airdrops.
Qifeite talked about it: “Airdrops are like sharing a cake. To get more shares, you need to constantly add and expand the number of addresses. Of course, the criteria for adding must comply with the airdrop rules set by the project. If the rules are unclear, we can only think about how the project may draw the line. If there are “rat warehouses,” we need to consider how our addresses can “blend in” with the criteria for “rat warehouses.”
Lumao has also begun to emphasize the “craftsman spirit.”
Lumao is like fishing, and the waiting time is always the longest. In the process of Lumao, what is needed is not only skills but also patience and determination. “The most suitable person for Lumao is actually someone who can stay calm. Only such a person can go further,” Damon said.
When Qifeite just left Web2 last year, she was indeed a little anxious. When she was doing Lumao alone, her daily routine was very irregular. She often slept late and woke up late. But luckily, she and her friends Lumaoed the Sui project, and the monthly unlocked sales were equivalent to a “monthly salary,” which greatly relieved her anxiety. “But I can’t rely solely on this salary to make a living. After all, the tokens are unlocked monthly, and after a year, they will be gone. I have to find a way to make a living,” she said.
So, during that year, in addition to Lumaoing, Qifeite also worked hard to learn. For example, she learned options trading and deepened her understanding of the Bitcoin ecosystem, seizing some opportunities in the second half of the year.
Three years later, Lumao people have gradually developed a “craftsman spirit” and adjusted their operational strategies. From the early days of casual interaction to running a code-based studio now, while pursuing efficiency, the Lumao industry has gradually developed a more delicate and sophisticated way of operating, emphasizing that “boutique accounts are the best,” and boutique account addresses are regarded as “gold mines” and “mines.”
Qifeite told BlockBeats: “I don’t agree with using synchronizers when using fingerprint browsers. Although synchronizers are indeed convenient and can operate multiple addresses at the same time, doubling the efficiency, this easily makes the behavior trajectory of addresses the same, increasing the risk of being recognized as a witch.”
Damon also emphasized the importance of manual operation: “Many studios nowadays have a lazy mentality and try to be clever by using scripts or automated Lumao. This approach has a high probability of being ‘killed’ from the perspective of ZKsync. So, leave some room for error, such as relying on code and synchronizers for 20% of the work, and relying on pure manual operation for the remaining 80%.”
Whale’s perspective is also similar. For example, machine brushing on ZKsync and Starknet is almost doomed to fail. This is because Starknet uses AI to query witch clusters with similar behaviors (including withdrawal time, amount, interaction path, interaction order, etc.). ZKsync uses amount retention. If batch running with scripts, the instinct will ignore the above two points in pursuit of efficiency. Therefore, it almost doesn’t work as a witch on these two projects due to the randomness of manual operation (not efficient enough) and consideration of operation costs (no frequent movement of LP funds).
In addition to manual operation becoming mainstream again, refined data analysis has also become the core competitiveness of many successful studios. Whale emphasized that in the crypto industry, the market value and token distribution of each project need to be carefully estimated. This estimation may seem simple but is actually very complex and time-consuming to implement. “There are too many projects, and it is exhausting to calculate the cost, income, and input-output ratio for each one. But I have always insisted on this habit to ensure that the input and income of each project are roughly estimated,” Whale explained.
To ensure the accuracy of the estimation, Whale relies not only on public information but also delves into non-public information, such as the TVL, number of interactions, and number of independent addresses of the protocol. “Many people only look at public information, but I will further analyze, such as examining the data of contract addresses through block explorers to estimate the expected income of the project.”
For example, a project invested by Binance usually has an expected market value of no less than 1 billion. Whale explained, “If a project is invested by Binance, and the amount is not small, then the probability of being listed on Binance is very high.” Then, Whale will further analyze the project’s activities, such as token distribution ratios and the number of participating addresses, to estimate the potential income of each user based on this data.
In the process of Lumao, Whale has gradually formed his own “subtraction” philosophy. He believes that “choosing not to do something” is more important than “choosing to do something.” “This can ensure my winning rate,” he said.
Whale wrote in his Twitter signature: “To learn more day by day, to lose more day by day.” He explained that this means acquiring knowledge and information should be constantly increasing, while the pursuit of things should be decreasing. Reducing useless information and unnecessary pursuits is the key to success. For him, a project must have a clear reason to do it, rather than doing it just because there is no reason not to do it.
Lumao is also a growing industry. “Everything is reusable,” this is Xiao Zhi’s belief. By reusing successful strategies and experiences in different projects, the cost of trial and error can be reduced and execution efficiency can be improved.
Xiao Zhi’s team mined CHIA three years ago.
“In 2021, we did the CHIA project, which required us to set up machines and configure networks ourselves. We had a lot of trial and error experiences, and these experiences were well reused when mining ionet, so we got started quickly.”
When CHIA, the cryptocurrency, surged, many “miners” and studios became interested and purchased high-capacity hard drives to mine and earn rewards. This caused a shortage and price increase of high-capacity mechanical and solid-state drives.
Xiao Zhi also mentioned that before entering Web3, his team had participated in Hong Kong stock IPOs. Just as mentioned at the beginning of the article, Xiao Zhi’s team was one of the “Baihuhou” in Hong Kong stocks. “We decided whether to subscribe to new stocks based on the situation and winning rate of investment institutions. These logics can also be well reused in Web3.”
“At that time, the cost of subscribing to new stocks in Hong Kong was 10,000 to 20,000 Hong Kong dollars, somewhat similar to the gas fees on the chain.” Xiao Zhi remembered that during the most glorious week, their earnings from subscribing to new stocks could reach between 700,000 and 800,000.
In the process of Lumao, each person has different strategies. Xiao Zhi explained, “Each project has different strategic dimensions, such as the protocols you interact with, the status of your monthly, weekly, and daily activities, the amount of funds in your account and on the chain, your mortgage and loan amounts, etc. These are uncertain factors.”
Strategy formulation needs to be based on experience, and the conclusion is that multi-account management is needed. Xiao Zhi said, “If one account transfers funds to 100 accounts, it is very easy to be detected and banned.”
Although it is not possible to win every time, formulating a reasonable strategy is crucial, and most importantly, ensuring strict execution of the strategy. The strategy remains unchanged. This is like playing poker. By strictly executing the strategy, even if a particular round does not achieve the regional optimum, from an overall and long-term perspective, it is the overall optimum.
In the process of interacting with studios, we have also observed some interesting phenomena. The crypto industry has always been highly polarized. The project creators are usually elites from top universities, while most traders and Lumaoers are more like talented people doing business in the market. English represents one extreme of this polarization.
For self-made talented individuals, respect is what they desire most after making money, and they don’t want to be called “newly rich.” Learning English has become a symbol of “dignity” and a way to shape their new identity, seeking higher social recognition and respect.
Today, Lumao studios, like KOLs, are also experiencing generational replacements. When they earn a large amount of money, some choose to leave, and new studios take over the old ones, continuing to chase wealth in this market.
“My friend has achieved financial freedom after this round of Lumao and is preparing to close the studio. I am discussing with him about taking over. This is the most suitable price for both of us.” This kind of inheritance after getting rich has added a special continuity to the Lumao industry.
With the passage of time, studios have also begun to form “brotherhood” relationships, forming Lumao alliances and Lumao matrices.
The influence of Lumao studios has been continuously increasing with this organizational and alliance formation. Initially, Lumaoers were sometimes looked down upon by project parties and communities, and even self-deprecatingly referred to as “black slave losers.” Now, project parties actively cooperate with Lumao studios and sometimes the studios provide suggestions to the project parties.
These changes are not just superficial. The “voice” of Lumao studios can have a huge impact on the entire industry. Their opinions can change the attitudes of venture capitalists, influence token prices, and even determine whether a trading platform will list a token. This influence comes not only from their numbers and funds but also from the professional knowledge and operational experience they have gradually accumulated in the industry. It can be said that Lumao studios have evolved from a simple business model to a highly organized and influential force in the crypto industry.
Regarding the future of the Lumao industry, many people speculate whether it will end up like the “Hong Kong stock IPO” business, disappearing because it is no longer profitable.
In fact, as more projects fail to meet expectations after issuing tokens, the returns from airdrops have gradually decreased, and the success rate of studios has started to decline. The article mentioned many studios that made money, but in reality, many studios have already disappeared in the fierce competition.
The survival time of the Lumao industry depends on market trends. The bear market is more like the season of cultivation, while the bull market is the time for harvest. The crypto industry is still in its early stages, which means that the Lumao industry as a whole may still have a longer lifespan. However, with intensified competition, finding the “art of Lumao” will be the key to success.
The Lumao industry in the crypto market is gradually moving towards the “28 rule” where only 20% of people make money. How to become part of that 20% is the huge challenge that all Lumaoers are facing now. For them, this is not just a game of technology and strategy but also a business that requires wisdom and patience.
Acknowledgments to the interviewees: Whale, Xiao Zhi, Xian Yu, Damon, Qifeite, Lambert Lin.