In a bear-biased chop where sentiment is dry and volume is thin, any form of engineered reward becomes appealing. CEX platforms know this. They’re not creating value. They’re concentrating attention. And attention, in this economy, is liquidity, until it isn’t
But there’s something more personal here. A lot of people enter these trading comps not because they believe in the assets, but because they believe in motion. People don’t want to be stuck watching price go sideways for another quarter. They want to feel part of something that moves. That emotion (that need for proof of effort) is powerful. But it’s also dangerous if left unchecked. Because eventually, you’ll need to ask: Are you trading to win or trading to not feel left behind?
Also, don’t overlook tax implications, fake volumes inflating ranking spots, and low real ROI when spreads widen due to volatility spikes from coordinated event whales. I’ve seen competitions where the top 5 traders already entered with internal connections or early API boosts. So unless your strategy includes how to outplay event psychology, don’t assume airdrops are free value
Events can give you temporary edge. But if you don't know how to extract long-term confidence from short-term chaos, then you're not really trading. You’re just surviving. That’s fine. But name it for what it is