How to play with leverage? I spent eight years of my youth and two million in tuition to tell you.

In 2017, I used 100,000 to open 20x leverage to go long on Ethereum, turning it into 1,000,000 in a week. At that time, I thought Buffett was nothing special. During the bull market in 2021, when Bitcoin was at 60,000, I used 5,000,000 to continue to increase my position, dreaming of reaching 10 million, but encountered that famous needle, and my account went to zero in 15 minutes. My hands were trembling so much that I couldn't even light a cigarette.

Over the past ten years, I have seen too many people treat leverage as a money printing machine, and they all ended up as cash dispensers. These iron rules are what I exchanged for real money.

First, only use money you can afford to lose. Using living expenses or mortgage money to leverage is not gambling; it’s foolishness. I now only use 5% of my total funds to play with high leverage; if I blow up, I treat it like a lottery ticket.

Second, the leverage multiple should be inversely proportional to your confidence. The more you believe it will rise, the lower the multiple should be; 3 to 5 times is sufficient. When in doubt, wanting to gamble at 20 times is a sickness that needs treatment. My discipline is that spot trading is primary, and leverage never exceeds 10 times.

Third, stop-loss orders must be placed in advance; don’t rely on memory. The time I blew up, I thought I would wait a bit longer, but the system won’t wait for you. Now I place a stop-loss order simultaneously when opening a position; if losses exceed 20%, I cut it directly.

Fourth, don’t open new positions during sharp rises and falls. The FOMO sentiment is strongest when the scythe is moving the fastest. Wait for the market to cool down for a day before acting; opportunities are always there, but capital is not.

After eight years of trading cryptocurrencies, leverage is not a tool for making money; it is a tool for making you see how greedy you are. I have seen people become rich through leverage, but I have never seen anyone maintain long-term wealth with leverage. What truly changed my life is the Bitcoin spot I hoarded in 2019, which has multiplied dozens of times since then. The money made through leverage will eventually be returned.

If you haven’t touched leverage yet, I envy you. If you’re already in the game, please remember that surviving in the crypto world is more important than anything else. I used to stumble around in the dark, but now the light is in my hands. The light is always on; will you follow? @俊哥说趋势