1. From 'Gambler' to 'Systematicist': My Cognitive Turning Point
In 2016, when I entered the market with 1 million, my mind was full of fantasies about 'three years to financial freedom.' Like all beginners, I was obsessed with chasing the market and inquiring about 'insider information.' The bull market in 2017 indeed turned my account into 2 million, but soon reality brought me back to ground zero. The most painful lesson was when a mainstream cryptocurrency halved overnight in 2018, and I stubbornly believed it 'would definitely rebound.' As a result, I watched helplessly as my account shrank to 980,000. At that time, I finally calculated a crucial fact: the destructive power of losses is far greater than that of gains—after a 10% gain on 1 million, a 10% drop leaves 990,000; the opposite is also true. The market will never show mercy because of your lucky mentality.
Until I realized a truth: those influencers boasting 'annualized 200%' are either operators of Ponzi schemes or are bound to go bankrupt eventually. In contrast, a simple method like my childhood friend’s 'earning 1% a day and exiting' has turned 500,000 into 6 million over three years. Slow has become the fastest shortcut.
2. The hard-learned iron law from blood and tears: the art of position management and stop-loss.
I once blindly believed in the false logic of 'buying more as it drops,' only to wake up completely during a crash of a meme coin: when the coin bought at 10 yuan dropped to 5 yuan, I added 100,000 to my position, bringing my average cost down to 6.67 yuan, but it still crashed another 30%. Now my funds are always divided into three parts:
40% mainstream coins as a base (only select assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum that have undergone cyclical tests);
30% swing position (strictly set stop-loss lines, with a single loss not exceeding 2% of total funds);
20% emergency cash (to deal with extreme market conditions, never ALL-IN);
10% permanent cash position (opportunities are waited for, not chased).
Especially after making a profit, I force myself to withdraw the principal first and then use the profits to gamble. For example, when a certain coin rose by 10% last year, I immediately withdrew the profit, and even if the remaining amount dropped by 20%, it wouldn’t hurt the foundation. Protecting the principal is the bottom line for survival.
3. The belief that transcends cycles: what is true 'value support'?
What the crypto world lacks the least is panic and frenzy. When LUNA collapsed in 2022, the entire market was in wailing, my Ethereum holdings dropped by 40%, but I didn’t panic sell—because I had seen its development progress and ecological application data, and knew the team was still building. Six months later, Ethereum's price returned, while those who followed the trend and panic sold had long exited.
I have summarized a principle: whether to hold during a crash depends on whether the project has 'anti-exposure value':
Is the technology open-source, and is the code continuously updated?
Is the community made up of real developers or volume-faking bots?
Is the team transparent, rather than anonymous and running away?
Those funds relying on hype models and high commissions (like mining projects such as AK Coin) will eventually reveal their true nature.
In conclusion: the market always rewards rationality and punishes greed.
Now I go to bed at 11 PM every night, no longer staying up late to monitor the market. My account's annualized return is stable at around 25%, although it seems modest, I know: survival in the crypto world is not about who runs faster, but about who lasts longer. Most of those who once laughed at my 'small vision' have disappeared in the volatility.
If you are also struggling on this path, remember:
Forget about 'getting rich overnight,' focus on 'systematic profits';
The more extreme the market sentiment, the more one should check their position discipline;
True risk control is about being able to calmly analyze when others are fearful.
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