Last night, I stared at the K-line until three in the morning; the cigarette box was empty, and the tea in my cup had turned to water. Suddenly, I remembered myself ten years ago—sitting on a small stool in a rented room, eyes wide as saucers, watching the two red words 'liquidation' on the screen, hands trembling so much I couldn't even hold a cigarette.
Ten years, from being a naive kid with only 8000 yuan willing to go all-in on altcoins to now having numbers in my account that can support my entire family; the pitfalls I've encountered could fill half a street. Today we're not discussing market trends or recommending coins, just sharing heartfelt thoughts: if small funds want to turn around in the coin circle, it’s not about 'will it rise tomorrow', but whether you dare to tear apart your own cognition and whether you can control your own hands.
These six iron rules, each one soaked in my sweat and tears, I now lay out for you.
1. First, rub your 'gambling nature' into the ground.
In my first two years in the market, my mind was filled with 'getting rich overnight'. I remember in 2017, hearing someone say a certain air coin could 'hundredfold', and I rushed in with 20,000 yuan I had just borrowed. The first three days it did rise, and I dreamed of counting money at night, too lazy to even set a profit-taking line. On the fourth day, the project team ran off, and the opening price was halved. I stared at the screen for two hours, finally gritting my teeth and cutting losses; 20,000 turned into less than 3,000.
Later I understood: turning 10,000 into 1 million isn't about making one big gamble; it requires multiplying seven times. It's like climbing stairs; jumping seven steps at once could lead to a fall, so it's better to steadily take one step at a time—break big goals into 'doubling each cycle': last year's 10,000, this year's 20,000, next year's 40,000, slowly rolling the snowball steadily.
Now I have a note on my desk: 'Forget about hundredfold returns, remember compounding'. Gamblers in the coin circle don’t survive a bull market; only those who can endure the cycle deserve to talk about making a comeback.
2. Capital is life; anything that touches it is an enemy.
The worst part of having small funds isn't earning little; it's not being able to afford losses. In 2019, I took a big hit: I had 50,000 yuan in capital, saw a coin soaring, and, without considering stop-losses, jumped in. Then I encountered a black swan and it dropped 25% in a day. I heatedly averaged down, but it kept falling, and three days later, I had lost almost 60% of my capital—at that moment, I really wanted to smash my computer, even felt choked while eating.
Since then, I've established a strict rule: before any operation, first calculate 'what's the worst I could lose'. A single loss must not exceed 10% of total funds. For instance, if I have 10,000, the maximum I can lose in one go is 1000. Don't think 'that's too conservative'; small funds are like a glass jar, and one drop could shatter it. Protecting the jar is the only chance to fill it with money.
3. Be a 'farmer' during the bear market, only dare to be a 'harvester' during the bull market.
During the worst of the bear market in 2022, the fear and greed index dropped to 12, and no one dared to mention 'Bitcoin' on the street. Even those who previously shouted 'blockchain revolution' switched to motivational quotes. I had saved up 100,000 yuan, buying Bitcoin every Friday at 3 PM—at first, I was anxious; I bought and it dropped, then bought again, my account was in the red for half a year, and occasionally I would scold myself for being 'foolish' while staring at my holdings at night.
But looking back now, Bitcoin at that time was like the unwanted cabbage at the market. By this year's bull market, the Bitcoin I bought has more than tripled; just this portion is enough for me to buy a new vehicle.
Don't look down on a bear market for being 'slow to rise'; it is actually a safety net for small funds. Bitcoin has dropped 90% over the past ten years, but it rises back up every bull market. It is not a rocket; it’s an aircraft carrier—if you boarded during a bear market, you won’t be left behind in a bull market.
4. The 20% 'bullets' must hit the target accurately.
Relying solely on Bitcoin isn't enough; if you want to move quickly with small funds, you need to keep some ‘liquid money’. I prefer to put 80% of my money steadily into Bitcoin, and look for new avenues with the remaining 20%—but this 20% shouldn't be invested recklessly.
Last year, I spent two months researching DePIN, selecting three solid teams with practical applications. I averaged down a little each time it dropped 10%, slowly building my position. Now one of them has increased fivefold, and another has risen more than threefold. But I absolutely won't touch MEME coins; the year before last, seeing a friend make some profit from an animal coin, I couldn't resist following suit, only to get stuck and end up cutting losses of 2000, a lesson learned.
Remember: new avenues should 'mine for gold', not 'pick up trash'. Spending two weeks researching a project is ten times better than blindly investing in ten air coins.
5. Selling coins in a bull market is ten times harder than buying coins.
Buying coins relies on insight, while selling coins relies on mindset—this is something I've understood over three years. In the 2021 bull market, one coin I held rose sixfold; at the time, I was impulsive, thinking 'it can still rise', and refused to sell. Eventually, I panicked when it dropped 30% from its peak and hurried to sell, calculating that I earned half of what I initially set as my profit-taking point.
Now I've learned my lesson, setting a 'ladder profit-taking' strategy in advance: sell 1/3 when it rises 3 times, sell another 1/3 at 5 times, and sell half of the remainder at 8 times; keep the rest for long-term holding. The money from selling is immediately converted back into Bitcoin or stablecoins; I never hold onto profits to chase higher prices.
The harshest part of the coin circle isn't the drops; it's when you taste sweetness and then get slapped. Don't think about earning the last penny; what you pocket is the money, and what you hold is the profit.
6. Forget about 'making money'; first remember 'living'.
A few years ago, I made a foolish mistake: after making a small profit in 2019, I reinvested everything back into the market, still squeezing into the subway and eating 15 yuan lunch boxes, even hesitating to buy my mom a new phone. Then came a correction, and I lost more than half my profits, realizing I looked like a fool clinging to numbers.
Now I’ve set a rule: each cycle, I must take a portion of profits to improve my life. Last year I made some profit, so I first bought my dad a new TV and treated myself to a comfortable computer chair—sitting in the new chair while monitoring the market felt reassuring.
Don't take 'paper wealth' too seriously. No matter how good the numbers in your account look, if they haven't been converted into essentials or brought a smile to your family, it doesn't count as profit. Investment is meant to make life easier, not to bind yourself to the K line.
After ten years, I have seen too many people earn money by luck only to lose it back through skill. The coin circle is like a casino in the short term, but a test in the long term—testing your cognition, testing your mindset, and testing whether you can resist the temptation of 'quick money'.
In the past, I was stumbling around in the dark alone; when I lost, no one spoke, and when I earned, no one laughed—it felt suffocating. Now I've finally saved up a bit of 'lamp oil' to light the way.
If you’re also struggling with small funds in the coin circle and have endured sleepless nights, consider saving these rules. If you've encountered similar pitfalls or have your own tips, let’s chat in the comments—we’re not here for 'copy trading', just to have honest conversations.
I have this light on; if you pass by, feel free to come in and take a break.
