Seven years ago, during that early morning ETH K-line, even today I still get a chill down my spine when I think about it.

That night, Ethereum surged from 1800 to 2400. I didn’t think much, threw all 3000U in, and my fingers froze as I pressed the buy button. Over the next week, unrealized gains shot up to 6000U. I turned off all take-profit alerts—thinking I’d sell when it hit 3000U. What’s the rush for such small profits?

I even postponed dinner with friends, eyes glued to my phone screen, not moving at all. I’d wake up in the middle of the night startled, instinctively rushing to check the exchange. Back then, I truly believed that this money was mine.

Then, suddenly, news of the Federal Reserve’s rate hike exploded. ETH plummeted from 2400 to 1900 in just a few hours. I watched helplessly as the numbers in my account evaporated, repeatedly telling myself that mainstream coins would rebound. But when my account was completely wiped out, I finally understood what “greed is the root of all evil” really means, as I sat in the corner gnawing on cold noodles.

I paid a hefty tuition fee for this lesson. NFT prices soared from 15,000 U to 32,000 U, but I couldn’t bring myself to sell, and in the end, I was forced to cut losses. During Bitcoin swing trading, I was lucky and canceled my stop-loss orders manually, only to see my holdings halved. It’s not that I didn’t understand these principles; I just couldn’t accept them.

After repeated lessons from the market, I gradually developed three habits that truly saved my life:

**First, never go all-in**—keep some BTC in a cold wallet as a safety net, only trade mainstream coins, and always keep cash on hand for a way out.

**Second, focus on real profits, not just the numbers on the screen**—profits on the exchange are just paper gains; what really counts is what’s in your wallet. That’s the hard truth.

**Third, stop-loss is an insurance policy**—exit immediately if you lose 2% on a single trade; if your monthly drawdown exceeds 5%, take a break. Admitting mistakes in time is much more profitable than stubbornly holding on.

The crypto world isn’t short of stories of wealth creation or shocking reversals. What’s rare is those who can stay rational and keep their heads clear after surviving the storm.