I came across a message at 3 a.m. and immediately sat up in bed—a top Wall Street financial institution officially announced support for mainstream crypto assets as collateral for loans! The glow of my phone screen lit up my face as I stared at those words for a full two minutes. Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this day for almost ten years.

Why am I so excited? Because I once paid a hefty price for this very issue.

Back in 2017, my family suddenly ran into trouble and urgently needed cash. I was holding 3 BTC at the time, each worth $20,000, but you know what? Back then, if you wanted to turn your coins into emergency cash, your only option was to sell. There was no other way. Collateralized lending, asset activation—forget it. Traditional banks? They didn’t even acknowledge what digital currency was. The so-called "crypto lending platforms"? Either small-time operations or so risky they were downright scary.

I had no choice but to grit my teeth and sell everything. I got $60,000, which solved the urgent problem. But guess how much those 3 coins are worth now? At today’s prices, they could easily buy a decent car. Every time I replay this in my mind, I feel like slapping myself—not for selling, but for the fact that there simply weren’t any other options back then.

To put it bluntly, the dilemma early players faced was surreal: your assets were clearly appreciating, but when you needed cash, you had no choice but to "cut your losses." You were holding chips that could increase tenfold in the future, but reality forced you to trade them for daily necessities. That sense of being torn apart is something only those who’ve been through it can understand.

So when I saw a traditional financial giant finally come around, my first reaction wasn’t words like "bullish" or "bull market signal." It was the genuine feeling that—for people like me who were forced to sell their coins—there’s finally a chance not to repeat that painful cycle.

This move means far more than "just another institution entering the space." It marks the true beginning of crypto assets being accepted by the mainstream financial system: your BTC, your ETH, they’re no longer just numbers on an exchange, but "hard currency" that can help you get through tough times when it counts. More importantly, it gives all holders confidence—if you have liquidity issues in the future, you no longer have to go through the agony of "selling your beloved assets."

Looking back over these ten years, I’ve grown my holdings from an initial $5,000 to where they are now, falling into countless traps along the way. Every dollar I’ve earned has been paid for with time and hard lessons. If I had to sum up the most profound lesson, it would be this: **Never underestimate the long-term value that comes from upgrades to industry infrastructure.**

Back then, without compliant collateral channels, I had no choice but to liquidate. Now that this path is open, it means that in the future, more people can solve real-life problems without having to give up their chips. This is what truly changes the rules of the game.