That candlestick pierced through the entire night. Seven years ago, in the rented place, the flickering screen illuminated a restless face. ETH rapidly surged from 1800 to 2400, and I poured all my remaining 3000U into it. The moment I pressed the trade button, my heartbeat completely synchronized with the fluctuations of the minute chart.

Seven days of floating profit of 6000U felt like walking a tightrope on the edge of heaven. I had turned off the alert sounds completely, and the plan to clear all positions once reaching 3000U kept replaying in my mind, to the point I couldn't even smell the aroma of food. I was glued to the screen.

Then the news of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates hit — in half a day, ETH returned to 1900. Watching the unrealized gains evaporate, I still lingered in the illusion of "mainstream coins must rebound." In the end, my account was left with only 3000U again.

Sitting on the icy ground, gnawing on a cold naan, my throat was dry. Only then did I realize one thing: no matter how mainstream the coin, it cannot compete with the greed in people's hearts.

Since then, I paid a hefty tuition — bought an NFT for 15,000U that soared to 32,000U but I didn't sell, finally cutting losses and fleeing; during BTC swing trading, I carelessly canceled my stop-loss, holding on until my assets were halved. After being beaten badly, I summarized three truly lifesaving rules.

**Rule 1: Position sizing, like leaving a way out for tomorrow**

35% base — store BTC in a cold wallet, this is the ballast that can pass through bull and bear markets, don’t touch it. 45% main holdings — only invest in top coins like ETH, SOL, and ignore other altcoins. The remaining 20% is emergency reserve — never fully allocate, leave room to breathe. Even in crazy markets, don’t pile all chips into one big gamble.

**Rule 2: Take profits, the numbers on the screen are just illusions**

Last year, when ETH surged from 1900 to 2500, my floating profit hit 120,000U. I immediately withdrew 42,000U into a fixed deposit. Later, ETH corrected to 2100, and looking at that already secured profit, I truly understood: the numbers bouncing on the screen belong to the market, but the money in the bank account is mine. Even exaggerated floating gains are just a game of numbers.

**Rule 3: Stop-loss, drawing a clear line with the out-of-control self**

Once a single loss exceeds 2%, just turn around and walk away, no discussion. If monthly drawdown exceeds 5%, stop trading and cool down. I used to believe in the myth that "mainstream coins don’t fall deep," until one time I held on through a losing position and lost 3000U, finally waking up. Now, stop-loss is like breathing — admit small mistakes, so you won’t fall into irreversible despair.

This market isn’t short of miracles; what’s missing is that true clarity after crawling out of the deep pit: no greed, no holding on stubbornly, no impatience. Just these three points.