At 3 AM, looking at the 5000 yuan left in my account, I recalled the 500,000 yuan capital from three months ago — during the Bitcoin 'Heaven and Earth Needle' market, it evaporated like vapor. Back then, I was curled up in front of my computer, the blue light reflecting the tears on my face, my finger hovering over the 'close position' button, with only one thought in my mind: 'The contract market is not a place for humans.' But today, I used this 5000 yuan to earn my first 1 million. This method of crawling back from hell may give you, who are going through the same pain, a glimmer of hope.
1. The underlying logic of 90% of traders losing money: When the gambler's mindset meets the financial market.
(1) The deadly equation of 'All-in for instant wealth.' I will never forget the scene of my first liquidation: a certain altcoin suddenly surged by 300%, and I impulsively went all-in, even adding 50x leverage. 15 minutes later, the market maker crashed the price, and my account was wiped out. I later understood that this 'gambler's mentality' was driven by fatal cognitive biases — treating random luck as a universal law. Data shows that 92% of liquidation cases originate from a single position exceeding 30% of total capital.
(2) The destructive cycle of stubbornly holding without stop-loss. On the day Bitcoin plunged by 30%, I looked at the shrinking numbers in my account, stubbornly believing 'it's just a short-term pullback.' From a floating loss of 100,000 to liquidation, I watched the losses snowball without ever pressing the stop-loss button. Upon reviewing, I found that this behavior was fundamentally driven by 'loss aversion' — preferring to gamble all my capital rather than admit I was wrong.
(3) The transaction fee trap of high-frequency trading. During the craziest times, I was glued to my computer, trading more than 20 times a day. Until one day, I realized that my fees for the month had reached 18% of my capital, while my profit was only 5%. Backend data from trading platforms show that the average lifespan of high-frequency traders is less than 45 days; transaction fees are the last straw that breaks their backs.
2. The transformation from gambler to trader: Contracts are mathematical games, not roulette. On the 7th day after my liquidation, while smoking my third pack on the rooftop, I suddenly realized: if contracts are gambling, then the market maker is always the winner. But if I turn it into a mathematical game, perhaps I can find the patterns. So, I started experimenting with the remaining 5000 yuan and summarized the '3 Disciplines + 1 Formula' survival rules.
3. The survival manual for perpetual contracts: The practical path from 5000 to 1 million. (1) The iron rule for choosing coins: Direction is 100 times more important than effort.
Bull Market: Only Long the Leading Coins. During the market where Bitcoin rebounded from 30,000 USD to 60,000 USD, I only went long on BTC and gave up all altcoin temptations. Data proves that leading coins have an average increase of 47% during a bull market compared to altcoins, and they have lower volatility.
Bear Market: Only Short the Weakest Coins. During a recent Ethereum pullback, I discovered through on-chain data that the whale holding of a certain DeFi token had plummeted by 80%. I decisively shorted that coin and made a 60% profit in 3 days. Remember: 99% of new coin contracts are slaughterhouses for retail traders; one encounter could lead to total loss.
(2) The Art of Opening Positions: The Mathematical Logic of Pyramid Positioning
Initial position not exceeding 5%. With a capital of 5000 yuan, my initial position was only 250 yuan, which meant that even when I lost on my first trade, I only lost 1% of my total capital. Many people don't understand: 'What’s the point of such a small position?' But it is this 5% position that allowed me to survive the market fluctuations.
Floating profit of 50% plus an additional 3%. I only increase my position by 150 yuan when the first position's profit reaches 50%. This method of increasing positions is like rolling a snowball, allowing me to enjoy the trend's rewards while controlling risks. Backtesting data shows that this strategy had a success rate of 68% over the past 3 years.
(3) The Ultimate Formula for Stop-loss and Take-profit: 2% Stop-loss × 3 Times Take-profit
Stop-loss = Cost price × 2%. When opening a long position at 40,000 USD for Bitcoin, I set my stop-loss at 39,200 USD. This point filters out short-term fluctuations and allows me to stop-loss in time during trend reversals. Statistics show that traders who strictly execute a 2% stop-loss have account survival times 12 times longer than those who do not stop-loss.
Take-profit = Stop-loss × 3 times. When the price rises to 41,200 USD, I will first take profit on 50% of my position and set a trailing stop-loss on the remainder. This strategy of 'letting profits run' allowed me to achieve excess returns during Bitcoin's surge past 60,000 USD.
4. The key turning point on the road to a million: From predicting the market to following the market.
On the 187th day, my account broke the 1 million mark. That day, I wasn't as ecstatic as I imagined; instead, I felt unusually calm — because I knew that this money wasn't earned by luck, but through a replicable system. The core of this system lies in:
(1) Give up on predictions, only focus on responses
I used to spend 8 hours a day studying candlestick charts, trying to predict market trends, only to be slapped in the face repeatedly. Later, I understood: the market is unpredictable, but it can be responded to. My trading plan no longer includes 'If it rises to XX, I will short'; it only includes 'If it drops below XX, I will stop-loss.'
(2) Establish a Probability Mindset
Every strategy has its failures; the key is the win rate and the risk-reward ratio. My system has a win rate of about 60%, but the risk-reward ratio reaches 3:1, which means even if I lose 4 times out of 10 trades, I can still profit. This probability mindset allows me to remain calm even during consecutive losses.
(3) Anti-human nature operational guidelines
When the market crashes, I build positions while others panic; when the market surges, I take profits while others are greedy. This anti-human nature operation is difficult, but it must be done. I once chased the price when Bitcoin broke 50,000 USD, influenced by community sentiment, only to see it pull back 10% that same day — that lesson made me thoroughly understand: emotions are the greatest enemy of traders.
Five, heartfelt words for all traders
The contract market is like a dark forest; 90% of people get lost here, and only 10% can find a way out. If you are still struggling in the pain of liquidation, please remember:
Never trade with living expenses; this is the prerequisite for survival.
Spend 1 hour daily reviewing trades, rather than staring at the screen.
Find a strategy that suits you, then execute it like a robot.
Finally, I want to share a piece of data: In the process of earning my 1 million, 70% of the profits came from 3 key trades. This means that most of the time, what we need to do is not frequent trading, but patiently waiting.
