The guy next to my workstation lost his wedding down payment chasing meme coins. I saw firsthand during the 2018 bear market how people lost everything. Back then, I only dared to invest 5000 yuan, knew nothing about contracts, and learned everything through hard study. Five years have passed in the blink of an eye, and I haven't had a single liquidation. My account grew from four digits to seven digits.

The secret to surviving until now is one sentence—don't be greedy.

90% of people lose money in the crypto world, and it's really not because the market is too fierce, but because they are too reckless. Making some money makes them think they are trading masters, losing a bit makes them panic and want to go all-in to recover. In crypto, one day is like a year in real life, but living longer is more valuable than making quick gains.

**My three invincible rules:**

First, capital is life. The money you earn first goes into your pocket; don’t gamble with your principal.

Take profit and cut losses as life-saving insurance. I never open a position without a stop-loss. Every time I make a profit of 10% of my principal, I immediately withdraw 50% of the profit into a cold wallet, and let the rest continue to run. I’ve done this over thirty times in five years. Even during extreme market conditions like the 312 crash (Bitcoin halved in a day), I only took out some profits, and my principal remained intact.

For comparison: On March 12, 2020, many people were margin shorting and got liquidated to zero. But I had already withdrawn my profits in advance and safely weathered the storm. Remember this—principal is your bullets. Once bullets are gone, even the best bull market doesn’t matter to you.

Second, use time cycles to analyze the market. You don’t need to watch the charts constantly to find opportunities.

Use the daily chart to determine the main trend, the 4-hour chart to find support levels, and the 15-minute chart for precise entries. For mainstream coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, a bullish daily trend is a signal. Then find consolidation zones on the 4-hour chart, and finally, use the 15-minute chart to pinpoint your entry. This method sounds complicated, but once you get used to it, it becomes instinctive—you won’t need to stare at the screens all the time.