I've heard many stories of getting rich quickly, but few make it out alive.

There are all kinds of legends circulating in the crypto world: turning 10,000 into 4 million, 1 million into 200 million... Every time I see these numbers, I ask myself the same question—are these stories of trading geniuses or survivor bias?

As a trader who has been in this industry for six years, experiencing three complete bull and bear cycles, my conclusion is: rolling positions is indeed a path to getting rich fast, but it’s also the quickest way to crash. Today, I want to openly discuss the true nature of rolling positions.

**What is rolling positions? A simple explanation**

Rolling positions, in plain terms, is "floating profit adding to the position"—using the money already earned to increase your position size. In a trending market, every profit made is reinvested, leveraging compound effects to grow your gains. Sounds simple, but in practice, it’s not that easy.

Let me give a real example. You start with a position of 5,000 USDT, and the market rises 50%, your account becomes 7,500 USDT. At this point, you withdraw your original 5,000 USDT, leaving 2,500 USDT to continue trading. The advantage is that your original capital is risk-free; even if you lose everything later, your psychological burden is lower. But the downside? You need to constantly watch the market—any reverse fluctuation could trigger a stop-out.

**Why do most people fail**

Rolling positions only makes money in one scenario—the true trending market. The problem is, such pure trending markets only account for about 10% of the market; the remaining 90% is sideways or choppy. In a ranging market, playing the rolling position game means you’re constantly taking losses, getting stopped out repeatedly, until your mental state completely collapses.

Many people see those success stories and only focus on the results. But they don’t consider how much luck, patience, and—how many painful mistakes—are behind those successes. High returns come with high risks. The knife of rolling positions can lift you rapidly upward, but it can also send you crashing down in an instant. That’s the truth.