Four life-saving rules bought with blood and tears
I was one of the people who rushed into the crypto circle in 2017. I witnessed Bitcoin plummet from $20,000 to $3,000 and personally experienced the nightmare of an $800,000 liquidation on May 19, 2021. At my lowest point, I almost treated the rooftop as my final destination. But now, I am grateful for these experiences—they forced me to understand a principle: in the crypto world, surviving for a long time is the real victory.
1. I would rather die than touch a coin I don't understand.
In 2021, when NFTs became so popular that even the aunt downstairs wanted to mint one, I jumped into a monkey avatar project. I didn’t read the white paper, didn’t check the team background, and just heard the 'experts' in the group shouting 'the next BAYC', so I threw in 250,000. Three days later, the official website turned 404, and the project’s Twitter was canceled. Only then did I realize: this is not an investment. This is paying a tax on my IQ to a scammer!
Later, I set strict rules: for any project, you must thoroughly read the white paper, check the team's background, and understand the economic model. For instance, last year with a certain public chain project, I tracked it for 8 months and found its technical iteration rhythm stable and the developer community active, only then did I dare to position at a low point. Sure enough, six months later, the ecosystem exploded, and assets tripled.
The truth: 90% of zero-value coins in the crypto space are traps for the lazy.
2. Position management is more important than timing
In my early years, I was superstitious about 'a single throw'; elated when prices rose and sleepless when they fell. After a full-margin contract liquidation in 2019, I woke up completely: if your position is chaotic, your mindset will collapse. Now my positions are divided into three parts:
50% ballast: mainstream coins like BTC and ETH, resistant to downturns in bear markets and rising in bull markets;
30% stabilizer: used for grid trading or arbitrage, earning small money from fluctuations, with continuous cash flow every month;
20% emergency funds: always kept in the wallet, to buy the dip or for survival during extreme market conditions.
This strategy helped me stay steady during the LUNA crash in 2022 — while many people liquidated and jumped off buildings, I relied on ballast to withstand the volatility and used spare funds to pick up quality coins, recovering 40% in six months.
3. Leverage is an addiction; if you can't quit, get out
My most painful lesson was in 2019. At that time, I thought a bull market was coming, leveraged 10 times and went all in, even boasting to friends about 'doubling in a week.' As a result, that night, a negative news hit, and my account dropped from 600,000 to zero. The '0' on my phone screen seemed to mock me: gamblers don't deserve to make money.
Now when I see the entry for leveraged trading, I take a detour. The crypto market is inherently volatile; adding leverage? It's like installing a bomb in your heart. Those who can truly survive are the 'turtles' who accumulate coins at low prices and cash out at high prices, not the 'rabbits' who frequently open positions.
4. The crazier the news, the more you should trust on-chain data
Once I joined dozens of 'signal groups', where members flaunted profit charts daily. Later I realized the screenshots were edited, and everyone except me was a shill. Now I only believe in two things:
On-chain data: such as large address movements, net inflows and outflows from exchanges. Before the crash of a famous coin in 2022, I noticed major wallets continuously transferring to exchanges, allowing me to exit early and avoid disaster;
Project fundamentals: Is token distribution concentrated? How long is the team’s lock-up? Are the application scenarios real? Those white papers that only say 'disrupting the future' should be directly blacklisted.
Epilogue: Slow is fast
Now my annual target is only 20% return — it may not seem high, but compounded, it doubles in 5 years. The crypto space is never short of overnight wealth myths, but lacks veterans who can survive for 10 years. If you're just entering, remember four phrases:
Invest with spare money; losing it won't affect your life;
Don't envy others making quick money; what you can hold onto is truly yours;
Clear profits once a year, taking some off the table for security;
DCA in bear markets, sell in batches in bull markets; don't be greedy for the last penny.
In this market where 90% of projects fail, your primary task is not to make money, but to ensure you don't fall before dawn.
Follow Brother Xiang to learn more first-hand information and precise points in the crypto world, becoming your navigation in the crypto space; learning is your greatest wealth!#加密市场反弹 #美联储降息 $ETH
