This year I am 45 years old, and I have been in the cryptocurrency space for exactly 10 years. Life is quite comfortable now: I don't have to rush during the morning peak, and I don't have to deal with business disputes. My daily routine consists of watching the market for a while, making a few contract trades, and occasionally investing in some spot assets; when I go out to spend, I don't have to count my wallet, and I have very few worries.
Many people ask me 'After ten years of trading cryptocurrencies, what should I remember most?' I always say: mindset is more important than technique, and patterns are more reliable than guesses. The following six points are practical insights I've summarized after experiencing losses and profits; beginners can avoid pitfalls, and veterans can have more reminders. 1. Bitcoin is the 'market's steering wheel'; follow it and you won't get lost. After staying in the crypto space for a long time, you understand: most of the time, the entire market follows Bitcoin — when Bitcoin rises, mainstream coins and altcoins are likely to rise as well; when Bitcoin falls, the market is generally in the red. Of course, there are exceptions: mainstream coins like Ethereum with solid ecosystems and stable users can occasionally break away from Bitcoin's rhythm and create independent trends; but altcoins generally lack this 'support,' and 90% of the time they fluctuate along with the market, so don't expect them to rise significantly against the trend.
So every day I watch the market, first focusing on the trends and volumes of Bitcoin — once its direction is set, I can judge the operations of other coins in my portfolio, which greatly reduces the probability of making mistakes. 2. Bitcoin and USDT are 'counterparties'; understanding this can help lock in profits in advance. This is a pattern I've observed for 10 years: when USDT rises, be wary of Bitcoin dropping; when Bitcoin surges, it's often a good time to exchange for USDT.
USDT is equivalent to the 'safe-haven currency' in the crypto space. When the market is in panic and everyone fears a drop, they will exchange other coins for USDT, pushing up the price of USDT — at this time, Bitcoin is likely to adjust; conversely, when Bitcoin continues to rise, people fear a correction and want to cash in, so they exchange Bitcoin for USDT, which can lock in profits and allow them to buy back at a lower price later. Every time I see Bitcoin rise to a key level without volume support, I will first exchange a portion for USDT, and even if it continues to rise later, I won’t be greedy — realizing profits is the true profit. 3. From 12:00 AM to 1:00 AM is the 'spike window period'; just lie down and wait for opportunities. Experienced contract traders know that this time frame is prone to 'spikes' — there may suddenly be a drop followed by a rebound, or a sudden rise followed by a pullback, because this period has relatively light global trading volumes, and a small amount of capital can drive short-term fluctuations.
Crypto friends in the country can utilize this pattern: before going to bed, place a buy order for the coins you want at a price 5%-8% lower than the current price and a sell order for the coins you hold at a price 5%-8% higher than the current price. You don't need to stay up all night watching; many times, when you wake up the next day, you’ll find that the 'spike' has triggered your orders, effectively allowing you to earn a price difference while lying down. Of course, you don't have to place orders every time; just choose those mainstream coins that have relatively stable fluctuations, and don't place orders for air coins — in case a spike happens and it doesn't rebound, you might end up getting trapped.
In these 10 years, I have seen several major ups and downs concentrated in this time frame — for example, Bitcoin broke 60,000 dollars in 2021, starting to surge after 5 PM; in 2022, Ethereum dropped from 1800 dollars to 1500 dollars, and this sharp decline also occurred during this period. So every day around 5 PM, I spend an extra 10 minutes watching the market: checking Bitcoin's support and resistance levels, whether I need to adjust my stop-loss on contracts, and if I need to add to my spot positions — being prepared in advance helps avoid being caught off guard by sudden market movements. 5. Don't be superstitious about 'Black Friday', just look at the news. There has always been a saying in the crypto space about 'Black Friday', claiming that Fridays are prone to big drops. Over the years, there have indeed been a few sharp drops on Fridays, but more often, Fridays are sideways or even see significant rises, so the accuracy rate isn't high.
Don't be overly nervous just because it's 'Friday', and there's no need to clear positions in advance to avoid risks — instead of getting caught up in 'Is it Black Friday?', it's better to pay more attention to the news of the day: Are there any regulatory policies, changes in positions of large institutions, or technical upgrade news of mainstream coins?
If the news is stable and the market is not abnormal, hold what you should hold and operate when you need to; if there is negative news, even if it's not Friday, you still need to be wary of risks — the news is much more reliable than 'date superstition'. 6. For coins with trading volume, don't panic when they drop; patiently wait to break even. This is the key to how I've survived several bear markets: if you buy coins with stable trading volumes (like coins that rank in the top 50 for daily trading volume, not those with only a few hundred thousand US dollars in daily trades), you generally don’t need to panic even if they drop in the short term; patiently holding them should allow you to break even.
Sometimes they rebound in three or four days, and at slower times it might take a month, but as long as it's not a pure air coin or one that's been delisted, it’s unlikely to disappoint you. If you have spare cash, you can also add to your positions gradually during the decline — for example, buy more when it drops by 10%, and again when it drops by 20%, to lower your average cost, making it quicker to break even; if you don't have spare cash, just wait patiently and don't panic sell due to short-term drops, which would turn unrealized losses into actual losses.
In 2022, I bought Ethereum when it dropped from 1800 dollars to 880 dollars; at that time, I didn't panic sell or chaotically add to my positions, I just focused on the trading volume — as long as the trading volume didn't collapse, I patiently waited, and half a year later it rose back to 1800 dollars, making a small profit.
In fact, during these 10 years in the crypto space, I don't have any 'get-rich-quick secrets'; what I rely on is adhering to these patterns and maintaining a calm mindset — not being greedy for quick profits in the short term, not panicking during temporary downturns, and following the market rhythm, which instead leads to a steadier and longer journey. I hope these insights can help you feel less anxious and more serene in the crypto space.
