From assembly line worker to eight-digit cryptocurrency asset holder, I shattered the lie that 'money cannot be made in the crypto circle' after 10 years. At 25, I gambled with 30,000 yuan of hard-earned money, and at 35, I relied on a set of unconventional methods to lay back. The pitfalls along the way are enough for newbies to avoid 90% of the losses.
No one knows that when my coworkers scolded me for being 'crazy', I doubted myself: getting up at 5:00 AM for work was already tough enough; did I really need to throw my only savings into a market that was 'invisible and intangible'? For the first eight years, I indeed lived as they described, a 'gambler' — adding to my position when making quick profits and borrowing when losing everything, the worst times saw me buying instant noodles by the pack and relying on my parents for rent, until the two market events of 2023-2024, when I finally 'awoke': the crypto circle has never made money by luck, but rather through understanding the rules of the 'survivor game'.
On the day my account broke the eight-digit mark, I wasn’t trembling with excitement while staring at the screen; it was fear: if I had figured out this survival logic six months later, I would have been among the 70% eliminated by the market. Now, I don’t have to monitor the assembly line or worry about collection trivialities. I can stay in a five-star hotel with my eyes closed, and the mainstream asset tags on my backpack have become 'insider signals'. Compared to my relatives who are buried in traditional industries, I sleep more soundly with candlestick charts — this isn’t luck, it’s the essence forged from 10 years of practice, and today I share it from the bottom of my heart with brothers who are still exploring.
Core iron rule: top assets are the stabilizing force, small coins are always the companions.
I always pin the K-line of top assets on my phone's homepage. This isn’t superstition; it’s a survival rule I grasped after losing half my position. Its trend is a signal of the entire market's liquidity: when top assets rise, small coins have a chance to benefit; when top assets fall, no matter how gorgeous the 'potential coins' are, they will all lie flat.
In 2021, I took a fatal tumble: at that time, a certain top asset surged, and I impulsively thought 'a new mainstream is about to rise', dumping 50% of my position into a so-called 'upgraded' small coin. As a result, the top asset corrected, and this small coin halved directly, trapping me for a full year before I could break free. Later, I reviewed and discovered: the independent market of small coins is always a fleeting flower; without sufficient capital support behind it, it rises quickly and falls even faster — for beginners to survive, first understand the top assets before discussing others.
Life and death balance technique: stablecoin premiums are the market's 'thermometer'.
I established a simple monitoring rule: if stablecoin premiums exceed 3%, top assets are likely to correct; if top assets have a weekly increase of over 20%, immediately convert part into stablecoins to lock in profits. This isn’t forecasting, but the inevitable law of capital flow — capital will always switch back and forth between stablecoins and top assets. Understand this, and you can avoid half of the pitfalls.
In October 2023, during that market event, the top assets surged from 28,000 to 36,000, while those around me shouted 'break 40,000'. I, however, saw the stablecoin premium continuously declining and decisively converted 1/3 of my position into stablecoins. Three days later, the top assets plummeted to 32,000. Those who were fully invested were devastated, but I preserved my profits with this strategy. Remember: the changes in stablecoin premiums are more reliable than any 'expert predictions'.
Three golden trading time periods, more precise than an alarm clock for making money.
I have captured plenty of waves based on time patterns, these are the details honed in practice:
From 12:00 to 1:00 AM: the 'spike picking period' during the handover of the European and American markets. When trading volume is low, sharp rises and falls can easily occur. I don’t blindly place orders but instead judge based on the previous day’s trading volume — if there was a surge in volume the day before, the probability of a spike down is higher, so I place buy orders 5% below the current price. In 2024, I picked up three opportunities using this strategy, earning up to 80,000 yuan in one night. The essence is to catch the market's 'emotional mismatch'.
From 6:00 to 8:00 AM: the 'all-day weather vane' for the Asian market. If it drops in the first half of the night and continues to drop in these two hours, averaging down is highly likely to pull back on the same day; if it rises in the first half of the night and continues to surge in these two hours, decisively reduce your position to avoid a pullback. On February 15 this year, the top assets rose by 3% in the first half of the night, and at 7:00 AM, they were still surging. I sold half my position, and by noon it had dropped back to the original point, perfectly avoiding the pit.
At 5:00 PM: the 'entry explosion point' for overseas funds. Time differences make this period a peak trading time for overseas retail investors, leading to large fluctuations. On December 20 last year, a large buy order suddenly appeared at 5:00 PM, causing top assets to surge from 41,000 to 43,000. I followed the trend and added to my position, earning 100,000 yuan in half an hour — this isn’t luck, it’s the result of closely monitoring the fund patterns during this time.
Don’t believe in 'time spells'; the news is the real trump card.
When I first entered the industry, I believed in the saying 'Fridays must fall'; I would go cash on Fridays and ended up missing several big surges. Later, I completely woke up: the day of the week does not determine the market, but regulatory dynamics, institutional holdings changes, and key industry announcements are the true drivers of rise and fall.
On Friday, March 15, 2024, everyone was waiting for the 'spell to be fulfilled', but I saw a favorable approval from a regulatory agency on certain products in advance from industry insiders, and decisively added to my position. As a result, the top assets directly surged by 8%, leaving those who were holding cash and waiting for a drop dumbfounded. Remember: follow the news, and don’t let metaphysics drain your money.
Anti-drop mindset: holding on ≠ waiting foolishly, dynamic defense is key.
As long as it’s not an air project with no landing or trading volume, don’t panic when it drops, but never wait foolishly. I summarized two sets of dynamic defense methods:
If you have spare money, average down in batches: buy 10% of your position when it drops by 10%, lower your costs, and you’ll recover faster during rebounds;
If you don’t have spare money, hold on but keep an eye on the fundamentals: if the project hasn’t run away and the team continues to update progress, just be patient. I held on to a certain meme asset that I bought at a low price in 2020, which experienced several halving events, but by monitoring the team’s movements, I’ve seen it grow over 20 times and become my account’s 'ballast'.
