It was Shenzhen in 2018, I curled up in a rented room, eyes glued to the screen watching Bitcoin surge all the way up. The principal of 300,000 yuan crazily grew to nearly 3 million — at that time, I truly believed in the saying, "The crypto world can change lives."

What was the result? Three days later, the market dropped as if falling off a cliff. When I opened my account on Christmas Day to check the numbers, there was less than 600,000 left. At that moment, I finally understood how deadly the idea of "just wait a little longer to get out" really is. It’s like an invisible sickle, cutting away your rationality, and in the end, what’s really cut are the principal and the funds.

Eight years of market slaps and countless liquidation experiences have made me feel like I’m continuously crawling out of the mud in the crypto circle. Every fall brings bleeding, and every bleed teaches a lesson. Now, I want to share the three survival rules I’ve earned with real money, for those who truly want to live.

**Leverage, after all, is not a pair of wings**

I once traded Ethereum with 20x leverage, earning 400,000 in one day — that feeling, it’s like you’ve already grasped the pulse of the market. Feeling invincible, always thinking you can control everything.

The "519" disaster in 2021 was a harsh lesson. In less than two hours, my 600,000 principal was wiped out, and the account was reset to zero. Falling from the peak to the bottom, the contrast was enough to make me wake up.

Since then, I set strict rules for myself: maximum leverage of 3x, no more. The upper limit for a single coin position is 5%. Leverage is indeed useful, it can be a defense tool and a self-protection measure, but if you treat it as wings, expecting to fly with it, in the end, you’ll only fall into a mess of broken pieces.

**Don’t treat the casino as a vault**

Back then, I heavily invested in a coin called the "Domestic Ethereum." When I put in 250,000 yuan, it later rose to 1.5 million. At that time, greed had no bottom — always thinking "double again and then sell," and this thought kept coming one after another.

In the end, this coin kept falling, and eventually, it was worth less than $0.001. Millions in paper gains suddenly turned into zero. This lesson taught me one thing: not all coins that have risen are worth holding, not all stories can reach new heights.

Now, my allocation method is this: 85% of the funds are tightly invested in BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB — these mainstream coins. The remaining 15% is used for altcoins — just as monthly pocket money. Mainstream coins are the life-saving roots, altcoins are attempts at gains. Those who can’t tell the difference will most likely lose everything in the casino.

**Stop-loss is the last dignity**

Every trade I set a strict 8% stop-loss. Once this point is reached, I leave immediately without hesitation. No second thoughts, no "let me see."

Before placing an order, I ask myself a question: if this trade loses all my money, can I still calmly go have a hotpot? If the answer is no, then I simply cannot bear the risk of this trade.

The crypto world is never short of opportunities; what’s truly scarce is people who have enough principal to wait for those opportunities. Hardly setting a stop-loss and just enduring sometimes makes you leave this market permanently. A dignified exit is much smarter than a messy full position.

Over the years, my rhythm has become very clear: focus on trading core coins like BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB. Providing 3 to 5 clear logic-based spot and futures strategies every day.

Looking back, those who survive share a common point: they understood early that risk and return are not linear, and they established their own trading discipline. Moving from losses to stability, from following trends to independent judgment, and finally forming their own profit system — all three steps are indispensable.