Everyone keeps preaching DYOR—Do Your Own Research. It's become the mantra of crypto culture, the ultimate badge of financial independence. Yet walk through any trading community and you'll see the opposite happening: thousands of retail traders hanging on every word from their favorite KOLs, mirroring trades without a second thought, treating influence like gospel.

So here's the contradiction: if independent research is truly king, why does the market still revolve around personalities? Why do influence and follower counts move markets more than fundamentals sometimes? Maybe it's not that DYOR doesn't work—it's that most people don't actually want to do it. Research takes time, demands critical thinking, and there's no guarantee it pays off. Following a trusted voice? That's instant, comfortable, and psychologically satisfying.

The real question isn't whether DYOR is effective. It's whether the average participant has the bandwidth, knowledge, or patience to truly execute it. Until that changes, KOLs aren't going anywhere—they're filling a gap the philosophy of DYOR pretends doesn't exist.