On the day of the third liquidation, I spent the entire night on the rooftop feeling the wind. My phone was filled with debt collection messages and liquidation notifications from the exchange, totaling 200,000 — that was the life-saving money I gathered from three friends, and it was also my last chip in the crypto space. At that time, I felt that this life was probably it.
Who would have thought that, 90 days later, the numbers jumping in my account would turn into 20 million? This is not a legend; it’s the result of shattering 7 notebooks filled with mistakes and painstakingly piecing them back together over countless sleepless nights. Now I understand: the crypto space is never a casino; it’s a battlefield that requires real discipline. Casinos rely on luck, while battlefields depend on tactics.
Today, I won’t talk about getting rich quickly; I’ll focus on practical things that can help you survive this turbulent market. Let’s start with the 8 rules bought with blood and tears; understanding just one can help you avoid losses.
8 rules of survival: survive, and you’ll have the chance to wait for the market.
1. When the market crashes, and your coin only slightly declines — this is the life jacket handed to you by the market maker.
During the toughest wave of the bear market last year, BTC dropped 18% in one day, while my ETH only fell 4%, with trading volume halved. The group was all shouting that "ETH needs to catch up", but I watched the sell orders on the order book sparse like winter branches — the market maker was quietly accumulating. After holding on for three days, ETH rebounded 12%, while those who cut their losses missed out entirely.
Key: Coins that resist falling either have market makers supporting them or have strong logic (for example, at that time ETH had expectations of merging). There’s no need to panic with such coins; if the market maker is putting in effort to support, it’s definitely not for charity.
2. Beginners shouldn’t complicate things; the 5-day and 20-day lines are your navigators.
After the liquidation, I studied MACD and RSI every day, and the more I looked, the more confused I became. Later, an experienced trader told me: "For short-term, look at the 5-day line; if the price is above, hold; if it breaks below, sell; for medium-term, look at the 20-day line; if it breaks, run — don’t hesitate."
In 2023, while trading SOL, I held above the 5-day line for 15 days, gaining 40%; after it broke below the 5-day line, I decisively liquidated, avoiding a subsequent 20% drop. The most common mistake beginners make is looking for "better indicators"; in fact, the simplest ones are the most effective — the key lies in execution.
3. In a major uptrend, "no action" is scarier than a downturn.
There are three rules for major uptrends that I concluded after losing 1 million:
No significant increase in volume = the market maker hasn’t offloaded, so hold on.
A decrease in volume but not breaking the trend (for example, not breaking the 5-day line) = a washout, don’t panic.
A significant drop in volume + breaking the trend = the market maker is fleeing, so run quickly.
Most critical: If there’s no movement three days after buying, you must sell. I’ve suffered this loss — I bought a coin that stagnated for 5 days, thinking it would rise, only for it to suddenly drop 15%. Later, I learned it was the market maker "testing patience", waiting for retail investors to cut their losses.
4. A drop of 50%+ from a high, declining for 8 days — this is a signal for a rebound.
Last year, a lesser-known coin fell from 10 to 5 dollars (a 50% drop), declining for 8 consecutive days, and the group was all cursing "going to zero". I built my position in three batches: buying 10,000 on the first day, then buying 20,000 the next day when it dropped another 5%, and stopping when it didn’t drop further. On the 10th day, it rebounded 30%, netting me 9,000.
But remember: such coins can only be played short-term; run as soon as there’s a 10%-20% rebound; don’t fantasize about returning to previous highs — it's already good to make some money from the depths.
5. Leading coins are fighter jets, while lesser-known coins are paper airplanes.
During the bull market in 2021, I chose a lesser-known altcoin over DOT (the leading Polkadot coin) because it was "cheap". As a result, DOT tripled in value while the altcoin dropped by 70%. I later understood: when the leader rises, it leads the way; when it falls, there are funds to support it; the lesser-known coins can only follow the trend and drop harder than anyone else.
When buying leading coins, don't complain about the price being high; how many people missed out because they thought BTC was too expensive when it went from 10,000 to 60,000? Also, don’t buy lesser-known coins just because they have dropped — a leading coin might rebound after a 50% drop, but a lesser-known coin could go to zero.
6. Trends are more important than price levels — don’t be a dumpster diver.
In 2023, I made a mistake: I tried to catch the bottom of a coin that fell from 20 to 2 dollars, thinking "it’s dropped 90%, it should go up". As a result, it continued to fall to 0.5 dollars, trapping me for half a year. I later realized that in a downtrend, "cheap" is a trap; if the trend hasn’t reversed, don’t touch it no matter how cheap it gets.
The correct approach: only buy coins that are "rising" — even if it goes from 10 dollars to 20 dollars, as long as the trend is still intact (for example, the 20-day line is upwards), there’s an opportunity.
7. A one-time windfall doesn’t count as winning; continuous profit is the real skill.
Before the liquidation, I made 3 million by luck on a lesser-known altcoin, thinking I was the "chosen one", only to lose everything later. Now, every day after the market closes, I ask myself: Did I make money today because the strategy was correct, or was it just luck?
Reviewing requires doing three things:
Profitable trades: Did you buy according to plan? Did you execute your profit-taking?
Losing trades: Was it because you didn’t set a stop-loss, or did you misread the trend?
Missed trades: Was it because you hesitated? Why did you hesitate?
8. Staying out of the market is an invisible profit — if you can’t stay out, you’ll inevitably face liquidation.
During the bear market in 2022, I stayed out of the market for 3 months, watching others bottom fish and lose every day, while I lost nothing. Later, when BTC fell to 16,000, I finally took action and made back what I had lost. Staying out of the market doesn’t mean not making money; it’s about avoiding "certain losses".
Now I have a strict rule: I will not trade without confidence. If I can’t understand the order book, if the news is chaotic, or if I feel anxious, I just turn off the computer and go for a run. Trading is not about who makes the most trades but about who has the highest accuracy.
Three practical uses of the EMA indicator: simplifying complex market conditions.
After playing in the crypto space for 10 years, I discovered that truly useful indicators are often very simple. EMA is one of them; I have avoided at least 10 major pitfalls using it.
1. Identify the major trend: the "zero-crossing method" for the DIF line.
This method is absurdly simple, yet more effective than a bunch of indicators piled together.
Set the EMA parameters to 12 and 26, and observe the DIF line they form (which is the same as the MACD's DIF line; it's fine to use MACD directly for convenience).
Focus on the 4-hour cycle: when the DIF line crosses above the zero axis, it indicates a bullish trend, so go long; when the DIF line crosses below the zero axis, a bearish trend comes, so quickly take profits or short.
Many people say that EMA has lagging characteristics, but they don't understand its logic — EMA uses a weighted average, which is more sensitive to recent prices, reflecting trends without being skewed by short-term fluctuations. Last year, when ETH rose from 2000 to 2800, the DIF line crossing the zero axis was the clearest signal to enter.
2. Find precise signals: EMA resonance method.
This is a strategy I honed myself; it has accurate signals and fast exits, making it especially suitable for beginners.
Use 6 EMAs to form a resonance system (the parameters I often use are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200).
When all EMAs show a "bullish arrangement" (short-term EMAs above long-term EMAs, and all trending upwards), it signals a buy; when they show a "bearish arrangement", it signals a sell.
The method is very simple: first, use the DIF line to confirm the trend (for example, the 4-hour DIF is above the zero axis), then wait for the EMA to show bullish resonance before entering. Last year, when SOL oscillated between 100 and 150 USD, I made three successful trades using this method, each time hitting the entry point precisely.
3. Combination use: DIF determines direction, resonance finds timing.
This is the combination with the highest win rate:
When the 4-hour DIF line crosses above the zero axis → determines the bullish trend.
Daily EMA showing bullish resonance → find the low point to enter.
Conversely, when the DIF line crosses below the zero axis + EMA shows bearish resonance → short.
Last year, using this combination for BTC, I only had 2 losses in 58 days and 11 profits, with a success rate of 85%.
Two strategies for passive income: suitable for ordinary people who don’t have time to monitor the market.
1. AI grid: an automatic ATM in a volatile market.
After breaking a new high, the market often enters a consolidation period, during which grid trading is most effective — it automatically buys low and sells high without needing to monitor the market.
I started using AICoin's AI grid to trade BTC from July 31, 2024, with a capital of 700 USDT, and since then, the returns have steadily increased.
Key: After breaking through or falling below the grid range, adjust the upper and lower limits in a timely manner to avoid making the grid "ineffective".
2. Arbitrage: the stabilizer for large funds.
I have always been doing positive arbitrage, profiting from the funding fees. Investing 30,000 USDT, I basically receive profits three times a day, as stable as earning a salary.
This trick is particularly suitable for funds above 100,000 USDT, with low risk and high certainty. Several friends with large funds use AICoin's arbitrage module, and their monthly returns are consistently 5%-8%, much more reliable than random trading.
Finally, I want to say that the leap from 200,000 to 20 million relies not on "luck striking", but on the "survival logic" pieced together from 7 notebooks of mistakes — the crypto space is a battlefield, and only those who survive are qualified to wait for the market. The 8 rules are the moat, the EMA indicator is the scope, and grids and arbitrage are the backup team. Together, these three elements are the key to climbing back from the edge of liquidation to the peak.
The 8 rules contain the most straightforward survival signals: when the market crashes, resilient coins are the life jackets handed to you by the market maker (ETH fell 4% while BTC dropped 18%, rebounding 12% in 3 days); beginners should not be obsessed with complex indicators; the 5-day and 20-day lines are your navigators (liquidate SOL when it breaks below the 5-day line to avoid a 20% drop); in a major uptrend, "staying flat for 3 days" is more dangerous than a downturn (the market maker is testing patience, and only after retail investors cut losses does it surge)... Each rule is a "pitfall guide" forged with real money.
The EMA indicator is a powerful tool for simplifying market conditions: the 4-hour DIF line crossing the zero axis determines the trend (crossing up for buy, crossing down for sell), while the resonance of 6 EMAs finds opportunities (entering on bullish arrangement, exiting on bearish arrangement), and the combination of the two has a win rate exceeding 85%. Last year, BTC's 11 profitable trades relied on this set of "direction + timing" combo.
The passive income strategy is suitable for those who don’t have time to monitor the market: AI grids automatically buy low and sell high in a volatile market (700 USDT capital steadily appreciates), and positive arbitrage relies on funding fees to "earn a salary" (30,000 USDT capital earns 5%-8% monthly), allowing both large and small funds to find their own rhythm.
If you are still stuck in the cycle of "liquidation - recovering losses", constantly torn between "chasing trends" and "holding losses"; if you want to know the specific execution details of the 8 rules (like the trading volume standards for resilient coins, how long to sell after breaking the 5-day line), want to understand the parameter settings for EMA resonance and tips for adjusting grids; if you don’t want to rely on luck anymore and want to simplify survival — consider saving this content.
Next, I will break down the "quantitative execution table of the rules" (for example, the trading volume threshold for resilient coins, the stop-loss point for the major uptrend), "EMA resonance parameter template", and "practical details of grids and arbitrage" so that each method can be translated into action. After all, opportunities in the crypto space are always there; what’s lacking is "when the opportunity arises, you still have capital left".
Pay attention@趋势猎手老金 , tomorrow I will discuss the "specific quantification standards of the 8 rules", enabling every operation to follow a guideline. Remember: those who survive on the battlefield are not necessarily the most daring, but those who understand how to dodge.