Every liquidation is actually a tuition fee. The problem is, some people wake up from it, while others keep repeating the same mistakes.

At 3 a.m., I received a message from a fan saying they chased a hot coin with 3x leverage, now suffering heavy unrealized losses and asking whether to cut. Seeing this message, I suddenly remembered myself five years ago — back then, I was the same, full position chasing hot coins, borrowing money to leverage up, and the final result was liquidation and debt.

From losing two digits to earning seven digits, this process taught me a truth: the crypto world is never a casino, but an arena for cognitive realization. Those who survive are not necessarily the smartest, but they are definitely the most disciplined.

**Those Forgotten Dark Days**

When I entered the scene in 2019, like 99% of newbies, my phone was filled with market analysis apps. Every day, I was immersed in various coin recommendation groups, following calls, chasing rallies, and selling on dips. During that period, the first thing I did when waking up at midnight was to check prices — more diligent than checking my family’s faces.

The most memorable moment was hearing that a certain altcoin was about to be listed on a top exchange. I didn’t think much and went all-in. The coin really tripled in value, and at that moment, I thought I was a trading genius, the next Warren Buffett.

Inflation always comes so quickly. I borrowed some money and added another round of positions. This time, luck ran out — the project suddenly announced it was跑路, and the coin’s price plummeted to zero overnight. Not only did I lose my principal, but I also owed a huge debt. The worst time, I ate instant noodles for a week. Every time I bit into the oil stains on the edge of the bowl, I wondered what kind of lousy investment this was.

**The Market Is Never Short of Temptation**

What’s more ironic is that during my hardest times, there were still people in the group shouting buy signals like crazy. Promises of doubling, thousandfold potential coins, internal recommendations from big V influencers… I’ve heard all these, and each time I wanted to gamble. That’s why most people keep losing money — because the desire to recover always outweighs the motivation to learn and be disciplined.

It took me two full years to truly get out of that mental trap. During that time, I tried various trading methods, read hundreds of technical analysis articles, and attended many live courses. But what really turned things around was learning to do “nothing.”

**Discipline Is More Difficult Than Setting Boundaries**

Later, I developed my own trading system. The core is simple: position control (no more than 5% of the account per trade), stop-loss (exit immediately if loss reaches 3%), and forbidden zones (avoid hot coins, leverage trading, and borrowing operations).

These rules sound basic, but very few people stick to them. Most people, after their first attempt following the rules, see only mediocre results, and on the second try, they try to break the rules. One breach becomes a habit, and eventually, they go back to where they started.

Over these five years, I’ve seen too many stories of accounts shrinking from hundreds of thousands to just a few thousand. They started with a plan, but on a certain night, a piece of good news or a big V’s recommendation, and all discipline collapsed.

**What I Want to Say About the Market**

There are indeed people in crypto making big money, but those are either early movers, professional traders, or just lucky. Stories of turning around by chasing hot trends and leveraging are over 90% scams to get you to take over their positions.

My advice is quite straightforward: choose a good direction and hold steadily, avoid frequent intraday trading; never gamble on direction with leverage; never go all-in; don’t listen to anyone’s recommendations — do your own research.

Whenever someone asks me how I managed to grow my account to this size, I want to say: it’s not because I’m smarter, but because I’ve endured five more years than most people.