To be honest, I’ve known for a long time that breaking even is basically impossible. But this space is like it has some kind of magic—I know the odds of making money on altcoin spot trading are almost zero, yet I just can’t quit contracts. And with my luck, it’s really something else.

Take that ETH short order this morning—absolutely a textbook case. Entered at 3063, set the liquidation price at 3157. When things started to look bad, I reduced my position twice, pushing the liquidation line up to 3171. I had a feeling something was going to go wrong, and sure enough—the price spiked straight to 3179.9! Took a 110-point hit, just 9 points short, and the account went straight to zero. Tell me that’s not frustrating. If I’d just held on through that, I definitely could have made a profit afterward. With a 110-point swing and just 10 points of error margin, this luck is really something else.

So I’ve figured it out: I’m done playing the 10U warrior game. I’m downgrading to a 1U warrior. From now on, I’ll just put in $10 per trade. If I get liquidated, so be it. With my luck, whatever I deposit is basically a donation anyway. Since I’m destined to lose, I might as well not expect to make money—just treat it as a little thrill. Ten bucks a day is only $300 a month, about $3,600 a year. When I think about how I used to lose tens of thousands in a single trade, it honestly hurts to think about.

So here’s the new plan: cap my losses at $10 per day, and in three years I’ll only lose a little over $10,000. Spending $10,000 for three years of excitement is way better than how I used to play. For someone with my luck, losing less is as good as winning.