I have been trading cryptocurrencies for 10 years, with 6 years as a professional trader, over 1,800 days. Starting with a capital of 200,000, I have experienced all kinds of pressures, pain, and confusion over the years, and ultimately achieved enlightenment, simplifying trading techniques, reducing complexity to simplicity, and in just three years, I easily withdrew 48 million in the crypto market!
My cryptocurrency trading journey (Five Stages of Trading Growth)
1. [Entering the Crypto Market]
When I first entered the crypto market, like everyone else, I bought whatever coin seemed good based on luck. I don't know if it was luck or if beginners have a protection period, but in the first six months, my assets increased several times. At this point, I became overconfident!
However, the fact proves that when a person becomes too proud, it may be the time to stumble; reality can mercilessly slap you in the face. When my assets were cut in half in a single order, I realized that the trading market is ruthless; good luck won't always be on your side!
2. [Learning the Techniques]
After my biggest trading failure, I realized that relying solely on luck is not a long-term strategy; the goddess of luck won't always favor you.
At this point, I understood that trading requires solid professional knowledge and analytical ability, so I began to reflect and learn. Reading relevant books, engaging with various information platforms, looking for opportunities and trading insights, and then combining them with technical indicators to build my own trading system.
If you are new to the crypto market and have the favor of the goddess of luck, this is your best opportunity to learn! During the beginner protection period, learn more techniques to improve your analytical abilities.
However, when I felt I had learned enough in terms of techniques, my assets did not experience explosive growth. But I no longer had significant losses and gained the ability to resist risks. Although trading techniques are not always effective, they have given me a deeper understanding of the market, and at this point, I began to seek the true essence of trading.
3. [Realization of the Way]
When I realized that different trading indicators and systems are not the key factors determining profits and losses, I began to pay more attention to trading psychology. I found that many times, profits depend on decisiveness and patience, not on rushing into trades and frequently opening positions. This actually resonates with the psychology I had when I first entered the crypto market.
At this point, I know that predicting the market is extremely difficult, so we need to become an independent trading system, following our own trading logic. Gradually learning position management and leverage allocation, and calculating returns on a monthly basis, no longer worrying about the gains and losses of single trades.
4. [Gradually Stabilizing]
When you have a clear trading logic and a complete trading system, while adhering to the above principles, you can clearly accept losses and profits. Achieving an overall small loss and large gain, becoming a stable trader and investor. At this point, you will gain recognition and respect from others, becoming a 'teacher' in their eyes.
At this moment, only some black swan events can impact your trading logic, but black swan events are always rare, and your own trading logic is what you must stick to.
5. [Proficient]
When trading reaches a level of mastery, handling indicators and market conditions becomes smooth and effortless. Profits and losses become a matter of course, and emotions gradually stabilize. Possessing intuitive abilities, I no longer feel excited about trading, but rather aim for continuous profitability. At this moment, I gradually embodied the qualities of a trader, possessing the patience, perseverance, and trading wisdom that surpass most people.
The path of trading requires continuous learning and progress, from entering the crypto market to becoming proficient; only by constantly refining your trading system and understanding the way of trading can you achieve stable profits in the market. No one trades without losses, but being able to have small losses and big gains is our learning goal.
After 10 years of trading cryptocurrencies, I rely on these 7 iron rules; I win while others lose! The last 2 rules are worth their weight in gold; after reading them, you'll agree!
1. Why do most retail investors incur losses? It's not that they can't select coins; a major reason is that they don't know how to operate. They either trade too frequently or go all in without understanding the overarching trend of the market. Whenever they have time, they scrutinize the market, feeling anxious if the price drops, leading to impulsive trading that causes them to miss significant trends. Sometimes, even when the price clearly trends down, they stubbornly hold on, turning short-term trading into long-term holding, ultimately resulting in increasing losses. The correct operation is to select a project with good fundamentals and growth potential, and as long as its overall trend is upward, you can always embrace it.
2. Falling creates opportunities, rising creates risks. Retail investors often like to chase rises and fear declines. They feel uneasy if the coins they hold do not rise for a day and want to chase the rising coins, resulting in them often standing at high prices. If their coins experience significant adjustments, they cannot handle it, ignoring the overall trend, leading to missed opportunities for strong coins and missing big profits. In reality, declines are opportunities, especially during volume-reducing pullbacks in an upward trend; such opportunities are golden pits.
3. Only operate within your own system. Once you have your own operating system, you will find that trading cryptocurrencies becomes much easier; you will no longer be attracted by market hotspots but instead remain calm. For instance, if I am focused on trend-based value trading, I will only look for undervalued sectors with good fundamentals, add them to my watchlist, and wait for market funds to enter before I follow in for trend trading, taking profits and then moving on to the next target cleanly. Therefore, I am rarely stuck at high prices; the only situation would be if the price movement does not meet expectations, ultimately leading to an exit.
4. Set profit-taking and stop-loss orders. Trading cryptocurrencies is inherently a probabilistic event, with successes and failures. For most traders, setting profit-taking and stop-loss orders is very important. When the price movement does not meet expectations or breaks the trend, you must unconditionally stop-loss and not hold on. Similarly, if the price has already made a significant profit, leaving at any time is a good decision; don't feel regretful. Very few people can exit at the peak; exiting at a relatively high point is sufficient.
5. Learn to operate with divided positions; do not put all your eggs in one basket. For example, if you are very optimistic about a coin and go all in, then if you are down 10%, you are left with no options but to stare helplessly. However, if you only enter with 30% of your capital, you can choose to average down or exit, as the loss won't significantly impact your overall position.
6. Have patience; waiting is also a form of operation. We are not gods; we cannot just enter and make profits. Many times, waiting is necessary, and time can compensate for operational errors. If your trading skills are not good, then use time to make up for it.
7. The sands of time reveal the gold; in a weak market, it is easier to discover truly strong coins. When the index drops significantly, if your coin rises against the trend or only slightly declines, it indicates that there is strong backing in this coin; such coins can be held for the long term, and there is great potential for future growth.
Today, I share these signals gained through real money; even if you learn just one, it can save you hundreds of thousands in losses.
① Rapid rise followed by slow decline = main force accumulating shares; don't rush to be shaken out.
In 2020, when I first made money using this signal, I wrote an entire page of notes. At that time, a certain mainstream coin suddenly rose by 15% in half a day (rapid rise), and I was so scared that I quickly sold half, but it didn’t crash; instead, it slowly dropped by 5% and stabilized. The following days saw small gains each day (slow decline). By the time I reacted and chased back in, I had already missed a significant rise.
Later I understood: a rapid rise is the main force 'testing the market', checking how much selling pressure there is; a slow decline is 'washing out the weak hands', shaking out those who cannot hold on while secretly accumulating chips.
The real danger is 'a sudden drop after a rapid rise' — for example, suddenly rising by 30%, and then falling back to the original point that same day; that is the main force pulling up to sell off, and you shouldn't touch it.
Now, when faced with a rapid rise, I first look at the subsequent drop: if it falls slowly and doesn't break half of the initial rise, then I’ll hold on.
If there is a rapid rise followed by a sharp drop, clear your position immediately. This signal has helped me avoid countless instances of 'selling too soon' and also helped me evade many traps of being taken advantage of.
② Sharp drop with weak rebound = main force selling; don't foolishly catch the bottom.
During the losses in 2019, most of them fell into this pit. A certain altcoin dropped 40% in a week (plummeting), and I thought it had 'dropped to the bottom' so I went all in to catch the bottom.
As a result, when it rebounded, it was sluggish, rising 5% over three days, with trading volume decreasing (weak rebound); before long, it dropped 30%, leaving me unable to move.
Later, upon review, I found that a sharp drop was the main force 'dumping shares', and the rebound was weak with no volume, indicating that no one was taking over; the remaining chips could only be slowly offloaded.
At such times, never believe in 'catching the bottom opportunities', especially when the trading volume during a rebound is lower than during the drop; 99% of the time, it is the main force 'clearing out inventory', and entering means you are just taking the last hit.
Now I have set a rule: after a sharp drop, wait for at least three rebounds, each time increasing volume and exceeding the previous one before daring to test with small positions.
In recent years, using this signal, I have avoided at least 5 major pitfalls of 'catching the bottom halfway up'.
③ High volume at high prices is more dangerous than at low prices; run fast when there is no volume at the top.
At the peak of the bull market in 2021, my Ethereum rose to $4,000, and everyone around me shouted 'it can break $10,000'. But I was skeptical about the trading volume:
When the price rose to $3,000, the trading volume hit new highs every day, but by the time it reached $4,000, the volume had actually halved, and the market was lifeless (high volume decrease).
I gritted my teeth and cleared my positions; not long after, the market began to plummet. Later, I realized: high volume at high prices at least indicates that there are still players engaged; bulls and bears are still battling.
But the lack of volume at high prices indicates that those who wanted to buy have already bought, and no one is taking over; the main force can only dump their holdings, causing the price to drop harder.
Now when I see top signals, I first look at the volume: increasing volume during fluctuations is not a concern; decreasing volume during consolidation is what requires vigilance.
Especially for coins that have risen more than 3 times, once there is 'price stagnation and decreasing volume', no matter how 'optimistic' you are, reduce your position by half first.
④ Volume increases at the bottom must be continuous; single-day volume spikes are often 'false alarms'.
When I first entered the market, I was often caught by 'single-day volume spikes'. When I saw the price drop to the bottom and suddenly spike in volume, I thought 'big funds are entering', so I rushed to catch the bottom, only to find that 8 out of 10 times I got stuck.
One of the most memorable times was when a coin fell from 10 yuan to 3 yuan; one day it suddenly spiked in volume and rose by 10%, and I rushed in, only for it to drop back to 3 yuan the next day, trapping me for half a year.
Later, I realized that a single large volume spike at the bottom could be the main force 'inducing more buyers', intentionally creating a large bullish candle to deceive retail investors into taking over.
The real opportunity is 'continuous volume increase' — for example, if the trading volume is more than three times larger for three consecutive days, and then it consolidates with low volume without dropping, this indicates that real funds are slowly building positions.
In 2022, at the bottom of the bear market, Bitcoin had a continuous volume increase near $16,000 for 5 days, followed by two weeks of low volume and no new lows. I entered the market based on this signal and later made a 40% profit during a rebound.
Remember: 'patience' at the bottom is more important than 'courage'. Wait for continuous volume confirmation before taking action; this can increase your win rate by at least 60%.
⑤ Top players make money from emotions; volume is a mirror of emotions.
In recent years, I found that the rise and fall of K-line is just a result; the underlying emotions are the reasons. For example, at the bottom of the bear market, the community is cursing 'going to zero' every day, and the forums are full of posts about 'cutting losses and leaving', yet the trading volume quietly increases — this is a signal of emotional reversal from 'extreme fear'.
At the top of the bull market, everyone shouted 'bet everything to get rich', and the group was full of profit screenshots, yet the trading volume began to shrink — this is a dangerous signal of 'greed at its peak'.
Volume is the 'thermometer' of market emotions: increasing volume indicates an emotional explosion (panic selling or frenzied buying), while decreasing volume indicates emotional cooling (stalemate between bulls and bears or lack of attention).
During a recent small bull market in 2023, I saw the group beginning to 'curse missing out' and 'showing off hundredfold positions', while the trading volume of mainstream coins started to shrink, so I took profits early, and sure enough, it soon retraced by 20%. Understanding emotions is more important than understanding K-line patterns.
⑥ Those who can stay in cash are masters, and those who dare to go in heavy are experts; don't let emotions control you.
In previous years, I couldn't help but 'trade with a full position'; I felt anxious without any coins, and ended up losing money whenever there was a fluctuation. Later, I set a strict rule for myself: no position without a signal, only take action when there is a signal, and go in heavy when I do.
During the worst time of the bear market in 2022, I stayed in cash for 3 months, watching others lose money while trying to catch the bottom, but I held back. Only when Bitcoin showed signs of 'continuous volume increase at the bottom + rapid rise and slow decline' did I invest 80% of my capital, later doubling my investment during a rebound.
Many people seem to be trading but are actually being held hostage by emotions: afraid of missing out when prices drop, and afraid of losing out when prices rise, ultimately losing money in 'chasing highs and cutting losses'. True trading is 'being able to hold back when it's time to wait, and daring to bet heavily when it's time to act' — staying in cash is to wait for opportunities, and going in heavy is because you've identified the right signal; both require discipline, not just 'feelings'.
Finally, I want to say:
From 100,000 to tens of millions, I didn't rely on luck; I gradually rolled over with these 'silly signals'. The crypto market has never lacked opportunities; what is lacking is patience to remain calm during craziness and to see the rhythm clearly during panic.
Those seemingly simple rules — don't panic sell during rapid rises followed by slow declines, don't catch falling knives during weak rebounds, run fast during high volume declines, and only enter during continuous volume increases at the bottom — are precisely the 'amulet' that can help you survive.
Trading isn't about 'smart money', it's about 'patient money'. If you can control your hands and see the signals clearly, you have already outperformed 90% of people. Remember: those who survive in the crypto market are never the smartest, but the most clear-headed and restrained.
