After 7 years of struggling in the crypto world, I once lost all my wealth to just 300U, with loan collection calls crashing my phone. But now, relying on my own 'clumsy method', I climbed up from the abyss of debt and my account has steadily surpassed 10 million U. This article is for all ordinary people who have lost so much in crypto that they doubt life, yet still want to change their fate.
One, only understanding when hitting rock bottom: the reason you can’t make money in crypto is because you 'think too highly of yourself as a smart person'.
During that bear market in 2018, I charged into contracts with the 100,000 U I had saved from 5 years of work, fantasizing about getting rich overnight. Staring at the 1-minute K-line chasing highs and lows, going all in on tips from the group without reading the white papers fully... In just 3 months, my account dropped from 100,000 U to 300 U, overdue online loans, unpaid rent, waking up every day to despair.
Until one day, squatting on the balcony smoking, watching the endless crowd below, suddenly I realized: 99% of the 'smart people' in the crypto world have died, those who survived are all the 'fools' who understand 'recognizing defeat'.
Those operations of 'watching the market at 3 AM, looking at all K-line indicators, following the big players for swings' are essentially struggling against human greed and fear — while we ordinary people simply cannot win. Two, 3 'anti-instinct iron rules' that pulled me back from the brink of liquidation: Iron rule 1: only do '1 centimeter that you understand', give up '99 centimeters that you don’t understand'; clear all altcoins, only keep BTC and ETH as two 'old friends'. Just like you only buy things at the convenience store at the community entrance, knowing the prices and quality, you won't be cheated.
Position iron rule: always use only 30% of the principal for trading, keep the remaining 70% as 'emergency funds'. Even if you see a 'hundredfold coin opportunity', never increase your position; profit-taking iron rule: if profit exceeds 10%, immediately withdraw 50% and convert to fiat (to pay off mortgage, online loans, buy things for family), continue rolling with the remaining 50%; operation iron rule: trade only once a week, uninstall the app and turn off group chats at other times, work when it's time to work, sleep when it's time to sleep. Iron rule 2: put an 'insurance fuse' on your account, run when it melts down: draw a 'trading life and death line' in your notebook, triggering these 2 conditions means directly clearing positions:
Single loss exceeding 5%: no matter how much 'rebound hope' there is afterwards, cut your losses directly. For example, if BTC drops from 30,000 to 28,500, leave without a word; after 2 consecutive losses: stop for a month, even if you miss the bull market, don’t touch it. In May 2024, I had 2 consecutive losses, stayed out to avoid a crash, and returned just in time to buy the dip. Iron rule 3: make 'waiting' a habit; I used to think 'not trading is missing an opportunity', later I understood: 80% of the crypto market is 'traps', those who can resist reaching out have already won half the battle.
Wait for trends: only enter when the weekly trend of BTC and ETH is clear (for example, 3 consecutive weekly gains, breaking through key resistance levels); wait for signals: use 'volume contraction + MACD golden cross' as dual signals for confirmation, then try small positions; wait for profits: after making a profit, don’t rush to run, use 'trailing stop method' (if profit exceeds 20%, move the stop loss up to the cost line; if over 50%, move it up to 50% of the profit), let profits 'fly for a while'. Three, now I: don’t watch the market, don’t stay up late, yet my account is steadily growing. Using these 3 iron rules, I started with 300U, grew to 1 million U in 1 year, and to 10 million U in 2 years. There’s no 'doubling overnight' thrill, but it’s steady:
Monthly profit of 10%-15%, as regular as receiving a salary; there are 4 months of small losses in a year, but total losses do not exceed 10% of the principal; now I spend 10 minutes a day watching the market, and the rest of the time with family, engaging in side businesses, no longer losing sleep over price fluctuations. Four, three sentences for those still stuck: What can save you is not the market, but the rule of 'recognizing defeat': don’t fantasize about being the 'chosen one', use rules to lock in 'greed and fear', only by staying alive do you have a chance; slowly earning is not shameful, what’s shameful is 'always wanting to get rich quickly': earn 10% each month, triple your money in a year; always wanting to 'double in one go', has a high probability of liquidation to zero; the crypto world does not reward 'smartness', it rewards 'awareness': gifted players rely on 'heaven’s favor', while we ordinary people rely on 'following rules, controlling emotions, and being patient'.
Finally, I want to say: the crypto world is an opportunity for ordinary people to 'change their fate', but the prerequisite is — you must first learn to 'stay alive'. During those bottom days, I relied on these 3 iron rules to climb out of the abyss, and I hope you can too.
Follow me, next time I'll talk about (using Excel to manage positions, even beginners can understand account gains and losses), helping you turn the 'anti-instinct iron rules' into concrete operations. The road to getting out of the pit is not easy, but as long as the direction is right, every step counts.
