From 500 USDT to 100,000 USDT: Akai's comeback in the crypto world and moments of clarity

When Akai rushed into the crypto world with the 500 USDT he squeezed from his salary, he couldn't even remember the English abbreviation for 'contract leverage.' He was just staring at the fluctuating K-line in the trading software, like watching a lottery ticket about to be drawn.

Initially, he followed the 'big shots' in the community to buy mainstream coins, selling hurriedly after a 50 USDT gain and panicking to cut losses after a 30 USDT drop. After half a month, his 500 USDT shrank to 380 USDT. Staring at his account balance late at night, he realized that 'money made by luck can be lost back by ignorance' — this was the first lesson he learned.

Later, Akai stopped following trends and divided the remaining USDT into three parts: one part was used to buy mainstream coins that had dropped for more than half a year and kept in the wallet, another part was a small position to experiment with new altcoins, and the last part was kept as 'emergency funds.' He spent two weeks digesting (basic blockchain knowledge), reviewing market trends every night before bed, and gradually understood the logic of 'mainstream coins look at the overall market trend, while altcoins look at project implementation.'

The turning point came from an undervalued public chain project. At that time, the public chain had just completed a technical upgrade, and community interest was low, but after Akai studied the white paper, he found that its cross-chain speed was 30% faster than similar projects and had received small investments from traditional capital. He put all his USDT from altcoins into it and set a 10% stop-loss line — this was his second principle: 'No matter how promising a project is, always leave an exit.'

In the following month, the market suddenly warmed up, with mainstream coins leading the rise. The mainstream coins Akai held first recovered his investment and made a small profit of 200 USDT; even more unexpectedly, his heavily invested public chain project was uncovered by a big influencer, and the token price increased eightfold in half a month. By this time, his account had reached 20,000 USDT, but he wasn't greedy. Following his pre-set 'staggered take-profit' plan, he first sold half of his position to secure profits — this was the third key point: 'Don't gamble on selling at the highest point; what you secure is real money.'

Afterward, Akai used the 10,000 USDT he secured to replenish his positions during the mainstream coin correction, while avoiding the temptations of 'meme coins' and 'pump coins' — those tokens in the community that shouted 'hundredfold expected,' most of which had poorly made official websites. He remembered to 'stay away from projects without white papers or team backgrounds.' Three months later, the mainstream coins welcomed a minor bull market, and his account finally surged to 100,000 USDT.

Looking at the numbers on the screen, Akai did not celebrate. Instead, he transferred 80,000 USDT to a cold wallet, leaving only 20,000 USDT in his spot account for trading. He remembered the anxiety he felt when it was at 380 USDT and had seen people in the community lose from 100,000 USDT to zero — due to using 100x leverage, a negative news late at night could lead to liquidation.

Akai's story hides several core points for survival in the crypto world:

1. Enhance your knowledge before entering: Don’t invest based on 'hearing news.' At least understand the basic logic of blockchain and token economic models to avoid buying 'air coins.'

2. Position management is a lifeline: Never invest all your money into one project, and don’t touch leverage over 5x (newcomers are advised to only trade spot), keep enough emergency funds.

3. Set take-profit and stop-loss in advance: Don't be greedy when making profits, set staggered take-profit points; don't hold onto losing trades, decisively exit when reaching the stop-loss line to avoid losing all your capital.

4. Stay away from 'high-return traps': Any project claiming 'guaranteed profits' or 'hundredfold returns in the short term' is likely a scam. Always check the team, the white paper, and the progress of implementation.

5. Control emotions and don't get carried away: Don't chase prices when the market is rising, and don't panic-sell when it is falling. Replace the 'gambler's mindset' with rationality, remembering that 'long-term profits in the crypto world rely on patience and risk control, not luck.'

In the end, Akai said: '100,000 USDT is not the endpoint. Holding onto it and letting it grow steadily is the more difficult task. In the crypto world, living long is more important than making quick profits.'