$BTC # $1800 earned 30,000 U, but lost half due to following the crowd: The biggest pitfall in the crypto world is 'feeling high after making some money'

At the beginning of this year, a recent graduate fan, Xiao Zhou, approached me with $1800, saying she wanted to earn some rent from the crypto market. She had heard from classmates that MEME coins could double, so she followed the trend and lost over half of her investment, leaving her with this little principal and full of anxiety.

I didn’t teach her complicated operations, just told her to remember the three principles: 'don’t follow the crowd, don’t be greedy, don’t hold onto losing positions.' Surprisingly, five months later her account surged to $30,000—only to lose half of her profits shortly after, all lost in the 'high.'

## 1. Split the money in half, keep one half as a safety net

Out of $1800, $900 was designated as a 'safe fund,' only buying BTC and ETH, no matter how volatile the market was; the remaining $900 was a 'flexible fund,' only to be used when a clear trend appeared. At first, Xiao Zhou complained that mainstream coins earned slowly, until she saw classmates chasing new coins and getting liquidated, then she firmly adhered to the rules.

## 2. Only earn money you understand, no matter how crazy the trend is

Every day in the crypto market there are hot surges, I told her not to follow the crowd blindly, just focus on the key moving averages of BTC for decision-making. One time SOL suddenly surged, and everyone in the group shouted 'buy,' Xiao Zhou was also tempted, but I stopped her directly: 'You don’t understand the logic behind its rise, entering is just gambling.' Later, SOL indeed underwent a significant correction, and she was glad she didn’t fall into the trap. Moreover, every time her profit exceeded 15%, I had her withdraw a portion to stablecoins, securing her gains.

## 3. Stop-loss is non-negotiable, don’t use new risks to cover old losses

I had her set a 3% stop-loss for each trade, and she had to close out when it hit the mark. One time when she bought DOT and it dropped, seeing it nearing the stop-loss line, she wanted to add to her position to 'lower the average price,' but I immediately stopped her: 'This isn’t averaging down; it’s using new risk to fill old holes!' In the end, she followed the rules to stop-loss and didn’t lose too much.

But when her account surged to $30,000, Xiao Zhou changed—she thought she 'understood the industry' and secretly followed the 'masters' in the group to buy altcoins, even adding leverage. Within half a month, she lost $15,000 and came crying to me for a review. I only said: 'The easiest way to get lost in the crypto world is to make a little money and think you can control the market.'

Later, Xiao Zhou picked up the previous rules again, and her account slowly recovered. She told me: 'It turns out that in the crypto world, maintaining discipline is more important than anything else.'