On that winter night in 2015, I stared at the glaring red numbers on the computer screen, feeling like all the blood in my body had frozen. My account balance was only 15% of my initial investment, the ashtray was filled with cigarette butts, and the instant noodles on the table had long gone cold. That was my third year in the cryptocurrency world. I hoped to change my life through trading, but almost dragged my whole family into the abyss.

One night, my wife saw me looking lost, and she didn’t say a word of blame. She quietly poured a cup of hot water and placed it by my side: 'If it really doesn’t work, let’s just go to work steadily; life will go on.' At that moment, my hand holding the cup trembled uncontrollably. From that day on, I began to push myself to jump out of the cycle of chasing highs and cutting losses, spreading all my trading slips on the table and reviewing them one by one until dawn.

Ten years later, I now rely on trading to support my family steadily. My daughter's tuition fees and the mortgage on the house have all been securely earned from this seemingly dangerous market. People often ask me if there’s a shortcut. In fact, there are no secrets; it’s just that I have turned the lessons from repeated losses into experience. Today, I share these summarized principles, hoping to help you avoid years of detours, especially the last ten words, which, if understood, can save you from losing a lot of money.

The most important word in the cryptocurrency world: endure.

The K-line chart jumps up and down every day, and the 'insider information' in the WeChat group keeps refreshing. Newcomers always want to catch every fluctuation, while veterans understand that 'not moving' is the real skill. When Bitcoin surged to 60,000 dollars in 2021, many people shouted that it would break 100,000. I held back the impulse to add positions, and the subsequent crash helped me avoid a disaster. Real opportunities are never seized; they are waited for.

The two most important words in the cryptocurrency world: avoid greed.

I have seen too many people go from doubling their profits to losing everything. It's not that their skills are lacking, but rather their greed is insufficient. I have a friend who didn’t sell Ethereum when it rose from 1,000 to 3,000, thinking it would reach 5,000. As a result, when it fell back to 1,500, he panicked and sold at the lowest point. Remember, the market is never short of opportunities, but once the principal in your account is lost, there will be no chance of recovery. Every time I take profit, I ask myself: 'Is this profit really necessary?'

The three most important words in the cryptocurrency world: maintain discipline.

Set stop-loss points, but give up because of the 'feeling that it will rebound'; promised not to touch leverage, but can’t help adding positions after seeing others getting rich. Over the past decade, I've discovered that those who can survive in the cryptocurrency world are not the most skilled technically, but those who can control themselves the best. My stop-loss line is always set at 10%. I cut it when it hits, and I don't regret it even if it really rebounds later - once discipline is broken, losing a lot of money is just a matter of time.

The four most important words in the cryptocurrency world: rational allocation.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, but don't spread your eggs across a hundred baskets either. My current position is always '532': 50% mainstream coins for stability, 30% potential coins for allocation, and 20% cash for timely replenishment. During the bull market, some advised me to go all in on altcoins, but I smiled and shook my head - true allocation is not about gambling but ensuring the account remains stable in any market condition.

The five most important words in the cryptocurrency world: follow the main forces.

Main capital is like the 'weather forecast' in the cryptocurrency world. Before every major fluctuation of Bitcoin, the changes in main positions have long given signals. What I must watch every day is not various analysis articles, but the long-short position ratio on exchanges and large transfer records. Retail investors always think about defeating the main forces, but they don’t realize that following the trend is the way to benefit. Remember, when the main forces are eating meat, don’t think about snatching bones; being able to get a bit of meat soup is enough.

The six most important words in the cryptocurrency world: focus on value investment.

During the crazy ICO years, any white paper could raise money, and I was once deceived by the hype of 'hundred-fold coins'. Later, I understood that those projects that could truly survive bull and bear markets are always those with practical applications and technical support. Now, when I choose coins, I only look at three points: is the team working? Is the community active? Does it solve real problems? Stay away from those air coins that only know how to make empty promises; value may be delayed, but bubbles will definitely burst.

The seven most important words in the cryptocurrency world: only trade in trends you understand.

I have thoroughly understood the volatility patterns of Bitcoin, so I dare to hold a large position; but for those small market cap new coins, no matter how wonderful others describe them, I resolutely avoid them. It’s like fishing; you only need to cast your hook in familiar waters, and there’s no need to risk it in unfamiliar rivers. There are too many opportunities in the cryptocurrency world, and recognizing that there are trends you don’t understand is actually a form of clarity.

The eight most important words in the cryptocurrency world: the market is the best teacher.

I once crazily attended courses to learn technical analysis, flipping through K-line charts until the edges curled, but in actual trading, I still lost money. It wasn’t until one time I stared blankly at consecutive losing slips that I suddenly understood: all indicators and theories are lifeless; only the market itself is alive. If it rises too much, it will fall; if it falls too much, it will rise. Chasing highs and cutting losses will always lead to losses, while buying low and selling high will always yield profits - these simplest truths are what the market taught me with real money.

The nine most important words in the cryptocurrency world: rationality, measured approach, and strategy.

In a bull market, think about retreating; in a bear market, prepare to attack. This is 'measured approach'. During the worst of the bear market in 2018, I invested one-third of my monthly salary into Bitcoin. Others laughed at me for being foolish, but by 2020, these investments allowed me to recover all my previous losses. Trading is like playing chess; you need to look three steps ahead. If you only focus on the pieces in front of you, you will eventually be checkmated.

The ten most important words in the cryptocurrency world: good mentality, no hesitation, endless learning.

These ten words are a summary of my ten years of experience. Don’t be overly joyful when it rises, and don’t panic when it falls - this is a good mentality; don’t gamble when it’s time to stop loss, and don’t hesitate when it’s time to add positions - this is no hesitation; blockchain technology changes every day, and new ways of playing emerge endlessly. Stopping the learning process is equivalent to slowly being eliminated - this is endless learning.

In my ten years in the cryptocurrency world, I have seen too many myths of overnight wealth and too many tragedies of losing everything. In fact, this market has never been complicated; what’s complicated is human nature. If you can engrave this ten-word maxim in your heart, perhaps you can find your own way of survival without needing ten years.

If you find these experiences useful, feel free to follow me. I will slowly share specific operational strategies, such as how to judge the main forces' trends, how to set reasonable take-profit and stop-loss points, as well as the pitfalls I’ve encountered and the mines I’ve avoided over the years. The road in the cryptocurrency world is not easy, but having someone to walk with makes it more stable.