Journalist Colin Wu shared the story of a trader known as Vida, whose rapid trading and high profits caught the attention of Binance’s risk control department. By the age of 24, he had amassed 130 million yuan (~$17.8 million) and currently manages 51 million yuan (~$7 million).
On November 11, an unknown address purchased 10.9 million Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT) for $320,000 just two seconds after Binance announced the token’s listing. The subsequent rise and profit-taking resulted in a gain of 24 million yuan (~$3.4 million), according to Lookonchain.
The transaction occurred seven seconds before the exchange’s announcement on a Chinese platform, raising suspicions of insider trading. In response, the BWEnews trading team account admitted to being behind the widely discussed transaction. It was based on a note in an English-language source. The speed was due to a specially configured algorithm, and the operation was overseen by Vida.
His share amounted to 21 million yuan (~$3 million).
Following this, Vida was dubbed “the most influential algorithmic trader in the current bull market.” On the Zhihu platform, he revealed that his wealth had reached 130 million yuan (~$17.8 million).
Blockbeats, cited by Wu, disclosed the user’s recipe for success.
An IQ of 70
The “genius trader” was born in 2000 in Jiangsu province to a middle-class family. In school, he was considered “dull” due to an IQ of 70 and difficulties with mathematics.
Vida failed to achieve the passing score needed to continue traditional education. This turn of events later allowed the trader to find his strengths and fully realize his potential outside the education system. His talent emerged in language studies, particularly English, enabling him to enroll in an international high school.
“My strengths are quick thinking and creativity. I can spot business opportunities well,” he explained.
Vida discovered he could exploit information asymmetry in a more open and flexible environment, and this “financial acumen” became the foundation of his future success.
His development was not without the influence of his father, who had been investing in the local market since 1996, guided by Warren Buffett’s philosophy.
The First Million
Vida’s father’s work involved watching X and YouTube, as well as participating in English-speaking communities of wealthy individuals.
In 2015, Vida first tested his theories by engaging in arbitrage of “light assets” based on information asymmetry. Over four years, he earned his first million yuan ($137,000).
His main strategy is based on low-cost, highly efficient extraction of price differences due to the imbalance between available market data and individual traders.
According to Vida, the success rate of his trades was only 10–20%, but each bet was less than 1% of his total assets, allowing him to take risks without jeopardizing his entire capital and reap multiple profits. At this stage, the trader recognized his trading intuition and market synchronization, prompting him to move to macro investing.
This decision coincided with his enrollment in a foreign university, broadening his horizons. Thanks to accurate assessments of macroeconomic trends and price movements, his wealth grew from 1 million yuan (~$137,000) to 7 million yuan (~$960,000).
The next step was the automation of trading using programs and algorithms.
The Right Focus
Vida assembled a small team of programmers and quantitative analysts to turn his ideas into trading strategies.
“I am responsible for developing concepts, and the team implements them. This way, I can focus resources on what matters most. I don’t need to write every line of code myself; it’s more important to ensure my ideas are executed accurately,” the trader explained.
By the end of 2021, quantitative strategies had generated over 10 million yuan ($1.37 million) in profits. Vida saw the potential for full automation of trading, allowing him to outperform competitors in speed and accuracy.
He cited the complexity and implementation difficulties of his strategies as an advantage, making them practically inaccessible to 99.99% of market participants.
The Art of Millisecond-Level Arbitrage
In 2022, Vida met a colleague from France who had earned tens of millions of dollars in a few months by exploiting a glitch on Coinbase.
The meeting led to the realization that there are competitors who act even faster and more efficiently than he does. Focusing on this, Vida realized that Chinese media often lag behind the market, making them less useful for trading.
“I profit from information delays for retail investors and the limited reaction time of market makers. The latter cannot quickly withdraw their orders. Ordinary users often rely on a few slow channels or word of mouth, so if I buy before them, I can profit,” he shared.
Vida considers the transition to real-time news trading and delay arbitrage, with increased speed to industry-leading levels, as a milestone. In 2022, during the bear market, he managed to turn 8 million yuan (~$1.1 million) into 20 million yuan (~$2.74 million).
By 2023 and 2024, Vida had almost fully automated the model. The system began collecting content and executing trades instantly. With millisecond-level speed, the trader increased his wealth from 30 million yuan (~$4.11 million) to 100 million yuan (~$13.7 million).
Two years ago, Vida graduated from university and now leads three main business areas, each divided into several segments. His plans include increasing assets to $100 million within three years and launching a hedge fund in Singapore or Dubai.
Cryptocurrencies for the Smart
According to Vida, the keys to success are developing a unique skill and exploiting information asymmetry. In the first case, he recommends becoming an expert and dedicating part of your time to making money. In the second, act as an arbitrator, engaging in the same resale of goods.
Vida is convinced that instead of dreaming of wealth, one should seek and find initial advantages. In his view, cryptocurrencies offer such an opportunity.
“If you don’t work hard in such favorable market conditions, you will regret it in the next four years. Use this high-liquidity environment to fully capitalize and extract as many US dollars as possible,” the message reads.
In his opinion, the main role of the cryptocurrency market is “to redistribute wealth from 95% of retail investors to 5% of the elite.”
As reported in October, ForkLog noted a trader earning $140,000 in less than 20 minutes by monitoring new listings on Binance.
At the end of September, a user turned $815 into $9.4 million on MOODENG. However, the low liquidity of the coin prevented him from realizing the full potential profit.