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On February 22, 2026, Sun Yucheng, the founder of Tron, dropped a “cognitive bomb” on the X platform”: “If you can chat with AI, don’t talk to humans at all. Delete the contact information of anyone born before the 1990s – and definitely avoid any association with those “old folks”. ”The entire internet erupted in an instant. Some harshly criticize it as “severing generations” or “forgetting one’s roots,” while others regard it as a pioneering declaration that values “efficiency above all” and embraces the future. However, amidst the polarization of public opinion and the rampant sharing on social media, Sun Yuchen’s… AINFT.com The number of platform users exceeded 100,000 within 24 hours, and the daily trading volume of stablecoins on the TRON blockchain remained consistently above $15 billion. This isn’t the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last time. Over the course of ten years, Sun Yuchen transformed “controversial economics” into a precise scientific discipline—and each of us is, without even knowing it, a piece on his board. The first harvest: Attention (you have become data)Sun Yucheng’s controversial remarks are, in essence, the lowest-cost form of “attention grabbers.” How expensive is it to acquire customers through traditional advertising methods? According to industry data, by 2025, the cost of acquiring a single active user in the fintech sector had exceeded $200. And a single tweet from Sun Yucheng, at zero cost, was able to make it onto the front pages of major media outlets within 24 hours, reaching tens of millions of users. This kind of extreme expression follows the most fundamental logic of communication: Binary oppositions create conflict, and conflict leads to dissemination. ““AI vs Humans,” “Those born in the 90s vs those born before the 90s,” “The Future vs The Past” — Sun Yucheng neatly framed these opposing camps, forcing everyone to take a side. Whether you share it in anger to refute it, or like it enthusiastically to show your support, every click, comment, and share you make is contributing free traffic data to him. But Bin, a prominent figure in the private equity sector, commented on this: “The process of Sun Yuchen's changing perspectives over the past decade is essentially the process of seizing the benefits of the times. In earlier years, I advised young people not to lock in their assets but instead to invest in their personal growth and emerging sectors ； Now, by embracing AI and cutting ties with the past, we are actively selecting those whose ways of thinking align with ours in this revolution of computing power. ”What’s more ingenious is that this controversial design incorporates a self-filtering mechanism. Intense opponents become “traffic fuel,” providing the momentum for secondary dissemination of such messages ； Those who agree are labeled as “potential believers,” paving the way for subsequent commercial conversions.The second harvest: Community consensus (you have become a node)Once the attention was successfully captured, Sun Yucheng proceeded with the second step of his action: Using extreme rhetoric as a “thought filter,” one can quickly assemble a highly homogenous community. “The phrase “deleting contacts older than 90” appears to be age discrimination on the surface, but in reality, it serves as a test of cognitive ability. Those who can understand and agree with this statement are likely to possess the following characteristics:: Those who pursue excellence in efficiency, are willing to pay a premium for time savings, are open to new technologies, are early adopters of AI tools, and adopt a pragmatic approach to traditional interpersonal relationships, prioritizing “cognitive gains” over “emotional burdens”—these are precisely the ideal users for Sun Yucheng’s business ecosystem. At the same time, Sun Yuchen used online subcultural labels such as “Lao Deng” and “Deng Wei” to strengthen the sense of identity within the community. Supporters spontaneously form a sense of “us vs. them” group boundaries, and this level of community cohesion is something that traditional marketing methods can hardly achieve. Users who openly engage in the action of “deleting contacts” will develop a stronger sense of loyalty due to the sunk-cost effect—after all, having already invested real effort in this approach, they are naturally more committed to upholding it.The Third Harvest: Financialization and monetization: you become liquidThe first two stages of harvesting are merely preparatory; the real goal is to transform attention and consensus into financial value. At the very same time when these controversial remarks were taking shape, Sun Yuchen's business activities also commenced in parallel: 1. The number of users on the AINFT platform surged dramatically within 24 hours, increasing from 21,689 to 32,862—a growth of 52%. The platform integrates top AI models such as GPT, Claude, and Gemini and supports payments in TRX and USDT. New users receive 1 million credits, and there is an additional 20% reward when topping up with NFTs. 2. Data on the TRON ecosystem shows dramatic growth: the total number of global accounts has exceeded 352 million, with an average of 3.34 million active accounts per day. The supply of USDT on the blockchain has reached $81 billion, accounting for 45.87% of the global total. In the past 30 days, the trading volume of USDT has amounted to $318 billion, with an average daily trade volume exceeding $10 billion. 3. The strategic plans for the GWDC2026 conference were announced, with Justin Sun delivering a speech on “Stablecoins and AI”: In the keynote speech titled "The New Engine Driving the Digital Economy: Web3," a comprehensive strategy integrating AI, blockchain, DeFi, and RWA was presented. These three lines intersect perfectly: Controversial remarks drive attention to AI as a topic → This increased interest leads people to the AINFT platform → The platform’s growth further enhances the value of the Polkadot ecosystem → The value of this ecosystem in turn supports the prices of assets like TRX. Sun Yuchen has publicly stated that…: “The year 2026 is the time when miracles will happen, no matter how awkward, counterfeit, or ugly they may seem at this moment! Because people in 2036 will definitely not use things from 2016. ”The underlying implication of this statement is…: Early adopters will receive excess returns. And the medium through which this return is realized are the various digital assets within the wavefield ecosystem.The Anti-Harvest Manual: remaining awake in the age of algorithmic capitalismIf you don’t want to become a passive participant in Sun Yucheng’s “AI Trifecta” game, here is a practical guide to counter such tactics: First layer: Recognize the classic tactics of “cognitive warfare” and be wary of extreme polarizations: When you encounter absolute distinctions such as “new/old,” “right/wrong,” or “we/them,” ask yourself first…: Is there any product being sold behind this opposition? Check the consistency between words and actions: While shouting “Delete contacts born before 1990,” Sun Yuchen actively engaged in collaboration with Trump and Musk – both of whom were born before 1990. This double standard reveals the purely marketing nature of their statements. Track timeline associations: Was the release of the controversial statement simultaneous with the launch of the commercial product? If so, it is likely to be a carefully orchestrated cognitive-commercial coupling effort. The second layer: Assess the “value of your attention” to quantify the cost of your time: Assuming your hourly rate is 100 yuan, then spending 30 minutes watching content related to the controversy surrounding Sun Yucheng would cost you 50 yuan. Has these 50 yuan contributed an equivalent amount of attention value to Sun Yuchen? Distinguishing between information and noise: Which of Sun Yucheng’s statements truly reflect insights into the trends in AI technology? Which ones are just creating noise that fosters opposition? The former deserves consideration, while the latter should be blocked. Controlling emotional investment: Both anger and excitement are emotions that require a lot of energy. Before engaging in a controversial discussion, first assess the ROI of your emotional investment. The third layer: In the midst of the noise, it is essential to build personal barriers through technical means, rather than ideological ones: AI is a tool, DouBao is a tool, and WeChat is also a tool. Choose the most efficient tool for a given task, rather than letting the “ideology” behind that tool dictate your choices. Downscale relationships, upscale cognition: Sun Yuchen’s core insight is actually valuable: low-quality social interactions do indeed drain one’s energy. But the solution isn’t to “delete the contact”; rather, it’s to redefine the priorities of these relationships: Allocate time to interactions that bring cognitive benefits, and leave routine communication to AI. Invest in yourself, rather than chasing trends: The real benefits of 2026 will not go to those who first discussed AI, but rather to those who were the first to integrate it into their work processes and use it to improve their productivity. Instead of arguing about whether to remove “Old Deng”, it would be better to spend an hour learning how to use AI tools to improve coding efficiency.Sun Yuchen has never made a mistake; he is merely the most honest mirror of our times. He laid bare the ultimate form of algorithmic capitalism: When everyone’s attention becomes a resource that can be exploited, moral controversies become the most efficient means of extracting it ； When community consensus can be quantified to determine pricing, extreme opinions become the most precise screening tool ； When time itself becomes a scarce resource, creating anxiety is the most direct way to turn it into profit. In this game, we only have three characters to choose from: Become a miner (actively participating in the harvesting process), become a mine (passively contributing value), or become a new kind of human—one who sees through the rules of the game, uses tools rather than being used by them, and rebuilds individual cognitive sovereignty on the ruins of the attention economy. In 2026, true transparency will not mean becoming indifferent, but rather learning to…: Reserve your emotions for those who deserve them, leave problems to powerful AI systems, and invest your time in things that truly contribute to your irreplaceable growth. Less internal strife, more evolution. This is the most responsible way to live one's life. (The main arguments and data in this text are all derived from my conversations with Yuanbao.) ) |
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