Contributor One:
I will also share my experiences and some reflections in the crypto circle.
Divided into four phases based on time.
Phase One (16-17). The ignorant have no fear, making money until losing rationality.
I entered the crypto circle in 2016, coinciding with the bull market of 2017. With a principal of 100,000, I reached over 10 million at its peak. Two coins left a deep impression on me: one was GXChain (GXS), where I participated in a private placement with 2 BTC when BTC was 6,000 each, and it opened at 3 million. The other was Antshares (later renamed NEO), which I bought 10,000 pieces at a price of 1 yuan each, reaching a peak of over 1,000, which alone exceeded 10 million. Then I got carried away, feeling invincible, and thought to set a small goal of making 100 million and then quitting. And then... well, then came the story of a person full of desires, believing they were unbeatable, being brutally taught a lesson by the market.
Phase Two (18-19). Reflect on oneself and start anew.
In 2018, the market entered a downward cycle. Watching my hands full of altcoins and the bleak future, my mood hit rock bottom, and I would scold myself daily. But the market won't open back doors because of your suffering. So this phase was more about self-reflection and understanding the market. After some adjustment time, I realized two things. First, no one is better than anyone else; we are all ordinary people. The reason we could make money in 2017 was not due to brilliance but because the market was too good, and I was lucky to stand on the trend. To put it simply, I was a pig on the wind, and taking off was inevitable. The second is about controlling funds. Small funds have their way of playing, and large funds have their way. You can't play large funds with small fund thinking, or else the losses will be severe. After realizing this, I collected my emotions and began to reallocate the chips I held, cleaning out most of the altcoins and switching to BTC, ETH, and USDT.
Phase Three (20-21). Rational allocation, timely profit-taking.
After experiencing a complete bull and bear market, my mindset has become much more peaceful. Plus, the crypto circle has entered an upward cycle again, so assets are continuously appreciating. At this time, I mainly focus on profit-taking and continuous reallocation. Therefore, it has not been as intense as in 2017. Maybe it's because I've aged, and I think that a simple and plain life is the best.
Phase Four (22-?). Cultivating inner strength, believing in the future.
I have unwavering confidence in the future of the crypto circle. The scale will inevitably surpass past highs. Right now, we only need to do one thing: do not exit the market, and keep holding quality assets; the future will surely reward us abundantly.
Contributor Two:
Reflecting on my mental journey, I hope everyone can learn from my experience.
I got into this circle in 2017, and everyone called it the 'crypto circle.' Later, I realized that was at the end of the 2017 bull market. At first, I just thought of trying to understand it simply and see if I could invest. I remember my first coin was Ontology (ONT) in March or April 2018, and it started to rise the day after I bought it. The highest I saw on Huobi's K-line was $11. I remember clearly that I invested 30,000, and at the beginning, I tasted the sweetness, feeling like an investment genius, as money came too quickly, even feeling a bit guilty for only investing 30k. During that time, trading mining became popular. From hearing about FCOIN trading mining, many people made money, and FOMO kicked in. I remember I entered at $4, which was a bit late; it quickly rose to $6 or $7 and started to fall, and I got scared and ran away, making only a little profit. Looking back later, running away turned out to be the right choice. Subsequently, various copycat projects emerged, and the one that left the deepest impression was a project from CP; CP Exchange was about to launch trading mining, and many people rushed in to crazy trade to accumulate fees. I remember staying up until over 2 AM to trade; it was exhausting, so I went home to sleep. The next day, the opening price soared dozens of times, and new investors had never seen so much money, so they sold immediately, and it seemed to break through new highs again! Later, there was another project whose name I can't remember, which also involved trading mining. This time, the opening multiples were not very high. I prepared to learn from the last lesson and decided to sell some to recoup my capital. Thankfully, a friend advised me to sell some to recover my investment, which I did, but the price kept falling, dropping to near zero. The last project I fell into seemed to be BP; the previous plot was the same, but the difference was that the project team never launched. There was some over-the-counter trading, and I was brainwashed in a big investor group, making a lot of money from over-the-counter trades at double the price. The final outcome was a direct collapse, falling rapidly. Blockchain scams made me exit, and I basically didn't earn much money. The summary of the experience is: when a new trend emerges, over time, the bubble will burst faster and faster, going from constant new highs to a direct collapse at the opening. This round of games is the same!!! Then, we must做好风险控制 (do risk control), don't believe in empty promises, sell when the price rises rapidly, and don't FOMO; recover your capital as soon as possible.
Time has swiftly come to 2020, where decentralized trading became very popular. After knowing about Pearls, I recharged and entered the market again. I correctly followed a few projects and achieved rapid asset appreciation in just about a month. Seeing this wave of trends, based on my previous stock investment experience, I knew that to achieve higher returns in a limited time, I had to increase the capital. The most convenient way I could think of was to take out loans. Later, I saw that some projects started to cut people and decisively exited. At this point, mainstream coins also started to rise, and I felt they were overpriced. Plus, I was not particularly interested in these mainstream coins, so I just watched them rise! That was quite uncomfortable, but I knew the bubble would burst. Until May 19 came, Bitcoin was at 33,000, and Ethereum was at 1,900; I decided to buy the dip and followed my previous investment principles, selling on rapid rises. When Bitcoin reached 66,000 and Ethereum around 4,500, I sold 80% of my holdings.
In the second half of 2021, the gaming trend also emerged. I immediately recognized it as a capital game, just like the previous trading mining, but it didn't stop people from making money; just get into any game. Eventually, I started to notice people getting cut and ran away! Value investing was nonexistent. Relying on past experiences, I earned about two million in total, though I still missed a lot of opportunities. But no one is perfect; money can’t be made by just one person, right?
The summary of my experience is: 1. Mainstream coins should still be allocated at the right time; dollar-cost average in a bear market; otherwise, it will be tough to benefit when prices rise.
2. When a trend comes, just get in; you need a keen eye to spot opportunities.
3. Survive in the crypto circle and find your own way to make money; one day you will be able to earn money.
The market is cruel; think about how to survive because only by surviving do you have a chance. Start with large losses, then small losses, followed by small profits, and finally large profits. That’s the correct process. Don't let fear scare you away from the start, or else you will truly become a '韭菜' (newbie who gets chopped).
Contributor Three:
Yesterday, I read many articles shared by big players and really gained a lot. I also want to share my experiences in the crypto circle. 'How a rural mother of two born in 84 managed to have two kids in four years while earning millions.'
Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Lao Deng, a nickname given to me since my student days, and I've gotten used to it over the years; it feels friendly when people call me that. I was born in 1984 in a rural area of Quzhou, Zhejiang, and I currently have two children; my eldest is 6 years old, and the youngest is only 7 months old. I rarely chat in groups because my baby takes up most of my time. Last time, I attended a scientist meetup in Hangzhou with my eldest child. Before I had kids, I worked as a process engineer in a workshop manufacturing Apple computers in Shanghai Guangda Manufacturing City, and later I went into sales. Eventually, I returned to my hometown to start a business, selling clothes, running an after-school training class for elementary school students, and finally working in the wedding event industry, renting props and building stage trusses. I quit the physical business after getting pregnant in 2017, only investing while letting my brother continue. At that time, I wanted to spend more time accompanying and educating my children. But just being a housewife and accompanying my children made me feel unfulfilled. I later asked my child's father if I could ask for money? No, women without money lack confidence. I want financial freedom and to have my own confidence. However, at that time, I only had a few hundred thousand in cash and felt lost about achieving financial freedom, just planting a seed in my heart, waiting for it to sprout…
I utilized the time spent with my child to enter various learning platforms and communities, continuously learning and investing in my knowledge. They said that to achieve financial freedom, you must first cultivate financial literacy. This term was quite novel to me; our schools, parents, and society have never taught us how to possess financial intelligence. Later, in September 2018, I joined a financial community through a teacher's public account. It was here that I came into contact with the crypto circle. I realized I had entered a group focused on dollar-cost averaging in EOS and overseas funds. I was quite fortunate not to have entered the crypto circle from trading. I remember that the exchange where we bought coins was called OTCBTC, which was ranked around 20 on some lists. Every day, we invested at least 100 yuan to purchase EOS for dollar-cost averaging. The teacher analyzed how technically strong EOS was, predicting that each coin would be worth 1,000 USDT. If we accumulated 10,000 coins, that would be 10 million, achieving financial freedom. Starting from the 60s, dollar-cost averaging continued downwards. I heard from senior members who had entered the group that their dollar-cost averaging in ADA had already dropped by 50%. I hurriedly bought in, only to find I had bought in at the halfway point. I realized this was a completely new field; blindly following the teacher's advice to dollar-cost average in EOS and ADA seemed inadequate. I began frantically searching for communities on public accounts to learn. In 2019, there was a significant drop, BTC plummeted to over 3,000 USDT, but at that time, I was too afraid to buy more, only investing a few tens of thousands, still scattered across various coins. I wondered if it would drop further; should I wait? Waiting led to a price increase above 8,000, and then I just kept buying, fearing I’d miss out. It truly felt like no matter how low it went, I still wanted it to drop; there were bearish sentiments everywhere. Then a massive bullish candle appeared, and the market surged. Throughout 2019, I kept buying and buying, and I bought over 40 different tokens in the secondary market. It was simply too much! Later, I managed my positions and divided them into three blocks: 1. Mainstream coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, Ripple, BSV, etc.). 2. Platform coins (I only bought three major platform coins, among which BNB had a relatively low cost). 3. Value altcoins (anonymity coins, public chain coins, etc. all fall under this category). I structured my holdings into a 5-3-2 ratio. In the end, I still held over 10 to 20 different tokens. The most regrettable decision was liquidating Dogecoin. I’ll mention the tokens that left a deep impression on me, like Polkadot. I knew about its ICO but didn’t know how to participate. Later, I wanted to buy it after a significant drop in the secondary market, but I watched it rise from around $0.5 to about $2.7 before I managed to buy some. I missed the opportunity during the DeFi year of 2020; I can't even remember what I was doing back then.
In May 2021, I exited half of my position when Bitcoin was over 58,000 because my baby was about to be born! The last trimester of pregnancy was really exhausting (I had heart problems and difficulty breathing later), and I didn't want to look at the market. I sold over 3 million in USDT in batches, withdrawing 150,000 to 200,000 daily for about 10 to 20 days. Various WeChat, Alipay, and bank cards—after withdrawing funds, immediately placed them in Alipay's Yu'e Bao, and for WeChat finance, transferred them to stock accounts, etc. After my baby was born, I quickly bought an investment property in Taizhou. In short, I was timid and afraid of issues with frozen funds. After my baby was born in August 2021, I started to explore NFT-related topics and learned about GameFi and the Metaverse. When I first got into it, I often set alarms late at night to grab NFTs, but not only did I fail to snag any, it also disturbed my sleep. Later, I really stopped participating in any projects that started after 11 PM; my energy is limited. Of course, selectively participating, I did seize some opportunities, earning tens of thousands in both NFT and GameFi. However, I was also stuck in some profits. I attribute my ability to make money to being cautious; I usually sell half when I multiply my investment several times. I keep the rest for the long term to see if there are surprises. So, I have some NFTs and tokens from various projects, and I tend to forget to check them. Lastly, let’s talk about my experiences in trading in the secondary market regarding bottom-hunting:
1. If someone is buying heavily at the bottom, it is highly likely not the bottom. When there is fierce competition between bulls and bears, it is likely that the bottom has not yet been reached, and you can wait a bit longer. 2. If the market's decline is due to policy, then is the policy starting to ease, or is the tightening just beginning? The future may be even more intense. If there is another shoe to drop, at least wait for that to land before thinking about buying at the bottom. Here are a few pieces of advice for newcomers:
1. The most common mistake newcomers make is thinking Bitcoin is too expensive and opting for other coins. However, both expensive and cheap are relative; a $40,000 Bitcoin is not expensive; it could rise to $80,000 or $100,000, while a $10 altcoin is very expensive because it might drop to a penny, so always look to the future. 2. You should think about the fact that almost never will you be forced to sell coins under any circumstances, which is how you may hold for 5 to 10 years and enjoy the value increase brought by this cycle. In the investment field, sometimes hard work does not guarantee profits. Being a diamond hand is quite good. 3. Always leave some bullets because Bitcoin often retraces 30%-50%. 4. Private keys must be handwritten and noted down, not stored on computers, mobile phones, cloud storage, or any electronic devices! They can be easily lost.
Contributor Four:
I entered the market at the end of 2017, and the super bull market of ICOs finally brought me into the crypto circle.
Previously, I surpassed stocks and forex, deeply researching K-lines and indicators. Upon entering the crypto circle, I discovered a new world.
The profit effect in the crypto circle is indeed too strong, especially during the bull market. In the words of a friend, making money in the crypto circle is one of the easiest ways to earn money.
However, in a bear market, the market is essentially stagnant due to a lack of liquidity, so during this time, dollar-cost averaging and controlling one's hands are the most important.
After entering the crypto circle, because my initial capital was small, just over 100,000, and the gains of mainstream coins were limited, I mainly chose altcoins. I invested in BOS, PVT, and other zero projects. At that time, a big problem was that after focusing on a project for a long time, I fell into a trap of faith, which led to subjectively amplifying the positives and ignoring the existing negatives. Sometimes the project's flaws can be fatal. For instance, after Huobi's gene withdrew from the BOS project, I should have paid attention to this critical signal, but because of my faith in the EOS main chain and the technical strength of BOS, I ended up holding onto this project stubbornly.
PVT is the token of the Pivot content platform, which eventually went live on Huobi, surged, and then collapsed to zero. This was also due to faith in the project leading to holding losses of over 90%.
Both times I went to zero were due to all-in investments, losing a small amount of nearly 100k.
So faith is a dangerous thing; if misplaced, it can cause significant harm.
So the first experience is to choose projects wisely and see if the project's genes are strong, such as whether they have Binance support, etc. Otherwise, do not attach faith blindly.
After entering the crypto circle, there were many projects that yielded huge profits, such as ampl, mx, etc. However, in the end, they all failed mainly due to incorrect profit-taking strategies.
Generally, project consolidations take a long time, but the rise lasts only one to two weeks, which is a short time. However, when facing a rise, I have never had a profit-taking strategy in mind beforehand. After selling, if the price goes up, I will regret it. I think after waiting so long, it feels like a loss to walk away with just a little gain. So in the end, I often experience a roller coaster.
The second experience: Profit-taking strategies must be prepared in advance. When the rise comes, do not make decisions; exit according to the plan.
Many people have experienced roller coasters; most of them could not control their greed when prices were rising. This can only be resolved by thinking through the profit-taking strategy in advance and implementing it decisively.
Looking back during the downturn made me realize how meaningful the previous profit-taking operations were.
When I was working on the Baby coin, I successfully implemented my previous profit-taking plan, so the final outcome also gave me a significant return.
Talking about the size of funds.
I personally prefer small funds, such as under 500,000 in assets, to find one or two reliable projects to hold heavily. Of course, the premise is that the projects are reliable. This is an opportunity the crypto circle gives us ordinary people that the outside world does not have, so we must cherish such opportunities.
For large capital amounts, such as over 10 million, it is necessary to rely on cycles to make money. It is not suitable to enter an initial altcoin project with such a large amount. Both entry and exit are challenging.
Large funds should adopt a dollar-cost averaging approach to mainstream projects in a bear market, waiting for the next cycle to realize asset appreciation through the bull market.
So, the third experience is that small funds should aim for big returns with small investments, while large funds rely on the transition between bear and bull markets. I'm currently practicing that latter half.
Currently, most of my holdings are in stablecoins, and I have a small investment in the AssangeDao's JUSTICE coin.
Today, I also wrote a long article analyzing AssangeDao in depth; everyone can take a look.
My personal opinion is that encountering a project with good genes, while there is a temporary divergence in community consensus, is a relatively good buying point.
AssangeDao will have its first round of voting the day after tomorrow. Once key issues are resolved, consensus will be re-formed, positively impacting the coin's price.
Currently, the price of 0.0015 is 50% of the donation price.
Every project has uncertainties, so try not to go all-in; heavy positions should also be carefully considered. Therefore, my investment in Justice is also a small position.
When encountering reliable good projects, you must hold on. For example, the Baby coin I promoted in the group was held for seven months, with the lowest entry point increasing 70 times. The process was tortuous, but if you can hold on, the rewards are still enormous.
All-in and heavy positions are relatively hard to hold; small positions are easier to manage. In the end, reaching tens of millions or billions still relies on holding.
Stay tuned; I am Mi Shao, bringing you more valuable insights.$ETH $WCT $TRB
