When the System Breaks Dreams: from the American Crisis to the Crypto Awakening in 2025

The phenomenon of the “liquidation line” has swept through Chinese social media at an astonishing speed. Starting from a video by an American blogger about homelessness, the concept spread across Zhihu, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Bilibili, sparking heated debates on how the American Dream has transformed into a ruthless financial control structure.

The Cruel Meaning of an Invisible Mechanism

Originally a term from video games — indicating the moment when a enemy, once falling below a critical threshold, could be eliminated instantly — the “liquidation line” has acquired a much deeper cruel meaning in contemporary reality. It is no longer just a meme, but a metaphor expressing how modern economic systems operate according to a ruthless logic: once an individual’s income, savings, or credit fall below a critical level, an automatic mechanism activates, plunging them into the abyss — unemployment, debt, extreme poverty.

The statistics speak clearly: 37% of Americans do not have $400 to cover an emergency. For millions living paycheck to paycheck, an unexpected event — illness, job loss, mechanical failure — triggers an irreversible chain reaction.

From Broken Dreams to Crypto Market Reality

While the American “liquidation line” manifests gradually through medical bills and accumulated debt, in the crypto world, collapse is lightning-fast. Here, the meaning is not only cruel but catastrophically accelerated. Leveraged liquidations, fund thefts, fraudulent projects — all can happen within minutes. No state safety net, no unemployment benefits, only the cold record of the blockchain documenting the total disappearance of capital.

2025 confirmed this dynamic with brutal clarity. The symbolic event was the flash crash on October 11: the sudden announcement of 100% tariff duties on China triggered global panic. In a single night, over 1.6 million traders were liquidated. Losses amounted to $19.3 billion, with Bitcoin plunging 13%, Ethereum 17%, and numerous altcoins wiped out from the market.

A Season of Continuous Massacres

But October 10 was not an isolated exception. Throughout 2025, hacker attacks and scams became the norm:

• February: a well-known exchange platform suffered its largest theft in history, with losses of $1.5 billion
• July: the Cetus protocol was robbed of $220 million
• September: HyperVault accused of rug pull for $3.6 million

According to Chainalysis, total crypto thefts in 2025 exceeded $3.4 billion, with North Korean hacker groups responsible for over $2 billion of that amount.

Who Pays the Price?

Small investors. Those chasing gains driven by FOMO, using leverage without understanding the risks, blindly trusting KOLs, suddenly find their accounts wiped out. The margin for error in crypto is practically nonexistent.

The Path Toward Protection

While governments can build welfare networks and social protection mechanisms, the crypto market remains exposed on all fronts: 24/7 trading, widespread leverage, scant regulation. These elements, presented as paths to financial freedom, have become accelerators of the “liquidation line.”

True awareness must start here: from understanding that the American Dream has proven fragile, and that the crypto dream — if not built on rational foundations — can prove even more illusory. Personal discipline, a solid asset allocation strategy, moderation in risk: these tools are the only real defense. Staying “in the game” means above all staying alive.