A few years ago, I was still the 'indicator king' staring at the screen for 12 hours a day, with 6 windows open. I repeatedly watched KDJ golden crosses and death crosses, stared at MACD divergences until my eyes blurred, and filled 3 notebooks with Bollinger Bands notes. The result? I lost 50,000 and was left with only 8,000. Late at night, I slammed the table looking at the K-line chart, and when my third keyboard broke, I finally understood: the money in the crypto market is never 'stared' out, but 'waited' out!
As an old hand in the industry for 6 years, today I will share with you the hard-earned lessons that helped me turn 12,000 into millions, without any mysticism or insider information, all from the lessons learned through failures. After reading this, you will at least save yourself from losing 3 years!
1. After countless pitfalls, I found: the more complicated the trade, the easier it is to lose.
In 2020, I jumped into the market with 30,000 hard-earned money, like most newcomers, crazy about the 'Master's Trading Method'— learning the center of the chart today, practicing wave theory tomorrow, even spending 20,000 to enroll in a 'Indicator Combination Masterclass', only to lose 12,000 after half a year. The most ridiculous time was when I hesitated for 10 minutes between RSI overbought and MACD divergence, failing to take profit, and suddenly went from a 20,000 gain to a 30,000 loss. That day, I deleted all indicator templates and kept only the bare K-line chart.
After reviewing the trends of mainstream assets over 5 years, I discovered a truth that everyone overlooked: the most reliable market patterns are often the simplest. I summarized it into the 'Three-Wave Advancement Method' (also known as the N-shaped pattern), with just three rigid criteria. If you can't remember, it's recommended to jot it down in a memo:
Initiation wave: suddenly, the trading volume exceeds twice the previous level, and the price breaks through the previous consolidation range; this is a signal for funds to enter.
Retracement wave: after a surge, there is no sharp drop, slowly pulling back along the short-term moving averages, with a magnitude not exceeding half of the initiating wave—this is not a downtrend, but the main force washing the plate;
Breakout wave: once again, volume increases to stand above the previous high point, with the pattern formed, directly enter, set the stop loss 2% below the retracement low, and the profit target at 8%-10%, must sell at the target, absolutely no greed.
When I first started executing, I struggled daily with human nature: several times after taking profits, the assets continued to rise by 20%, and I felt itchy as if ants were crawling on me, but I gritted my teeth and persisted— a 35% win rate seems low, but the profit-taking is 5 times the stop loss, and over the long term, it is absolutely profitable. After mechanically operating like this for two years, I opened my account at the end of 2022, and 12,000 surprisingly rolled over to 1.2 million. That day, I wasn't excited but just transferred 500,000 to my wife: 'From now on, you can have full-sugar milk tea, and clear the shopping cart!'
2. The highest realm of traders: the lazier you are, the more money you make.
After earning 1.2 million, I got a bit carried away—I always felt I had to seize every opportunity to double my money quickly, watching the market for 12 hours a day, digging through 4-hour charts to 15-minute charts. As long as there was a hint of a 'three-wave prototype', I jumped in, resulting in a loss of 250,000 in a month.
Until the day I took my daughter to the amusement park, while waiting in line, my phone popped up with a transaction alert, and the conditional order I had previously set just hit an 8% profit. Watching my daughter laughing on the carousel, I suddenly realized: true experts are never the ones who monitor the market the longest but those who understand 'governing by doing nothing'.
Since then, I completely 'laid flat': I only check the market twice a day, at 8 AM and 8 PM for 5 minutes, only looking at the 4-hour chart, and uninstalling the market software for the rest of the time. If there are no patterns that meet the conditions, I read books, accompany my wife shopping, or cook for my family; if there are patterns, I set conditional orders, and after the transaction, I automatically set stop losses and profit-taking, absolutely no last-minute strategy changes.
Guess what? In 2023, I completed a total of 32 trades, successfully executing 28, with 4 stop losses, and my account grew from 1.2 million to 6 million! It turns out that the longer you monitor the market, the more easily you are swayed by emotions—fearing a pullback when it rises and fearing a breakdown when it falls, leading to wrong decisions. The essence of trading is to make money from trends, not from the hard-earned money spent on 'staying up late to watch the market'!
3. From 6 million to 10 million: stability is 100 times more important than speed.
When I reached the 6 million stage, I became more cautious. I have seen too many people leverage and double their money overnight, only to return to zero the next night. I deeply understand: preserving the principal is more important than making money; understanding 'take profit and exit' is more critical than understanding 'entry'.
I started executing the 'Profit Diversion Plan':
When the account reached 1.2 million, I withdrew 30,000 principal to put in a fixed deposit, which is 'emergency money'; even if I lose everything, I can still make ends meet;
When the account reached 6 million, I directly withdrew 3 million—half for low-risk financial management and half to buy a school district house, which is 'safety money';
The remaining 3 million continued trading, with the position reduced to 20%, and profit-taking lowered to 8%. Although I earned less each time, the win rate increased to 45%, and the capital curve stabilized significantly.
From January to May 2024, in just 5 months, 3 million rolled over to 7 million. Adding the previously withdrawn 3 million, it just hit 10 million. That day, I sent a screenshot of my account to my wife, and she only said, 'Finally, you don't have to worry about losing hair from staying up late anymore.' Follow me!
