What kind of people can survive the bull and bear markets?

What Kind of Person Can Make It Through Bull and Bear Cycles?

In your experiences going through bull and bear cycles, what are the most core traits of those people who ultimately “survive”—those true survivors?

After reading picklecat’s article, the question that had been buried deep in my heart finally found a clear answer.

1. The Everlasting Illusion, Called “This Time Is Different” “This time is different!”—back when the survivors in 2013 bought their first Bitcoin, they had already heard this phrase; when the bull market peaked in 2021, it rang out in their ears again. And even now, the phrase still murmurs like a ghost at their side, as if an old acquaintance has returned. The difference is that the person saying it has changed, one batch after another.

When I think back to the first time I traded memes, the same thought was already turning in my head too—“This time is different!”

Back then, I had just switched from the Big A to Crypto, carrying the Big A belief of “spot positions don’t fear getting trapped; buy more the more it falls.” I converted a lot of money into SOL, and then, like scattering sesame seeds, I tossed a few—dozens of SOL—into all kinds of pools with weird names.

At the time, I only thought, “This coin is only $0.00001; once it goes to $0.0001, that’s ten times.” Simple arithmetic replaced complex thinking.

Even now, my wallet still has those messy, nonsensical names. Their very existence makes me find it absurd. Their life cycles aren’t measured in days or months—they’re measured in minutes or hours.

It was just at some point that the project team x stopped updating. In the group, “shared dreams” and “build together” quickly turned into finger-pointing and the wails of “when are we pumping?”

That was the first time I truly felt that in Crypto, “going to zero” isn’t an exaggerated rhetorical flourish—it’s a physical reality that happens every day across countless wallets.

2. The Most Expensive Tuition: Fantasies About “Insider Info” The more ironic lesson came from my most trusted circle. When I was trading me and losing so much that I started to doubt life itself, a bro found me. “This time really is different,” he said mysteriously. “I know people on the project team. Next month they’re going public. The internal price—guaranteed profit.”

You already guessed the ending. I put in the money, but that project never launched. My bro also told me later that he’d been scammed too. That money became the most expensive lesson in my cypto career (so far)—it completely bought out my last iota of fantasy about “insider information.”

3. The “Demeanor” of Survivors: Clear-Mindedness After Pain Over the years, I’ve dug up the mistakes I and those vanished friends made, like doing archaeology. And step by step, I’ve come to recognize the people who can make it through one bull and bear cycle after another—they give off a kind of “demeanor” that’s oddly similar.

It isn’t a demeanor of luck. It’s a complex, mixed human nature—blended with wounds and sober clarity.

First, they have an instinctive reverence for numbers, and a clear sense of scale.

When I was just haphazardly throwing SOL around, the survivors were calculating fully diluted valuations, checking the on-chain distribution of holdings, and asking, “If everyone sells, how much capital is needed to absorb the sell pressure?”

They don’t just look at price; they look at market cap. They don’t just look at the upside percentage; they look at liquidity depth. They know that for a coin with a $100 million market cap, a 10x rise is not merely 10x compared with a coin with a $10 million market cap—it’s more than 100x.

Second, they have the ability to distinguish between “consensus” and “narrative” almost like they’re on an operating table.

When I was moved and boiling with excitement by narratives like “the moon” and “stars and the faraway sea,” they were observing: are people genuinely using this protocol, or are they just trading it for a pump? Once the incentives stop, how many people will remain?

They use @0xPickleCati’s “Five Questions for Shrimps” to interrogate every trending project: Are there outsiders involved? Can it pass incentive decay testing? Does it form a daily habit? Are users willing to tolerate temporary shortcomings in exchange for long-term strengths? Is anyone willing to “build out of love,” not for money?

Third, their understanding of “trust” is as cold as ice.

After my bro’s scam, that’s when I finally understood: in cypto, trust must be placed on verifiable, on-chain actions and a long-term consistent reputation—not on “I’m only telling you privately.”

Fourth, they have a behavior system that is “anti-themselves.”

This is the most core point. They deeply know their own emotional weaknesses—fear, greed, FOMO, and revenge trading—and when the market is calm, they pre-draw an action roadmap for the moments when emotions run out of control.

“If it drops 30%, I reduce my position by 25%, not add more.” “Any buying decision must be cooled down for 24 hours before execution.” “For any single-trade loss exceeding 2% of total funds, stop all trading today.”

These rules aren’t dogmas written on paper; they’re muscle memory etched into their trading instincts.

Their faith is built on quicksand, yet it’s as solid as a rock.

That sounds contradictory, but that’s exactly the key. Their “faith” in a certain token or protocol is built on a clear awareness that it might fail. They embrace uncertainty, so their persistence isn’t blind loyalty—it’s the adult mindset of, “I’m willing to bet on this possibility and bear all consequences.”

Their faith can state opposing viewpoints calmly, not frantically wipe out dissent.

The Cypto market is the most effective “human nature filter” on this planet. It doesn’t filter the smartest—it filters the most resilient. It doesn’t filter the ones who make money the best—it filters the ones who understand how to avoid losing money.

I also want to ask everyone: in your experiences going through bull and bear cycles, what is the single most core trait you’ve noticed in those “survivors”?

Is it extreme calm? Is it risk aversion? Is it being a learning machine? Is it solitary endurance? Or is it decisive and ruthless action?

Also, if reading this brings to mind a friend whose face matches these traits, then please share this article with him and add one line: “I think you’re exactly the kind of person like that.”

Because in a field where most people are destined to become fuel, identifying and getting close to those who can live long-term is itself one of the most important survival wisdoms.