'Just cleared my position and it skyrocketed 30 times?' Stop believing this nonsense, I once lost my entire travel fund because of this trick.
Last week, a newcomer in the community shared a screenshot of 'doubling in three days,' and a crowd of people chased after him for the code, which suddenly reminded me of myself in 2021. At that time, I had just transitioned to crypto analysis, and every day I was inundated with stories like 'Old Wang next door achieved financial freedom through shitcoins' and 'A post-95 young man bought a house by trading coins,' constantly feeling that missing out on a code was equivalent to missing out on a hundred million.
During the craziest time, I poured my year-end bonus, which I had planned to use for a trip to Iceland, into a small coin claiming to be a 'leading player in the metaverse concept.' That night, it indeed rose by 15%, and I was so excited that I got up in the middle of the night to check the market, even starting to plan how to use the profits to buy a new car. However, the next day, it directly plummeted as soon as the market opened, and in less than 48 hours, my account balance dropped from five digits to three digits. That day, I stared at the screen and didn't even dare to look at photos of the Northern Lights in Iceland.
Later I realized that the most insidious thing about this market is not the crash, but the illusion of 'easy wealth' that traps you. It's like the free fruit platter at a bar, seemingly costless, but the bill is already factored into your drink expenses. Over the years, I've seen too many cases: some chased high prices of animal coins, only to mockingly screenshot their holdings, saying they 'raised an electronic pet'; others believed in 'hundredfold coin private placements' and were quickly blacklisted. Here are three hard-learned rules from bloody lessons that I want to share with you today.
First, do not take 'community hype' as an investment basis; those who call for trades may be less experienced than you.
In many communities now, 'teachers' share their trading results more frequently than celebrities post on Weibo, accompanied by sensational copy like 'last chance to get on board,' which always stirs up people's gambling instincts. But have you considered that these screenshots might be edited? Even if they are real, they only show profits and not losses. I know a professional signal caller whose account is in deep loss but makes money solely from membership fees.
Reliable judgment must be based on the project's technical logic and practical applications. For instance, does the team have a public technical white paper? Do the core members have verifiable industry experience? Does the project solve real problems? Those who rely solely on 'referral rewards' and have vague basic information are likely to be scams.
Second, invest with your spare money and don't let desire take control of your life.
I've seen the most extreme cases where someone mortgaged their house to enter the market, only to end up with a divorce after a margin call. Honestly, the volatility of the crypto market is more thrilling than a roller coaster; one day you might be a 'crypto big shot,' and the next day you could become 'deep in debt.' Investing living expenses, mortgage money, or even retirement funds is not investing; it's gambling with your life.
My approach is to only use up to 10% of the total family assets as spare money to participate, and to split it into 3-5 portions, investing in different sectors. This way, even if one direction incurs losses, it won't affect normal life. Remember, the primary goal of investing is 'not to lose,' and only then 'to earn.' Those who tell you to 'go all in' are either foolish or malicious.
Third, learn to 'take profits and cut losses' and don't be a puppet controlled by emotions.
Many people lose big, not because they chose the wrong target, but because of 'greed' and 'fear'. When prices rise, they always think, 'I'll sell when it goes up a bit more,' and end up missing the best opportunity; when prices drop, they cling to the fantasy of 'waiting for a rebound,' and finally get deeply trapped. I once held a coin that went from a 50% profit to a 30% loss, simply because I couldn't accept it.
Later, I set strict rules for myself: to predefine profit-taking and stop-loss lines, for example, if profits reach 30%-50%, I cash out; if losses exceed 10%, I decisively cut my losses. It was painful when I first implemented this, especially when I saw the coins I sold continue to rise, it felt like being scratched by a cat. But over time, I found that this approach could preserve most of the profits. The market is never short of opportunities; what it lacks is the patience to preserve the principal.
To be honest, there has never been a myth of 'guaranteed profits' in the crypto world. Those who tell you 'you can win while lying down' are either scammers or novices. I've been doing crypto analysis for 5 years, and I still spend 3 hours every day studying market trends, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.
