The "Court Politics" of Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Power Struggles and Loyalty Games

I have a bold theory: all Chinese exchanges are essentially a "digital version of the Forbidden City," where the exchange owners can act as "emperors," and all the drama within the exchanges can be understood as "court politics."

Some emperors, like Jiajing, are devoted to cultivation, mastering imperial power tactics, allowing their subordinates to balance each other, turning a blind eye to internal corruption, and willing to share part of their power, leading to mutual rise.

Other emperors emphasize absolute loyalty, are decisive in their actions, and do not tolerate any bargaining. Once someone tries to seek more benefits or challenge their authority, they are completely swept out.

Let's briefly discuss the topic of court politics within cryptocurrency exchanges. This is purely fictional and for entertainment purposes.

Power Struggles

To understand court politics, one must first abandon a naive notion: there is no absolute distinction between good and evil, loyalty and treachery.

In "The Ming Dynasty 1566," Yan Song, though later denounced as a traitor, managed to hold the position of prime minister for many years due to his exceptional political skills, significantly contributing to the national treasury. However, after the rise of the reformists, the fierce anti-corruption campaign left the Ming treasury even emptier.

Is there such a thing as purely loyal ministers and traitors? There are only those who are useful to the emperor at the moment and those who are not, as well as those who succeed in their struggles for power and those who fail.

Wherever there are people, there are conflicts.

Power needs personnel to be grounded. The core of the struggle between Yan Song and Xu Jie was the competition for personnel authority within the Ming court. Whoever could place their own people in the six ministries and nine ministers could grasp actual power and influence the court's operations.

The power struggles within exchanges are similar; they are essentially contests for key positions.

For example, the most critical departments such as listing, finance, and investment. With many candidates and limited positions, conflicts are inevitable.

As the owner, many times, one is pleased to see subordinates competing.

When subordinates compete with each other, they find it difficult to form a strong enough alliance, eliminating the possibility of challenging authority.

The conflict between two sides motivates each to provide the owner with negative information about the other, allowing the owner to gain a more comprehensive and multi-faceted understanding of internal intelligence while also holding leverage over subordinates.

Of course, this kind of competition among subordinates must remain within controllable limits. Excessive internal strife can lead to resource waste, inefficiency, and even threaten the overall stability of the organization.

When one side's power becomes too large and threatens the owner's authority, the owner may employ certain "imperial tactics," such as promoting someone internally or bringing in an external professional manager and granting them significant power to eliminate the opposing faction.

For Emperor Jiajing, the core issue he faced was: how to choose absolutely reliable ministers in a court where loyalty and treachery are hard to distinguish?

Exchange owners still face this dilemma.

The pressure from competitors and sudden regulatory actions are visible dangers, but in the eyes of exchange owners, the greatest danger often lurks nearby and is hard to detect, such as betrayal from those close to them. Thus, nepotism becomes the optimal solution—key positions are often held by the founder's friends, classmates, or even family members, even if they lack professional competence.

It has been proven that nepotism or family-run businesses are actually the safest in the cryptocurrency market.

Corruption and Anti-Corruption

Power struggles inevitably involve corruption and anti-corruption; the two are two sides of the same coin, both means of acquiring power.

Court politics hinge on how to assess the situation and correctly choose sides.

To form alliances, a "bond" is often needed, such as being from the same hometown, the same school, or having similar professional experiences… These can serve as connection points, but more importantly, it is about interests. Relationships based on geography or school ties also need money to maintain.

How to gain the trust of the "big brother"?

Besides providing emotional value, what is more important is to offer some leverage, actively exposing weaknesses. "Big brother, here are my problems; you can take advantage of them, and I will follow you from now on."

Thus, bribery or participating in collective corruption is actually the most effective way to demonstrate loyalty and a way to test a person's fidelity. By using money, several people can be tied together; can they not work together and help each other?

Specifically regarding cryptocurrency exchanges, internal corruption and issues like insider trading are hard to eradicate for two reasons.

First, whether trading coins or working, the vast majority of people enter the cryptocurrency space for one purpose: to make money.

Especially when working for a "high-risk company" like an exchange, many employees, particularly those transitioning from traditional industries, do not develop any sense of identity or belonging to the company; they only think about how to make the most money in the shortest time.

Second, cryptocurrency exchanges are always in a gray area. Compared to corruption in traditional enterprises, it is easier to evade legal sanctions in exchanges, and it is easier to downplay serious issues or trivialize minor ones. Ultimately, one can just walk away, but the goal has already been achieved.

This is also a long-standing problem for exchanges regarding personnel.

The Emperor's Achilles' Heel

The owners of cryptocurrency exchanges and emperors share the same tragedy: the higher the position and power, the harder it is to establish genuine trust.

Everyone who approaches them may have different motives: some covet certain core powers, some desire wealth, and some have ulterior motives. In such an environment, suspicion becomes instinctive, and vigilance becomes habitual.

This trust deficit ultimately leads to an increasingly smaller decision-making circle.

From watching various dramas, there is always a puzzling question: why is there always a "traitor" beside the emperor, and why are they favored?

Emperors are lonely; they lack money and power but crave love and loyalty, which is also their Achilles' heel.

Once someone offers love and loyalty to those in power, making them feel warm and cherished, even if this person has relatively average abilities, they gain value.

In the digital Forbidden City of exchanges, technical talent is not scarce, marketing experts are not scarce, and even capital is not scarce; the only truly scarce resource is genuine loyalty.

Love and loyalty can be simply expressed by supporting the emperor no matter what they do. The more absurd your support, the more it reflects loyalty.

Running a cryptocurrency exchange is not an easy task; it is mentally and physically exhausting. Not only must one compete with peers, but they must also guard against hackers and engage in a battle of wits with regulators. At this time, exchange owners often feel exhausted and may even experience self-doubt. Some may wonder whether the growth of the exchange is due to their brilliance or mere luck. At this moment, they desperately need external emotional support, spiritual healing, and constant reassurance that "you are right; it all depends on you, and we are grateful to you."

Humans are not grass or wood; who can be without feelings? Being recognized, loved, and needed is a natural human desire.

Ordinary people also desperately need love and loyalty, but they remain at the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, still struggling for survival, lacking the time and ability to pursue higher-level needs for value fulfillment.

The Women Around the Emperor

When discussing the women around the emperor, it is not about gossiping about the harem but rather referring to female executives.

Exchanges often have a large number of female executives, which is a very reasonable situation.

A certain influential traditional finance boss prefers to employ female executives. In his view, women are more loyal compared to men. No matter how much salary is given to men, they will never be satisfied. Many men, after being promoted and gaining wealth and power, often feel little gratitude or loyalty; instead, their confidence is inflated, thinking, "I can do it too."

The essence of power is the craving for loyalty and the fear of betrayal.

In the highly competitive environment of exchanges, what bosses fear most is "raising their own grave diggers."

Male executives, after gaining power and wealth, often view their current positions as a stepping stone to higher power. They are more likely to attribute their achievements to personal ability rather than the favor of their leaders. They are more likely to choose to leave at the right time, starting a competing business or seeking a higher position.

Female executives, on the other hand, often demonstrate stronger organizational loyalty and focus on long-term stable career development rather than risky entrepreneurship. They are more willing to attribute success to teamwork and leadership cultivation, thus valuing their current positions and organizational relationships more.

Additionally, another major challenge facing cryptocurrency exchanges is frequent crises and communication with users. In this field, female executives often exhibit unique advantages.

For instance, women generally excel in recognizing, understanding, and responding to others' emotions, which is particularly important in soothing angry users, handling complaints, and managing crisis public relations. In contrast, men are more likely to become emotional and confrontational during public crises.

Therefore, in my view, the power of women in the cryptocurrency world is greatly underestimated.

It is quite interesting to look back at history and the present; regardless of how technology develops, the essence of power has never changed, whether in the traditional business world or the cryptocurrency digital world.

Wherever there are people, there are conflicts.

As the moon waxes, it wanes; as water fills, it overflows. This is the ultimate fate of all power games.