Author: Yanz, Deep Tide TechFlow

The term "cutting line" has gone viral on Chinese social media within two days. Starting with videos of homeless people on the streets shared by American blogger "Lock A," the concept has swept across Chinese websites such as Zhihu, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Bilibili, and has also sparked considerable discussion on X.

A post comparing living expenses between the US and China has gone viral, revealing that while Americans earn high salaries, rent, healthcare, and student loans take up the lion's share, leaving little money. 37% of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency fund, and for many who live paycheck to paycheck, a minor illness, unemployment, or car breakdown can trigger a chain reaction.

Originally a term from video games, "execution threshold" refers to the point at which an enemy's health drops to a certain level, allowing a single skill combo to instantly kill them. In this discussion, the term has taken on a deeper meaning. It has been borrowed to describe a brutal financial collapse mechanism in real society, particularly in the United States: once an ordinary person's savings, income, or credit fall below a critical point, the entire system, as if triggering an automatic program, pushes them to an irreversible abyss—unemployment, debt, homelessness, and even suicide.

Why is this concept so popular? I think it's because it ruthlessly shattered America's sweet illusion, showing people the cruel reality after the "American Dream" was broken.

In 2025, the global economy will be turbulent, the US debt will exceed $38 trillion, and inflationary pressures will leave the middle class teetering on the brink. But the "cutoff line" is not just a social meme. Upon closer examination, if the US's "cutoff line" is disheartening, turning our attention back to the crypto world, the "cutoff line" here is even more sobering.

The harvesting mechanism in the cryptocurrency world is more brutal and globalized than the death penalty in American society. The death penalty in the United States is slowly reaped through medical bills, unemployment, and debt, while the death penalty in the crypto world is often completed in minutes or hours: leveraged liquidation, project collapse, hacker attacks, and funds are wiped out overnight.

Without government support or unemployment benefits, all that remains are cold, hard records on the blockchain, becoming a bloody history.

How could 2025, the year of cryptocurrencies, not be a major wake-up call? The anticipated bull market peak turned into a bloodbath for many retail investors. The most unforgettable moment was the flash crash on October 10th.

At 4:50 AM on October 11th, US President Trump suddenly posted a message, retaliating by emphasizing that a 100% tariff would be imposed on China starting November 1st. Market panic erupted instantly. Overnight, global financial markets underwent a dramatic shift. All three major US stock indices plummeted: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9%, the S&P 500 plunged 2.71%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 3.56%, marking its largest single-day drop since April. European stock and oil markets were also severely impacted.

At that time, the crypto market was experiencing a liquidity crisis, and exchanges were witnessing the largest liquidation in crypto history: more than 1.6 million people were instantly wiped out, $19.3 billion was liquidated, Bitcoin fell by 13%, Ethereum plummeted by 17%, and the altcoin sector even crashed by 85%, with many smaller coins hitting zero. It was a doomsday market with corpses strewn everywhere.

This was an epic purge, but clearly not the only one. Throughout 2025, hacks and Rug Pulls were rampant.

In February, the Bybit exchange suffered its largest single theft in history, losing $1.5 billion and having more than 400,000 Ethereum stolen.

In July, the Cetus protocol was embezzled $220 million.

In September, the HyperVault protocol was accused of rug pull, allegedly siphoning off $3.6 million in user funds...

A Chainalysis report shows that total cryptocurrency theft exceeded $3.4 billion in 2025, a record high, with North Korean hacking groups contributing over $2 billion. These incidents often target retail investors: newcomers experience FOMO (fear of missing out), chase high prices, leverage all their investments, and blindly trust KOL (Key Opinion Leader) recommendations; once something goes wrong, their funds evaporate instantly.

It's obvious that compared to the slow, methodical crackdown in American society, crypto is more like a blitzkrieg. Emotions and leverage amplify all risks, but the margin for error? Let's just laugh it off; it's practically zero.

Not just nations, but any system with a low tolerance for failure can easily be transformed into a harvester. The key to resisting such exploitation lies in strengthening the safety net: improving regulation, controlling debt, and building a multi-layered social safety net to give individuals breathing room and room to recover.

The government can establish social security systems to provide a buffer and prevent a fatal blow. However, retail investors in the crypto market face the challenge of 24/7 trading, meaning a collapse can happen at any time. The proliferation of leverage tools allows novices to easily open accounts with high leverage, and anonymity and weak regulation, while reducing the cost of running away with funds, also amplify the risk of falling into traps. These things, once seen as shortcuts to financial freedom, have now become fuel that accelerates the inevitable crash, rushing towards everyone.

The heated debate surrounding the "kill line" (a metaphor for the perceived vulnerability or loss of control) marks a moment of shattering for the American Dream, and should also be a wake-up call for the crypto dream. Instead of believing we're the lucky one, we should focus more on building personal discipline and more resilient asset allocations. Rational participation and robust safeguards might allow us to navigate the "online" world for a few more years.

After all, in the reality after waking up from the dream, the most important thing is to live.

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