1. Autumn 2015: Lessons from liquidation that cannot be found in economics textbooks
In my sophomore elective course (Monetary Banking), I secretly drew BTC's K-line chart in my notebook. When the professor talked about 'Gresham's Law', my 5000 capital was plummeting on some altcoin — that was the first coin I bought with my scholarship, and it went to zero three days later. My deskmate looked at my pale face and said, 'The textbook doesn’t teach you how to trade coins, right?'
Seven years later, in my office overlooking the river in Lujiazui, Shanghai, I looked at the asset number of 23.98 million on the screen and suddenly remembered that night spent in the library studying K-lines. On the table lay the economics textbook from that year, with a note stuck on page 327: 'November 17, 2015, bought LTC for 5000, didn’t look at BTC trend, lost everything.'
2. The desperate counterattack with a capital of 50,000: Trading discipline forged by being punctured by a spike
At the beginning of 2023, I started trading cryptocurrency full-time with a capital of 50,000 that I had saved from working. During the first week, BTC suddenly dropped from 40,000 to 38,000 at 1 AM, and my limit order was executed unexpectedly. I sold the next day at 42,000, making 4,000 — this was my first taste of 'earning while lying down,' and I remembered the third rule: set limit orders from 12 AM to 1 AM to catch the dealer's chips.
The real turning point was in May 2023. At that time, the USDT premium suddenly soared to 3%, and I remembered a certain big shot saying, 'When USDT rises, be wary of BTC falling.' I decisively cleared all my spot positions to exchange for USDT. Three days later, BTC dropped from 50,000 to 43,000, and I used USDT to buy the dip, making 80,000 in total. That day, I bought two packs of the most expensive cigarettes at a convenience store, standing on the street corner calling home: 'Mom, I think I've found a way to make money.'
3. The terrifying night of Black Friday: From liquidation to mental rebirth
On a Friday in November 2023, the community was spreading rumors that 'Black Friday' would crash, but I went against the trend and added to my position in a certain altcoin. At 5 PM, American traders started dumping, and the coin price dropped 40% in half an hour. My hands shook when I triggered the stop-loss — I lost 120,000 on that trade, which was 30% of my account at that time.
That night, I sat in Binjiang Park all night, watching the lights of the office buildings across the Huangpu River, and suddenly understood: No matter how good the skills, if the mentality collapses, it's like giving away money. Later, I set rules for myself:
Reduce positions by 50% before 4 PM every Friday.
Immediately stop-loss if a single loss exceeds 15%.
Always check the market between 6 AM and 8 AM to judge the trend of the day.
In March 2024, BTC rose from 20,000 to 28,000, continuing its upward trend for 6 days between 6 AM and 8 AM. On the morning of the 7th day, I noticed the momentum slowing down and decisively liquidated my position, avoiding the afternoon crash — this trade allowed me to grow from 800,000 to 1.5 million.
4. The day 23.98 million arrived: I deleted all my signal groups
At the peak of the bull market in 2024, I used the strategy of 'buying in batches when it drops' to earn 4 times on a certain public chain coin. When my account jumped to 23.98 million, I was buying a suitcase with cryptocurrency symbols in Ginza, Tokyo. The sales assistant said in Chinese, 'Sir, you must be in blockchain.' At that moment, I suddenly felt a bit empty — I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in the past two years, keeping my phone on 24/7 for market alerts, even dreaming about K-lines.
Now I live in an apartment with a monthly rent of 50,000, but I often think about the night of liquidation in 2021 when I cried in the stairwell. On the table are two picture frames: the left one has the trading records of my 50,000 capital, and the right one has the calligraphy saying 'Mentality First' — that was the lesson learned with the 1 million tuition I lost. Here are 8 short-term trading principles for newcomers (written on the wall of the trading room)
Stick close to the leaders: When a certain AI coin surged in 2024, BTC rose simultaneously, while altcoins lagged by 3 hours — this is the iron rule of 'Bitcoin leads, altcoins follow.'
USDT is a contrarian indicator: Last October, the USDT premium reached 5%, I shorted BTC and made 300,000, and later learned that institutions were withdrawing funds.
Placing limit orders for bargains: Last month, I placed a limit order 5% below the market price during a spike in SOL, and it was executed; I sold on the same day for an 8% rebound.
Morning trend judgment: When BTC fell for three consecutive days between 6 AM and 8 AM, I added to my position in batches, ultimately leading to a rebound.
Be cautious of trend changes at 5 PM: In April 2024, a certain coin suddenly surged at 5 PM, and I ambushed in advance to make double the profit.
Black Friday is for reference only: This year there were 5 Fridays of crashes, only 2 came true, don’t be swayed by rumors.
Buy quality coins when they drop: When MATIC fell to 0.8U last year, I bought it in batches, and three months later it rose to 2.5U.
Trade less and hold more: Holding Dogecoin from 0.089 to now has earned 10 times more than short-term trading.
Epilogue: Between speculation and investment.
Yesterday, a middle school classmate asked me what job I was doing, and I said, 'Freelancer.' He enviously replied, 'That's great, you don’t have to watch people's faces.' I smiled and said nothing — only I know that every night at 3 AM watching the market, every moment of disciplined loss-cutting during a crash, has been earned through countless accelerated heartbeats.
Now I always keep 20% cash in my account, and my phone only has on-chain data tools left. Occasionally, when passing by the rental house where I had my liquidation, I remember that young man drawing K-lines under the desk lamp — it turns out that going from 50,000 to 23.98 million was never about luck, but transforming what others see as 'speculation' into a 'craft' that requires discipline and mentality.
$FUN $HIFI $MAGIC
