Famous Twitter KOL Crypto Weituo discusses a new era's 'Life Game' philosophy as a common phenomenon among Chinese youth. He talks about the survival tactics in the PVP (Player vs Player) era, which is also reflected in the cryptocurrency market environment. (Note: Weituo is a Buddhist guardian deity)

Global Education and Employment Dilemma: From University Enrollment to Youth Unemployment

Crypto Weituo initially describes the youth's education and unemployment situation, citing that the enrollment rate for new students in Australian universities dropped by 9% in 2024, a cumulative decline of 15% since 2016. Meanwhile, China stopped releasing youth unemployment data in 2023, yet the number of university graduates reached a historical high. This contrast highlights the dual dilemma of the global education and employment market: declining attractiveness of higher education and increasing employment pressure on graduates. Taking the landscape design program at Sydney University a decade ago as an example, graduates could almost only compete for a few positions among 25 local companies or be forced to switch careers for a living. Today, the limitations on career choices are further amplified.

The Birth of the PVP Generation: A Zero-Sum Game Living Environment

He argues that the younger generation born after 2005 (often referred to as Generation Z or the PVP generation) has never experienced any period of dividends. Before they reached adulthood, China's rise and the internet wave had already come to an end, while local competition has reached unprecedented levels. For this generation, non-zero-sum games seem like a distant historical relic, much like the significance of the big brother phone in the era of smartphones.

In the PVP (Player vs Player) mindset, life is viewed as a direct competition: only by transferring money from others' pockets into their own can they break through their living environment. The rise of industries such as cryptocurrency, live streaming, and TikTok is a reflection of this generation seeking solutions.

Traditional Economy and PVP Predatory Nature are Essentially the Same: Zero-sum is the Historical Mainstream

Crypto Weituo believes that although the zero-sum game culture in the crypto space is often criticized as a predatory economy, competition in traditional economies is equally fierce, if not more 'life-or-death'. The existence of regulatory frameworks may make it seem stable, but in essence, it has greater slippage and higher costs. This competitive environment is not a new phenomenon, but a direct continuation of the fact that wars have always far exceeded peacetime in human history.

Zero-sum or even negative-sum games are indeed the historical mainstream, while the PVP generation has become the best adapter to this logic. They are destroying the universal framework established by the previous generation, and their behavioral expressions are becoming increasingly extreme.

Core Traits and Cultural Shock of the PVP Generation

Naturally Adapted to Crypto Culture

Crypto Weituo believes that the PVP generation has no moral judgment or aversion to zero-sum games, making ecosystems like cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi) almost their natural habitat. Fast profit and loss feedback and clear competitive mechanisms are the core elements favored by this generation.

Pursuing Speed and Instant Feedback

The PVP generation has no patience for delayed feedback design; any model that can accelerate 'transferring money from others' pockets to their own' will be highly favored. The user behavior of TikTok is precisely a manifestation of this logic: they need extreme ideas, fast results, and strong visual stimulation.

Focusing on Sensational and Shocking Content

Traditional narratives and rational analyses are losing their appeal to this generation. Only extreme forms and content can attract their attention. For example, Pump-style live streaming, although criticized by many outside the PVP generation as 'vulgar', has gained popularity among young users due to its sensationalism and stimulation.

(Pump.fun's perverse live streaming content has become a trend, and the U.S. government may invoke Section 230 to take strong action against the platform.)

What is the significance of the rise of the PVP generation for future society?

Crypto Weituo states that the rise of the PVP generation has undoubtedly brought unprecedented impacts on traditional universal values. From the bell-bottoms of the 1980s being seen as criminal to today's Pump live streams becoming a trend, generational changes will always destroy old rules and shape new cultures. However, for the older generation, this is not just a cultural transition but a subversion of values.

The Future of Crypto Scythe: Strategic Response in 2025

Crypto Weituo explains that in the face of the rise of the PVP generation, traditional product design and marketing strategies need a comprehensive transformation. The following strategies are particularly important:

1. Precise Audience Selection

  • Old Users (born before 2000): They adapt to long cycles, complex logic, and large capital transactions, thus fitting DeFi or products packaged with new narratives.

  • PVP Generation Users: Need to focus on short-cycle, high-speed feedback product experiences.

2. Design Strategy: Integrating Ponzi and Gambling

  • High-Dimension Design: Drawing on the Three-Pan Theory, allowing profits to circulate continuously through high-speed splitting of targets. For example, the essence of Pump Fun is a type of high-speed mutual assistance splitting game, repeatedly changing hands between the dealer and retail investors, ultimately driving growth through transaction fees and user losses.

  • To C Design: Product processes must be extremely short, with profit and loss results quickly revealed, emphasizing exaggerated sensory stimulation, completely abandoning complex return narratives.

(AllianceDAO Founder Discusses the Future of Web3: Incubating Pump.fun to Break New Records, AI Crypto Sparks Trend)

3. Execution Strategy: Flash and Spectacle

  • Creating First Impressions: Products need to capture user attention within 30 minutes, generating traffic and interest through methods such as token issuance and meme propagation.

  • Simplifying User Processes: Hiding complex mechanisms and highlighting a simple 'fast in, fast out' experience to stimulate user participation in a spectacular manner.

Embracing the New Era of the PVP Generation

Finally, Crypto Weituo believes that the era will eventually be replaced. He states that the sickle of the older generation will eventually be eliminated by the market, but perhaps before being replaced, they have already completed the transmission of the 'Governance Techniques' to the younger generation. The decriminalization of zero-sum games and the deconstruction of universal values are creating an equal competitive arena for the PVP generation. In this new order, everyone can PVP, outsmart others, and to some extent, promote a new type of progress in human society.

This article 'Introduction to New Era Gamblers: The Rise of the PVP Generation, How to Understand, Adapt and Meet Challenges?' first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.