Crypto world legend Baoyeye: From a Pingyao beef vendor to a net worth of billions, and then reflecting on a tumultuous life from a sickbed.

On the stage where wealth and fate intertwine, there are always some people performing astonishing comeback stories. The protagonist we are going to talk about today—Bao Er Ye Guo Hongcai—is such a legendary figure. He started as a high school diploma holder from Shanxi and, within a few years, stirred up an uproar in the crypto world. The drastic change in his life trajectory can be called a real-life "magical blockbuster."

1. Audit courses at Tsinghua, starting the path to a comeback.

In 1985, Guo Hongcai was born into a business family in Pingyao, Shanxi. In 2003, at the age of 18, he made a bold and astonishing decision—he went to audit classes at Tsinghua University with a score of 300 on his college entrance examination. His father gave him 10,000 yuan as travel and living expenses, thinking he would just go to broaden his horizons and would soon return home, but who would have thought that this trip would last three years.

At Tsinghua University, Guo Hongcai demonstrated an extraordinary business mind and initiative. He purchased second-hand laptops and taught himself English by watching American TV shows, then burned the shows onto CDs to sell them on Tsinghua's Shui Mu BBS. At that time, undergraduate students at Tsinghua earned only about four to five thousand yuan a month, but he easily surpassed ten thousand yuan in monthly income just by selling pirated CDs. Moreover, he became the campus general agent for internet phone services at Tsinghua, selling internet phone cards on campus; he dabbled in domain names and built websites, actively trying any business that could make money. In three years, this high school "underachiever" thrived at Tsinghua, with his income peaking at several hundred thousand yuan, which was astonishing.

2. Thick-skinned pursuit of love, reaping sweet romance

In 2006, 21-year-old Guo Hongcai was no longer satisfied with small-scale business and resolutely decided to cycle around the country. On the Sichuan-Tibet line, he encountered the beautiful Sichuan girl Jin Yangyang, a student at Sichuan Agricultural University, in his cycling team while feeling exhausted. Having not interacted with the opposite sex for a long time, Guo Hongcai was captivated by Jin Yangyang's beauty and boldly approached her for a chat. They agreed to meet again in Lijiang a month later, but Guo Hongcai couldn't stop thinking about Jin Yangyang and couldn't wait to go directly to her hometown, Mianyang, Sichuan. When he met Jin Yangyang's parents, he boldly introduced himself: "I am Jin Yangyang's boyfriend!" This sudden "announcement" left Jin Yangyang stunned, but she didn't refute it. With this boldness and unique dominance, Guo Hongcai successfully won Jin Yangyang's heart, and the two have been together for 18 years.

3. Seize the e-commerce opportunity to make the beef business bigger and stronger.

In 2008, after graduating from university, Guo Hongcai brought Jinyangyang to Shanghai to start their entrepreneurial journey. At that time, it was the peak of the e-commerce startup boom, and Guo Hongcai keenly sensed the business opportunity by bringing local specialty Pingyao beef to Tmall, becoming one of the earliest merchants to settle in. In the early days of their startup, conditions were extremely harsh. They rented an attic in Chuan Sha Town, Pudong, Shanghai, and during the cold winter, there was no heating, so they could only use the water heater to heat water and pour it into buckets for warmth. The room was freezing cold, and the two even set up a tent in the attic, curling up in sleeping bags with a bucket of hot water beside them. Even in such a difficult environment, thanks to the early Tmall benefits, their beef business flourished. In just five years, they went from having nothing to becoming the number one seller on Tmall, becoming a highly influential e-commerce seller in the Shanxi region.

4. Turning point of fate, stepping into the crypto world

Despite the lucrative beef business, Guo Hongcai's ambitions were not satisfied. In 2013, the family of four returned to Beijing, and the wheels of fate began to turn. Upon arriving in Beijing, Jin Yangyang accidentally walked into a garage café, where she heard Li Xiaolai's speech about Bitcoin and was instantly attracted. She took out over 100,000 yuan and bought hundreds of bitcoins at a price of 500 yuan each. When the price of Bitcoin rose to 600 yuan, Jin Yangyang excitedly told Guo Hongcai, but he strongly opposed it, believing that his wife had been brainwashed by a "pyramid scheme" and urged her to sell quickly. However, with Jin Yangyang's insistence, Guo Hongcai also went to the garage café to meet Li Xiaolai. Li Xiaolai's powerful "brainwashing" ability completely changed Guo Hongcai's mind. "I no longer want to sell beef; Bitcoin is my future!" Subsequently, Guo Hongcai went all in, borrowed money, mortgaged his father's house, and invested all his funds into Bitcoin. According to industry insiders, at his peak, he held 100,000 bitcoins, which were worth over 10 billion yuan in 2017.

V. Rising to fame, crazy harvesting

Guo Hongcai and his wife are pioneers in operating personal IPs in the crypto world since its early days. At the end of 2013, "Master Bao Er teaches you how to play with Bitcoin" and Jin Yangyang's "Yangyang Interview" introduced them to many big names in the crypto world, such as Huobi's Li Lin, OKEx's Xu Mingxing, and Bitmain's Wu Jihan. However, what truly made "Master Bao Er" famous was the Davos Forum in 2016. Guo Hongcai had no idea about the specifications of the Davos Forum and thought it was just an ordinary gathering, so he went wearing shorts and flip-flops. At the scene, facing skepticism from financial figures regarding Bitcoin, he astonishingly stated in a "genuine Chinese English": "The value of Bitcoin is equal to the value of the GDP of all countries in the future!" After this video spread, "Master Bao Er" became a sensation.

In 2017, the ICO boom swept the globe, and Guo Hongcai began to monetize his influence. His approach was simple and direct: he charged a 1% token fee to endorse a project, even publicly stating, "I don't even evaluate those projects before endorsing them." In just three months, he endorsed over 30 projects, with a total market value exceeding 400 million.

6. Sensing the crisis, heading to the United States to avoid the storm.

On September 4, 2017, seven ministries issued a document to comprehensively halt ICOs. The keen-eyed Guo Hongcai had still been promoting ICO projects the day before, and the next day he organized the "ICO Legal Awareness Tour in China." He was well aware that the wind had changed, and in January 2018, he moved his whole family to the United States. He spent 500 bitcoins to purchase a 10,000 square meter mansion in Silicon Valley, and even opened up land in the mansion to grow leeks, hanging up a sign that read "Leek Farm." In addition, he bought two Rolls Royces, one of which was a black limited edition vintage car that cost 100 bitcoins. Bao Er Ye did not hide his nouveau riche mentality and even boasted about wanting to buy a ticket to the moon for 100 bitcoins.

Seven, life reversal, reflection on the sickbed

However, fate is unpredictable. In 2025, the once glorious "Bao Er Ye" received heartbreaking news - he was diagnosed with kidney failure, and it was already in the late stage. Western doctors advised dialysis treatment. Currently, he is receiving treatment at the best private hospital in Hong Kong, still holding on to a glimmer of hope for recovery. Facing life and death, Guo Hongcai remarked, "I used to live for others, but after getting seriously ill, I started living for myself. I was busy making money before, but when health issues arose, everything became insignificant." Now, as a father of 8 children, he has come to terms with much: "Now our generation can leave behind videos, which is equivalent to immortality."

From the beef vendor in Pingyao to the billionaire "godfather" of the crypto world, and now a reflective figure on his sickbed, Bao Er Ye Guo Hongcai's life resembles a dramatic film. The wealth, fame, mansions, and luxury cars that he once dreamed of seem so insignificant in the face of life and death. As he himself said: "In pursuit of wealth, one can lose much more health." This legendary life journey also serves as a wake-up call for all dream chasers: do not lose yourself and sacrifice your health in the pursuit of wealth. #Gate跻身交易所Top4#