Are you also trapped in this cycle: clearly having memorized trading skills, understanding candlestick patterns, yet your account keeps shrinking with each trade? Losing and blaming the market, making profits and then losing them again, as if under a spell, going around in a cycle of losses?
As someone who has been in the crypto market for many years, I can confidently say: the difference between continuous losses and long-term profits has never been 'bad luck', nor 'the market being too tricky' — it is your verbal claim of 'understanding' that has never translated into effective trading management, and your execution that falters at critical moments!
Don't tell me 'I haven't found a good strategy yet'; the problems most traders face are not due to a lack of strategy but treating strategy as wallpaper and discipline as mere background noise. Take my 15-minute swing trading system that I've used for three years; this thing is simple enough for beginners to understand, but it’s this 'simple' system that has helped me grow from a novice afraid to set stop losses to now having equity close to 3.4 million. The core principle is one: stubbornly execute and firmly believe in the system!
First, the essentials: my 15-minute swing trading system, ready to use.
1. Trend judgment: don't be fooled by market 'spikes'.
I never use fancy indicators; I rely on two moving averages (EMA20 + EMA60) to determine direction: if the price is above both moving averages, only take long positions; if it is below both moving averages, only take short positions. Additionally, I use RSI to help gauge strength and draw trend lines (mainly used to filter out those deceptive false fluctuations near moving averages).
Here's a piece of honest advice: many people only look at moving averages when assessing trends, resulting in being swept by losses back and forth; the essence is not filtering out 'spikes'—when RSI drops to around 30 + moving averages in a bullish arrangement, that pullback is likely an opportunity; when RSI exceeds 70 + moving averages in a bearish arrangement, rebounds are just traps. I've used this combination for three years, and my rate of falling into traps has been halved.
2. Entry strategy: two types of signals, neither greedy nor cowardly.
K-line signal entry: in an uptrend, when the price pulls back to the moving average + RSI bottom divergence + bullish K-line (morning star, engulfing patterns, etc.), only then do I take action; in a downtrend, it's the opposite: rebound at the moving average + RSI top divergence + bearish K-line, decisively short. Don't rush in just because you see a hammer candlestick; K-lines without a supporting trend are traps designed to deceive retail investors.
Breakout entry: more aggressive than K-line signals, but must wait for an 'effective breakout'—for instance, breaking previous highs in an uptrend, wait for a stable close before entering, don't chase false breakouts halfway (I suffered this loss early on, getting stopped out three times in one day; thinking about it now still pains me).
3. Exit strategy: stop loss for survival, take profit left to the market.
I categorize stop losses into two types: tight stop losses placed just below the lowest price of the entry K-line, and if worried about getting stopped out, I use wider stop losses (previous swing lows), but I absolutely will not avoid stop losses—those who hold onto losing positions until their accounts are wiped out are essentially treating 'luck' as trading logic and will eventually be dealt with by the market.
I never guess tops and bottoms for profit-taking: draw a trend line (for example, connecting previous lows after a moving average golden cross), as long as the price doesn't break below the trend line, hold on! Don't always think about 'selling at the highest point', the market is smarter than you, those who get greedy and leave before the trend has turned end up regretting it.
Trading principles: remember these 4 points, and pay 80% less tuition.
Going with the trend is king: I've seen the grass on the graves of those who counter-trend bottom fish grow two meters high. Market trends are like floods; if you insist on going against them, it's strange if you aren't swept away.
Stop loss is the bottom line: I've seen the most ridiculous traders who hold onto losing trades after a 50% loss, saying 'it will definitely bounce back', gambling their hard-earned money on 'feelings'; this is not trading, it's giving away money.
Don’t be greedy or anxious when taking profits: I generally take half of my profits first to lock in gains and let the rest follow the trend, ensuring I neither miss out nor give profits back. Greed and fear are the natural enemies of profit.
Don't go crazy with position sizing: for those fully leveraged, I suggest closing your account immediately. I never exceed 5% of my total capital on a single position, no matter how bullish the signal looks; I never gamble all my wealth. The market is specialized in punishing those who don't respect it; don't wait until you're left with nothing to realize this.
