From losing 400,000 dollars to a new high in Holdings, a trader's self-narration

The market is always full of variables. It often rewards improper behavior, but ultimately it will return to the mean. Those who never consider this will eventually taste the bitter fruit and become humble.

Recently, someone asked me how I gradually achieved stable profits from having nothing, surpassed my previous trading results, and set a new high for my investment portfolio.

In simple terms: deep surrender, foolish mistakes, and luck.

My "nothingness" is different from others, but there are also similarities. It is not a literal meaning of being impoverished, but a spiritual collapse, a complete surrender of the self.

All the methods I tried failed, and I had to slowly crawl out of the dead end. Then, I made a comeback. You might doubt whether I'm making up a story. In fact, I'm not, but you don't have to believe me.

I have never systematically documented these experiences, just sharing some fragments here and there over the years. My friends and those who have been following me for a long time know what happened. I went from a "stupid top signal" to "Dyme, who seems to have a clear understanding of the market now."

Unless you can understand the pain I have experienced, it will be difficult to gain useful information from this article. So, please be prepared, we are about to embark on a journey. This will be a long narrative.

If you don't want to listen to my long-winded story, you can jump directly to "the highlights you want to see (". It's time to整理 these experiences.

![Trader's Narrative: How I Went from Losing $400,000 to a New High in Holdings - My Enlightenment Journey?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-f650cc6005d859326f853337e6f1938c.webp(

2019

After working for four and a half years at a job I didn't like, I finally quit. For many years, I have been a firm supporter of Bitcoin. But seeing others get rich through leveraged trading, I wanted to try it too, so I plan to take six months off work to focus on learning to trade.

At that time, I knew nothing about chart analysis and trading, yet I began to try options and stock trading, even learning to draw lines on the charts. Anyone who remembers my early charts knows that they were poorly done, and my judgments were often wrong. More importantly, I had no awareness of risk management at all.

However, I realize that understanding market signals seems to be becoming increasingly important. I have been studying those amateur-level charts, and since 2017, some of my online friends have been improving their skills in this area.

Many of us became very wealthy in 2017, but as Bitcoin plummeted 80%, that wealth slipped through our fingers. I guess I'm not the only one who thought, "It's time to learn chart analysis so I won't lose so badly again."

In 2019, I had about two to three thousand followers, mainly enthusiasts in the cryptocurrency field.

I didn't enter this line of work to become famous; I just want to focus on trading for six months and learn some basic knowledge. For example, techniques like chart patterns and moving averages. I don't know which are useful and which aren't. But in any case, I have to try.

I have savings that can sustain my living for six months, and I can also receive unemployment benefits. In the foreseeable future, my life is secure.

So in August 2019, considering my years of service, I had my employer dismiss me. ) It is well known that they never opposed applying for unemployment benefits. ( They agreed.

Unfortunately, shortly after that, Bitcoin peaked in 2019, and the market remained volatile and flat until the middle of 2020. It was truly the worst timing; I happened to resign at that moment and devoted myself entirely to trading.

I finally have time to think, to learn, and to do those things that I never had time to do while working forty to fifty hours a week. Of course, I also have to bear all the risks and drawbacks that come with this freedom.

I started to take action. I traded call options on the S&P 500 index, speculated on stocks, and studied charts daily, trying to find ways to earn at least $100 to $500 every day. The year before 2020 was bleak for the cryptocurrency market, and I only had sporadic profits, but fortunately, I persevered.

If I weren't a complete novice at that time, the trading environment during that period was actually quite good.

![Trader's Account: How I Enlightened Myself from Losing 400,000 Dollars to New High Holdings?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-1356e5717782c065de1213aa1786c572.webp(

2020

Everything is going relatively smoothly, as I log into my account every day to share my terrible ) opinions, and my follower count has increased. I occasionally make a profit, and my account balance is generally on the rise. People appreciate that I can share some valuable information online, as not everyone has the time to think about these ( after all, they still have to work ). Although I have lost a lot of money, I can always quickly recover my losses. For a beginner, this is already considered acceptable.

Leverage trading has become my lifestyle. I stare at the 15-minute charts, trading with 20x leverage, desperately trying to extract some benefits from the market, until February 20th when my Holdings reached a peak price, I finally believed that I was doing quite well in my trading.

Then, the "nuclear weapon" of the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Almost at the same week, my unemployment benefits also expired.

So, my plan to study for a while and then find a proper job instantly turned into a bubble. It felt like the end of the world - a new type of virus has emerged.

I managed to short the market crash triggered by the pandemic, turning 0.5 Bitcoin into 1 Bitcoin with 50x leverage. That week, this was the only thing that went smoothly; my stocks took a heavy hit, and I was pretty sure my income was doomed.

It seems that it was destined by heaven for me to be fully immersed in trading.

Fortunately, Jerome (, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve ), and his "money printing machine" saved the world.

What happened next, everyone knows. The market soared over the course of a year. It was truly a peak period of "only rising, not falling." Although the market could make people profitable, it was also absurdly ridiculous.

FTX

What is more exciting than a rising market is leveraged trading. I have some experience, but it is very limited, and I know very little about the macro environment. All I know is that Jerome is printing money, and the market will definitely rise as a result.

Then, our "savior" has arrived, and he will lead us into a paradise, and he will never do anything terrible.

At that time, we had no idea that FTX was about to take us on a "journey" that we would never forget.

I deposited about 4000 to 5000 dollars into FTX, buying FTT( FTX platform tokens in multiple transactions at prices ranging from 2 to 4 dollars.

FTT increased by 3000%. I suddenly have 40,000 to 50,000 dollars in my margin account. I have never had so much money before. ) This is the first warning sign (.

I deposited more funds again, wanting to engage in more leveraged trading, because my FTT was staked and couldn't be used as collateral. At that time, I was already emotionally invested in the FTX ecosystem.

The day my fan count reached 10,000 was exactly the day the "only up, no down" market started. This world really can bring surprises.

I went from being someone who only replied to others' tweets to becoming a somewhat well-known person.

In the coming months, despite the market conditions being absurdly good, my physical and mental health has deteriorated. The lockdown policies in my area are very strict. My weight has skyrocketed, and I only go out two or three times a week. My daily routine is a complete mess. I have almost become familiar with the delivery personnel from the takeout platforms, consuming 4000 to 5000 calories of food daily to cope with the despair and misfortune brought by the pandemic.

Those days were terrible.

But I made a fortune in the market, I can pay all my bills, and all my assets are rising, so I keep increasing my investment.

I often use leverage of 10 to 20 times. Sometimes, I can earn $40,000, while at other times, I may lose $20,000.

I also engage in lending services, conduct perpetual contract trading for profits, and blindly invest in various emerging altcoins like COPE).

I often stay up late because I don't like getting up early, and since I don't have a job, I start staying up until the market opens, make a few trades, and then sleep until 4 PM.

This doesn't do much good for my health.

In addition, I also earned a decent income by referring others to register. During the peak weeks, I could make $1000 in a day.

I used this money for trading and also made up for some losses.

I seized several upward trends of Dogecoin, SOL, Bitcoin, and various altcoins.

I am a typical "genius" of the bull market.

The market has rewarded me.

My highest account balance on FTX is approximately $250,000, mainly thanks to SOL, FTT, and Bitcoin.

Later, SBF(, the founder of FTX), reduced the daily withdrawal limit for accounts that had not undergone KYC( verification from $9,000 to $2,000. Looking back now, this might have been the first signal of the legal troubles he would later face, but who knows?

I withdraw every few days, but that money is actually still trapped in FTX, and I am still greedy, wanting to earn more. I calculated that to withdraw all the money would take about 120 days, and I need to log into the account every day to perform the withdrawal operation.

Part of the responsibility lies with SBF's new regulations, but it also lies with myself. Because there was a moment when I really thought: "I should withdraw this $250,000 and improve my life."

I could have withdrawn all my money before FTX went bankrupt.

Even after the market peaked in November 2021, I continued to gamble. I was no longer trading, but going against the trend. Even when market buying dried up, I was still going against the cycles of Bitcoin.

Every day is a new loss, and with my continuous withdrawals and losses, my account balance quickly reaches zero.

I lost two-thirds of my funds on FTX because I forced trades. Most of my trading career has been spent in a "rising market only" where no one reminded me to change my strategy, except for Jim and Insilico. At the time, I thought they were just annoying bears, but they were among the few who accurately identified the top. For this, they deserve praise.

During that time, there were no once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunities, only endless pain.

![Trader's Story: How I Went from Losing $400,000 to a New High in Holdings, and Achieved Enlightenment?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-a192c7daa41a6aa388d951fa2298d8d1.webp(

2022

The situation has gotten worse.

In the first week of 2022, my grandmother, who raised me and is one of the most important people in my life, passed away.

We knew this day would come, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. She has been in pain for a long time, and we feel a bit of comfort that she can finally rest.

The loss of family members, a bleak outlook, and the market still shows no signs of rising.

It was purely by luck that a few months later I inherited some money. Not much, but it's still something.

Because the source of this money is special, I have a deep respect for it. But in any sense, this money is not enough to change my life.

So, like a gambler, I tried to invest in dividend stocks to earn income on my dad's advice, but in four to five months, I lost 20%.

Clearly, during an interest rate hike cycle, no one wants dividend stocks.

I don't want to take this amount anymore.