Last year's epic correction knocked me from 'almost profitable' straight into the abyss of 850,000 in debt; the speed at which my principal evaporated was faster than the sound of a phone screen shattering. The pop-up reminder when I uninstalled the trading software felt almost like the market's mockery of me; during the month I hid in my rental apartment, even seeing the words 'market' would make me physically nauseous. At that time, staring at the empty asset page, I told myself: this cursed market, I won't touch it again in this lifetime.
When I toss and turn at three in the morning, my mind is filled with the thought, 'If only I could have controlled myself back then.' At the beginning of this year, I had only 3000 stablecoins left in my pocket, and I clenched this last chip and gritted my teeth: this isn't a gamble, it's a chance to live by trading rules.
The core of survival: it's not about predicting the market, but holding the bottom line.
Many people think that making money in the crypto market relies on being 'in the know' or having 'superior skills', but I have verified through blood and tears: 90% of losses come from 'reckless luck'. In the past six months, I have managed to turn things around, relying entirely on three principles of 'sticking to the end':
Position rule: 40% is a red line that cannot be crossed. No matter how certain a trend may seem, I will never invest more than 40% of the total account balance. The remaining 60% is not 'spare funds', but an 'escape pod'—it ensures that you won't be wiped out in extreme market conditions, leaving you with capital to make a comeback. I once missed what seemed like a doubling opportunity just because my position had reached its limit, but later that cryptocurrency plummeted by 40%, which made me even more determined to adhere to this rule.
Stop-loss is as natural as breathing. I set a stop-loss line of 5%-8% for each trade; the moment it breaches, I exit immediately, never holding onto the fantasy of 'waiting for a possible rebound'. Once, a certain popular cryptocurrency suddenly plummeted, and I instantly faced a floating loss of 3000U. My finger hovered over the close position button for 3 seconds, but I still pressed it. That afternoon, it dropped another 20%, and in that moment, I understood: stop-loss is not about cutting losses, it's about preserving life.
Profit must be 'defused'; cashing out is the real deal. Earning money tests your mindset more than losing. I established the '70-30 split' principle: after each profit is realized, 70% is immediately transferred to a stablecoin wallet, leaving only 30% for subsequent operations. In April of this year, I caught a small trend and made 5000U in ten minutes. Watching the account numbers turn green, I first transferred 3500U, leaving 1500U to continue rolling. Later, that trend corrected, and I preserved most of my profits, while many around me lost theirs due to greed.
The truth of the crypto market: it's not about who earns fast, but who survives longer.
From 3000U to 800,000, I haven't relied on any 'insider information', nor have I chased after so-called 'hundredfold coins'. Instead, I spend 2 hours each day doing two things: reviewing my trading records and observing changes in market sentiment. The former helps me avoid making the same mistakes, while the latter allows me to withdraw in a hot market and enter cautiously in a cold one.
Remember: this market is not short of stories of instant wealth, but 99% of people fail on the path of 'trying to replicate those stories'. Your real opponent is not the market makers, nor the trend, but your own greed and luck.
