In 13 years, I rushed into the cryptocurrency world with the 1 million yuan I saved from my college graduation. At that time, Bitcoin was only $800, and I naively thought I had found a shortcut to financial freedom.

During the 2017 bull market, my account soared to 1 million USDT; every day I looked at the candlestick charts and felt like a trading genius. Little did I know that disaster was approaching.

The winter of 2018 came unexpectedly. I stubbornly believed it was just a correction and kept increasing my positions. At my most reckless, I even used 5x leverage to buy the dip. On that rainy night, when the liquidation messages kept coming, I collapsed in front of my computer, feeling cold all over—1.03 million USDT evaporated down to just four digits.

I developed severe insomnia and couldn't tell my family. Every day I pretended to go to work normally while actually staring blankly at the market in an internet café. Once, standing on the pedestrian bridge in Lujiazui, I even contemplated jumping.

A turning point came in 2021. I learned technical analysis from scratch, drawing 100 candlestick charts daily and writing 3,000-word trading diaries.

I began to understand true risk management. It turns out that position management is more important than timing; the stop-loss line is a lifeline. I started with the remaining 5,000 USDT, strictly following the principle that no single trade should exceed 2% of my total capital.

The first small goal was to get my funds back to 20,000 USDT in six months. This process was extremely tedious, sometimes not making any trades all day. But when LUNA collapsed in 2022, I avoided a disaster thanks to strict stop-loss execution and seized opportunities during the rebound.

The real breakthrough came from the AI sector in 2023. I studied related projects three months in advance and built my position at low levels. When ChatGPT ignited the market, my holdings gained 300% within a week. This time, I calmly took profits in batches and preserved most of my gains.

In April this year, when my account balance broke through 1 million USDT again, I wasn't excited; instead, I calmly withdrew 300,000. I bought a new house for my parents and used the rest to purchase government bonds.

Late at night during my reviews, I often think of that self who stood on the pedestrian bridge. Ten years in the cryptocurrency world taught me not the secrets to getting rich quickly, but how to coexist with fear and greed. Behind the cycle of 1 million USDT is a transformation of a trader from a gambler to a player.

Now I still trade every day, but I enjoy teaching newcomers to analyze the market in the Yunnan tea garden. True financial freedom may be about finding back that self who was nearly consumed by candlestick charts.

Once I stumbled around in the darkness alone, but now the light is in my hands.

The light is always on; will you follow? @币来财888