One day in the crypto world equals a year in the human world—this phrase's core is not just volatility, but the speed of life and death.

Recently, watching wave after wave of new faces, holding hard-earned money to throw into the market, I truly feel both heartache and powerlessness. Everyone's eyes are fixed on the 1% myth of getting rich overnight, but they turn a blind eye to the story of 99% silently fading away. Today, I want to say seriously: in the crypto world, surviving is far more important than anything else. This is not investment advice; this is survival advice.

**Contracts and leverage? They are nooses, not shortcuts**

I have set a strict rule for myself: anyone who tries to pull me into contracts, I will block immediately and cut all contact. This sounds extreme, but it’s truly earned with blood and tears.

Don’t expect "small position testing" to be safe for trial and error—that addiction is built from the ground up, starting with a little. Exchanges and big funds are watching your positions and playing tricks. Do you think you’re doing smart short-term trades? In the eyes of institutions, you’re just giving away money. The data makes it clear: the average lifespan of users with 10x leverage is only 17 days, and 83% of all liquidation orders happen when leverage is ≥5x.

Even more frightening is that the one or two profitable wins—those are the biggest traps. They give you a false sense of "I actually can." What’s the real situation? The names of those who shine on the leaderboard are replaced not long after, because most of the previous ones have been eliminated.

I myself am a victim of this survivor bias. Currently, over 97% of my funds are in spot holdings, and at most I use very small positions for educational demonstrations, treating profits and losses as tuition. Leverage is not a trading tool; it’s a gambling device—and you can never beat the house.

**Want to enter the market? First, complete these five courses**

If you decide to enter this market after reading this, follow the order below to fill in the gaps—no course can be skipped:

1. **Embed the investment philosophy into your mind** — Spend a week reading things by Duan Yongping, Buffett, and others, so that the principle of "not buying what you don’t understand" becomes instinctive.