"Brother, lend me a cigarette, I'm afraid the wind will blow it away." Last winter, my childhood friend squatted downstairs at my place, his down jacket hood pulled very low, the phone screen lit up—320,000 principal left only 3,400 U, that string of numbers looked like frozen tears. Who would have thought that this 'broken silver' that almost made him jump into the river would actually roll into over 100,000 U three months later? As an old hand who has been tracking the market for 8 years, today I will strip his 'bloody account book' bare and share these three life-saving iron rules with you.
Pouring cold water: In the crypto circle, 'getting rich overnight' is the neon light of the casino, while 'going to zero overnight' is the big cabbage in the vegetable market. How crazy was my childhood friend two years ago? He poured his wife's dowry money into it all, tracking contracts without batting an eye, bragging to everyone 'another wave up and I’ll switch for a BMW.' As a result, one night, when mainstream coins dipped, his long position got liquidated, and the sound of him smashing the keyboard woke up the entire building—doesn’t this scene resemble you when you first entered the market?
On the day he was left with only 3400U, he hugged me and cried: 'This money is my mom's retirement backup.' And from that day on, he seemed like a changed person. No secrets, no insider information, just relying on three iron rules to wake himself up, he transformed a bad hand into a royal flush. Listen closely, each one is worth three likes:
1. Treat your position as 'life's root', never treat it as 'gambling capital'.
He used to believe in 'fortune favors the bold', but now he has 'leaving the green mountains' tattooed on the homepage of his trading software. During the turnaround phase, he drew red lines for every operation: investing in a single currency never exceeds 25% of total funds, essentially putting a 'firewall' on the account. What's even more ruthless is the stop-loss—once a trade loses 10%, no matter how reluctant, cut it immediately!
I did the math with him: 3400U divided into 4 parts, each part 850U. One time the altcoin he was following suddenly plummeted, just hitting the 10% stop-loss line, he closed his eyes and hit the close button, and the coin dropped 60% right after. Later he slapped his thigh and laughed: 'I used to think stop-loss was cutting loss, now I understand, if you don’t cut loss, you’ll end up losing the whole leg.' Remember, in the crypto circle, the principal is not meant for 'gambling', it’s meant to 'endure' until the market turns.
2. Don't argue against the trend, be a 'little follower' in the market.
This guy used to be obsessed with 'buying the dip and selling the top', always saying 'I can hit the lowest point precisely', but every time he ended up buying halfway up and selling at the first rise. After losing so much that he became withdrawn, he finally realized: we ordinary people are not Buffett, we don't have a God's perspective.
During the crucial three months of turning things around, he adhered to one principle: if the market is going up, he lightly follows; if it’s going down, either he stays out to watch or uses 10% of his funds to experiment. On the best day, he made over 5000U, not because he predicted accurately, but because he followed the mainstream trend and didn't mess around. I often tell fans: 'The market is like a mad bull, don't think about grabbing the bull's horn, follow its tail, at least you won't get trampled.'
Greed is a 'killer knife', cashing out is 'real money'.
This is the one that hits me the hardest—he used to want to increase his position even after making 500 bucks, and now after making 5000U, he immediately withdraws 85%. One time I asked him why he was so 'stingy', and he pulled out his phone to show me his transfer records: 'Every time I profit, I only reinvest 15%, the rest goes to my bank account, either for a fixed deposit for my mom or to buy a bag for my wife.'
Guess what? One time the coin he held suddenly skyrocketed, and many people rushed to increase their positions, but he followed the rules and took most of the profits. A couple of days later, that coin crashed, and not only did he not lose, but he also laughed and treated me to hot pot. Remember: there are no regrets about 'selling too early' in the crypto circle, only the pain of being 'stuck', the money you earn is your money.
Now this guy has become the 'pitfall master' in his friend circle, operating with two friends, one rolled 2000U into 8000U, and one was forcibly stopped out, preserving most of the principal. He often says: 'I'm not amazing, I just got scared of losing.'
