After missing the 15x surge, Yi Lihua reveals the harsh truth of investing

Most of the time spent investing is waiting. This is not just motivational talk, but a lesson learned by Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua through real money. He once built a position in SOL at $20, but panicked and sold at $50, perfectly missing out on the subsequent 15-fold increase. Behind this failure case reveals the most overlooked yet critical aspect of investing: psychological resilience is more difficult than choosing the right direction.

A Perfect Failure

Yi Lihua’s secondary team published a research report on SOL on July 26, 2023, and completed their position around $20. Their judgment at the time was sound—they were strongly optimistic about the SOL ecosystem, believing its value was severely undervalued. Looking back, this judgment was correct.

But the subsequent FTX turmoil changed everything. As an important participant in the SOL ecosystem, FTX’s collapse caused a market upheaval. News of OTC trades of FTX shares flooded the market, and panic spread. Under this backdrop, Yi Lihua’s team also panicked and quickly liquidated below $50.

From a numerical perspective, this was just a 2.5x loss from $20 to $50. But the real cost was what followed—when SOL eventually soared to its peak, this decision to sell caused them to miss out on the highest 15x gains. Now, SOL’s price has stabilized around $138.64.

The Test Against Human Nature

Yi Lihua candidly reflected: “Investing and trading seem easy, but the start-process-result is the hardest part; it’s a huge test against human nature.”

This statement gets to the core of the issue. Choosing the right direction is just the beginning of investing; the greater challenge is to stick with it through the process. Especially when major negative news hits the market, panic can instantly destroy all previous judgments.

The key is that no one can accurately predict short-term fluctuations, nor does anyone know how long they need to wait to see results. This uncertainty itself is the greatest test of an investor’s psychology. Post-hoc experts can claim to be right about ups and downs, but those truly active in the market face real-time, unpredictable choices.

The Value of Patience

A core point Yi Lihua emphasizes is: most of the time in investing is spent waiting. It’s not just about catching the bottom correctly, but also about having the patience to see the final outcome.

This aligns with his recent investment logic. According to the latest news, he is heavily invested in ETH and has a large position in WLFI, based on the optimistic outlook for the financial on-chain trend in 2026. This medium- to long-term strategic approach essentially emphasizes patience—not short-term speculation, but waiting for the trend to unfold.

Reversing the SOL case, if he had stuck to his $20 position-building decision and not been disrupted by panic along the way, how many times would his final gains have multiplied? This is not just a numerical difference but a profound lesson in investment psychology.

Summary

The difficulty in investing lies not in choosing the right assets, but in sticking with them. Yi Lihua’s SOL story reminds us that the most common mistake in the market is not a wrong initial direction, but being defeated by emotions during the process. Panic selling, frequent trading, chasing highs and selling lows—these are all against human nature. True investors need to maintain judgment amid uncertainty and persist with patience under pressure. This quality is more scarce than any technical analysis or stock-picking skill.