In the tumult of the capital market, people often use 'big crocodile' to describe those who stand at the top of the trading pyramid. This metaphor is not accidental, but stems from the astonishing alignment between the cruelest survival laws in nature and the operational rules of the capital market. Crocodiles, these ancient and mysterious creatures, stand tall in the nature of survival with their unique three principles of hunting—patience, confidence, and determination. These three principles perfectly explain the core qualities required by top traders.
Patience: Strategic inactivity and precise ambush
The patience of crocodiles is not passive waiting, but an active choice made after deep analysis of the environment. In the vast natural world, crocodiles anticipate the location of water sources and understand the activity patterns of prey. They know that taking the initiative often consumes a lot of energy and that the success rate may not be high. Therefore, they choose to quietly lie in wait at the key points of the riverbank, sometimes for weeks. This waiting is to find the best ambush position, to build strength, and to wait for the moment of a decisive strike.
In the trading world, top traders also need such patience. The market is like a vast jungle, full of various temptations and traps. Frequent trading, trying to profit from every fluctuation, is often a mistake made by ordinary traders. True experts understand how to focus on heavy position strategies without being disturbed by the market's short-term fluctuations. They know that the market is in a state of disorder for most of the time, and blindly attacking will only increase trading costs and reduce success rates. Only when the market presents opportunities that align with their trading system do they decisively act, just like a crocodile waiting for prey to enter the optimal attack range. This strategic inactivity may seem like missing some opportunities, but in reality, it is to seize more valuable and higher probability trading opportunities.
Confidence: Anti-fragile mindset and probabilistic thinking
Crocodiles can remain calm even after several weeks without food, with their metabolic rate dropping to one-tenth that of land animals. This is because their survival mode does not rely on short-term victories or losses, but rather on long-term success rates. Biologists have found that crocodiles have a hunting success rate of only 20%, but a single successful hunt can sustain them for weeks. This survival wisdom, when reflected in trading, becomes an anti-fragile mindset and probabilistic thinking.
In the trading process, short-term losses are unavoidable. Ordinary traders often begin to doubt their trading strategies after a few losses, falling into anxiety and fear, leading to poor decisions. In contrast, top traders can detach from emotional interference; they understand that trading is a game of probability and not every trade can be profitable. By strictly setting stop losses, they control each loss within a certain range, achieving small losses and large gains. Even with a win rate of only 50%, as long as the profit margin exceeds the loss margin, prioritizing odds, they can achieve profitability in long-term trading. This confidence is not blind optimism, but a profound understanding of market norms and their own trading systems.
Determination: Extreme execution and risk cutting
The moment the prey steps into the crocodile's attack radius, the crocodile launches an attack with astonishing explosive power, its muscle power reaching up to two tons, ensuring the prey instantly loses its ability to resist. If an attack fails, the crocodile does not linger, but quickly retreats into the water to avoid exhausting itself in a struggle. This decisiveness and resolution is equally crucial in trading.
At critical points in trading, top traders must have the ability to execute with determination. When the market breaks through key levels, aligning with their trading signals, they must dare to increase their positions and seize profit opportunities; when the market trend breaks and hits the stop-loss line, they must cut losses resolutely and timely to mitigate risks. Many traders hope for a market reversal in such situations, leading to ever-expanding losses. However, traders like crocodiles understand that the market will not change based on individual desires; only by strictly executing trading strategies can one survive in the market.
The key to crocodile survival lies in adapting to the environment rather than conquering it. During the dry season, they choose to hibernate, just as top traders choose to stay out of the market during a bear market, waiting for conditions to improve; during the rainy season, they actively strike, like traders heavily investing during a bull market to reap substantial profits. They never challenge opponents beyond their capacity, like lions or tigers, but focus on their areas of strength. This inspires traders to recognize their trading style and strengths, avoiding blind following and not easily venturing into unfamiliar areas.
The image of the big crocodile essentially embodies the advantage of being anti-human nature. In trading, human greed and fear often affect decision-making, leading to errors such as chasing highs and cutting losses. However, top traders internalize qualities such as patience, confidence, and determination through extreme training, making them their second nature. They face the market with a calm and rational attitude, occupying the position of ultimate predators in the ecosystem of the capital market.
The essence of trading may be hidden in the survival wisdom of crocodiles. Every person who aspires to achieve something in trading should deeply understand and practice these three principles, continuously honing their trading mindset and execution ability; only in this way can one become a true trading giant in the ever-changing market.
Practical Eight Rules for Cryptocurrency:
1. A sharp drop in the morning can be a buy low opportunity; a sharp rise in the morning should be taken to profit. (Skillfully using morning market conditions)
2. Do not chase highs during explosive rises; buy after a deep drop in the afternoon. (Grasping the afternoon strategy)
3. Don't panic during morning drops, be cautious with cutting losses; it's best to wait quietly during sideways movement. (Stabilizing the mindset during declines)
4. Do not sell if the target price is not reached, do not buy if it has not reached the psychological level, and do not trade during sideways chaos. (Strictly adhere to buying and selling rules)
5. A bearish candlestick correction is a buying point, and a bullish candlestick rise is a selling point. (Operate based on candlestick patterns)
6. When others are enthusiastic, I remain calm; when the market is in panic, I am greedy. (Breaking through with contrarian thinking)
7. Patience is required for high and low consolidations; only act when the direction is clear. (Enduring the agony of consolidation)
8. Long sideways movement before a rise is a sign of the end; take profits in time to lock in gains. (Seizing the tail end of a rise)
Concise explanation:
Uniform phrasing: Each aphorism adopts a concise structure of 'scenario/signal + core action' (e.g., 'A sharp drop in the morning can be a buy low opportunity').
Extract keywords: Retain the most guiding actions ('buy low', 'take profit', 'do not chase highs', 'buy the next day', 'be cautious with cutting losses', 'wait quietly', 'do not sell/do not buy/do not trade', 'buy point/sell point', 'calm/greedy', 'patience', 'lock in profits').
Remove modifiers: Eliminate imagery but non-core metaphors and descriptions like 'don't panic', 'don't cling', 'stay calm', 'conserve energy', 'blindly feel around', 'watch from the sidelines', 'cooked duck', etc., focusing on operational directives.
Direct expression: Convert descriptions like 'prices plummeting', 'soaring high', 'sudden explosive rise', 'experiencing a sharp drop', 'a stagnant pool', 'bearish candlestick appears/bullish candlestick rises', 'everyone wildly chasing/market panic selling', 'high-level sideways movement for a long time before surging' into more direct expressions like 'sharp drop', 'sharp rise', 'explosive rise', 'deep drop', 'sideways with no waves', 'bearish candlestick correction/bullish candlestick lift', 'everyone in a frenzy/market panic', 'long sideways surge'.
Retain core logic: The essence of each aphorism (time window characteristics, contrarian thinking, patience in waiting, disciplined execution) is fully retained.
Terminology retention: Using common cryptocurrency terms such as 'buy low', 'take profit', 'cut losses', 'buy point', 'sell point', 'sideways', 'take profit', etc.
Advantages after simplification:
Easier to remember: Each aphorism is short and powerful, summarizing all core strategies in 8 sentences.
More beneficial for execution: Directly provide clear operational signals and corresponding actions to reduce decision-making interference.
Key points highlighted: Key elements such as trading discipline (Rule 4), technical signals (Rule 5), contrarian thinking (Rule 6), patience (Rules 3, 7), and timing for taking profits (Rules 1, 8) are clear at a glance.
This simplified version of aphorisms is the crystallization of years of practical experience, convenient for reviewing and guiding trading behavior at any time. The core is to adhere to discipline, grasp rhythm, think contrarily, and patiently wait for key signals.
After nearly a decade of struggle in the cryptocurrency world, having profited and lost, trying ICOs, meme coins, and mining, experiencing three rounds of bull and bear cycles, I found that the only method that can achieve stable profits is simple enough for everyone to understand: buy during bear markets, sell during bull markets, that's all.
Clear and traceable bull and bear cycles: Bull markets usually last 6 months to 1 year, while bear markets last 1-2 years, with a complete cycle lasting 3-4 years. Grasping the rules, each bull market can yield 50%+ returns, easily outperforming wealth management, stocks, and funds—this is not guesswork, but a market ironclad rule.
Practical rules are divided into five steps:
Only lie low and layout during bear markets
Be sure to be patient, aiming for the bottom range of the bear market (the sign is that Bitcoin is ignored, and the cryptocurrency world is silent) to enter the market in batches. This phase may last more than a year, but it is the golden period for picking up chips—there's no need to pursue buying at the lowest point; building positions in batches is more prudent.
Heavy positions only on mainstream coins
BTC, ETH: The eternal core of the cryptocurrency world, buy during bear markets, sell during bull markets, with a 50%+ increase being the baseline, the first choice for large funds.
Platform tokens: Such as BNB, deeply tied to exchanges, with strong anti-dip characteristics.
Strong public chains: Such as SOL and AVAX, with solid technology and strong momentum to follow in a bull market.
Infrastructure coins: Such as MATIC, with widespread ecological applications and clear long-term value.
Beware of consensus coins: Such as Dogecoin and SHIB, which lack substantial application support, rely solely on speculation, and should only be entertained with very small positions; do not take heavy positions.
Iron rule: Altcoins are essentially 'tools for harvesting retail investors', coins that soar in a bull market may drop to zero in the next cycle. Betting on altcoins without insider information is equivalent to gambling.
Decisively take profits in the middle of a bull market
Initial stage: BTC leads the surge, ETH follows, mainstream coins rise slowly, and a few altcoins show unusual movements.
In the medium term: BTC and ETH will rise steadily, mainstream coins will fully explode, and altcoins will start to rise.
Later: BTC may drop first, ETH may make a final surge, and altcoins may experience explosive growth (several times or even hundreds of times).
Epilogue: BTC plummeted by thousands of points, briefly rebounded before diving again, marking the end of the bull market. At this time, it is essential to cut losses and not cling to fantasies, or else the principal will be irretrievable.
Refuse to act on the speculative nature of a bull market
In the later stages of a bull market, altcoins may soar, but joining in at this time is akin to taking fire from a fire.
Altcoins may have plenty of hype and rapid gains, but lack fundamental support, and in a bear market, they will surely be halved or go to zero.
If you really can't resist, use no more than 10% of your funds to gamble lightly, and even if you profit, do not increase your position—one heavy position mistake can wipe out all your gains.
Capital safety is above all else
If trapped, decisively cut losses to protect the principal. Cut losses before the bear market collapses, losing at most 50%; if you hold on to the end, you may ultimately lose everything.
After cashing out during a bull market, patiently wait for the next round of bear market bottom; do not try to catch the bottom on the slopes and do not use profits to chase altcoins.
Finally, I offer everyone a piece of advice:
The cryptocurrency world never lacks opportunities; what it lacks is the rational restraint of greed. Follow the market cycle, do not be misled by short-term fluctuations—accumulate coins in a bear market, sell coins in a bull market, protect the principal, and stay away from speculative nature to survive in this cruel market.
I am Qing Tian, an experienced player in the cryptocurrency world hoping you return with a bountiful harvest. If you desire to dive deep into the cryptocurrency world but feel lost at the starting point and are eager to get started, feel free to message me. I adhere to principles, steer clear of contract traps, fund scams, and MLM fog, and only wish for our encounter to be filled with positive energy and warmth.
In the cryptocurrency world, this unpredictable yet infinitely potential stage, every decision may lead you to the shores of wealth. I deeply understand the hardships and challenges within, and thus always adhere to my bottom line, exploring this tempting land with caution and courage. If you also harbor dreams and pursuits in the cryptocurrency world, let us join hands and create brilliance together!
