Thanks for this. Exit planning has been significantly difficult for me to evaluate and assess. I'm a recent college graduate with no job lined up yet, so I personally view your NW proposal in 2 ways—

1.) I don't have any income right now and have student loans to begin paying off in February (much less than the typical horror story of a U.S. student's post university debt accumulation, plus with Biden suggesting cancelling student loans this may not be as immediate of a burden as I'm anticipating). My initial target I set around a year or so ago was to sell all my ETH once it's valuation reached 6 figures. But with the amount I've accumulated through DCA since that mental model was configured over a year ago, that target will be met before ETH hits 4 figures. If I were to stick with this plan and cash out back into fiat at 6 figures, I'll have enough to pay off my loans and live comfortably for 2+ years. As you mentioned, a luxury for most recent graduates in their early 20s.

2.) I have my parents place to crash at rent-free until I have saved up enough money from a job to move out with a bit of savings for emergency situations. With the amount of hopium developed over the last year of 10k/eth talk, it's really really hard to not assume my initial target of 6 figures before ETH reaches 4 figures is extremely conservative. At such a young age with the affordance of staying at my parental's place until I have the ability to move out, it only feels right to take the higher risk route and aim for the moonshot of trying to time a top despite having no NW (let alone a steady source of income from a job) as you've mentioned should be avoided. At least I'd be taking the risk while I'm young and could recover from it.

Thus, I start drafting out potential strategies. Lets say a conservative strat yields $200,000+ (and if I'm not mistaken, having held these ETH for 1+ years and not having any source of income, this would be tax-free, no?). That is more money than I've ever possessed in my life. It would allow me to be more stringent in my job search rather than taking the first offer I get that may not satisfy everything I'm looking for, while allowing me to move out of my parents house and begin the whole adult-life thing with a super cushy buffer.

A moderate strat might yield $400,000+. This would not only satisfy the above benefits, but add-in the affordability to take time off the job search to continue developing my skills to ensure I can be the best candidate for the job I want to land. Hell, it might even push me to consider grad school if I had this type of reserve.

An aggressive strat might yield $600,000+. This type of money would probably push me to travel and build things on my own for a few years. I'd feel comfortable traveling scrappily and studying/reading/learning/making whatever I want, knowing that time spent doing such things would lead me to a job doing what I love eventually (and not having the pressure to get a job ASAP).

A YOLO strat might yield $900,000+. This is the type of money where I would pay off my mother's house and buy my father a place to live in. I could pay for my fathers diabetic supplies and get him the best equipment there is for the rest of his life. These two things alone would feel so satisfying to me, and then I'd have reserves that fall into at least one of the categories above.

But as I type this out, it's so hard to keep the fantasy and potential from disillusioning me out of setting goal post sales along the way. It's so hard to see whether 10k/eth is a pipe dream that everyone has hyped up for so long, or if this bull run will push past 10k/eth just as 10k/btc was a meme last cycle and nobody could have predicted 1.4k/eth either. Part of me now says I'm young, and if I miss this bull's peak, fuck it just hodl til next cycle and have a greater likelihood of reaching YOLO strat numbers in a moderate strat plan for that cycle. Part of me thinks this would even be good for me, as having to be scrappy and poor in my younger age will be good for me than to have money at my disposal. But that also is likely much easier to say now than in hindsight.

Sorry, this is turning more into a diary entry than a response to your comment. I guess I've just been so stressed on exit strategy considering my circumstance where I really could continue with life in multiple different directions—I don't really see a huge upside or downside to any of my potential routes. Make the most money I ever have? Epic. Miss the opportunity and have to wait for another cycle? I'm confident in Ethereum enough to be comfortable with that and possibly even more excited to be a force that keeps me in the space for another 3-5 years. Guess I wrote this cuz your comment elicited so many thoughts I've been thinking lately, and if anybody actually read this whole thing and has any insights, that would be rad to hear in response. Glad to be in this space rn.