I am Dayan, 36 years old. Over the years, I have seen too many people get cut in the crypto circle, and I have also seen quite a few survive by persistence. From an initial capital of 5,000 to now, over six years, there haven't been many "miracle operations," just the old methods that retail investors dislike the most but are the most effective.

In 2019, when Litecoin dropped to 5 yuan, I entered the market. To be honest, I didn't even understand how to use a wallet at that time, but one sentence from my mentor kept echoing in my mind: The crypto world isn't short of smart people; what’s lacking are those who stay alive and count their money.

**Four truths about the market**

**Rapid rise and slow fall are traps; slow rise and rapid fall offer opportunities**

When SHIB surged wildly in 2020, I watched it triple in one day, then start consolidating with decreasing volume. I then completely sold out. Sure enough, it fell 70% within a week. Conversely, in 2023, as ATOM went from $45 down to $18, I bought in three batches, finally catching the main upward wave at $32. These two cases tell me: the shape of the trend is more telling than the percentage increase itself.

**The true top is when the excitement dies down**

The peak of a bull market doesn't appear when chat groups are flooding with messages, but when newcomers start everywhere teaching "all-in secret tips." Look at on-chain data—transaction volume decreases day by day—it's time to run. At the end of 2020, a public chain became popular for a while, trending on Twitter for a whole week, but I noticed active addresses declined for five consecutive days. I cleared out then, and the price halved in half a month.

**Bottoms are forged through endurance, not copied out**

In a bear market, those "50% single-day surges" are mostly manipulator tricks. The real bottom requires patience—waiting until there are ten days of decreasing volume and sideways movement. In 2019, BTC was at around $6,500, and I kept investing 2,000 yuan monthly, gradually lowering my average cost below $7,000 over half a year. Then it took off directly.

**Dare to buy during crashes, dare to take profits during surges**

I used to believe in "precise top escaping," but I later realized that candlestick charts are a mirror of human nature. Manipulators fear two types of people: one who dares to buy bloodied chips during a crash, and another who takes profits in three parts during a rally. Last year, when APT plummeted from $120 to $35 in a flash, I added to my position every time it fell 25%, and when it rebounded to $90, I sold in batches. My gains were twice as much as those who held on blindly.

Now I live in Shanghai, still using an old computer from five years ago—not because I’m stingy, but because I understand that staying calm and observant is crucial in this industry.

The deepest truth in crypto is: when you think "it's safe," the scythe is already raised; when you truly admit "I can't see through it," you are actually starting to grasp the door.