What kind of people can navigate through bull and bear markets?

What Kind of People Can Transcend Bull and Bear Markets?

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

After reading picklecat’s article, the long-embedded question in my heart finally found a clear answer.

1. The Eternal Illusion, Called “This Time Is Different” “This time is different!”—when the 2013 survivors bought their first Bitcoin, they’d already heard this line; by the 2021 bull-market peak, the phrase rang in their ears again. Even now, it still murmurs like a ghost at the edge of hearing, as if an old friend has returned. The only difference is that the people saying it have been replaced, one generation after another.

Thinking back to when I first traded memes, the thought spinning in my head was also this: “This time is different!”

At the time, I had just shifted from the Mainland A-share market to Crypto. Carrying the faith that “spot doesn’t fear being trapped—buy more the more it falls,” I exchanged a lot of money into SOL, and then—like scattering sesame seeds—I tossed a few and dozens of SOL into all kinds of pools with bizarre names.

Back then, I only thought, “This coin is just $0.00001. If it rises to $0.0001, that’s ten times”—simple arithmetic replacing complex thinking.

Even now, those messy names still linger in my wallet. Their very existence makes me feel absurd. Their lifecycle isn’t measured in days or months, but in minutes or hours.

Only at some point did project teams x stop updating. In the group, the “shared dreams” and “build together” quickly morphed into mutual blame and the wailing of “when will they pump?”

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

2. The Most Expensive Tuition: The Fantasy of “Insider Information” A more ironic lesson came from the circle I trusted most. When I started questioning life because I was losing money trading memes, a fellow I knew found me and said, “This time is really different,” mysteriously. “I know someone from the project team. Next month they’ll be heading to a major exchange. At an internal price—sure profit.”

You can guess the ending: I put in the money, but that project was never launched. And my “fellow” told me he’d been scammed too. The money became the most expensive lesson in my cypto career (so far)—it completely bought off my last shred of fantasy about “insider news.”

3. The “Temperament” of Survivors: Clear Mind After Wounds Over the years, I’ve dug into my own mistakes and those of friends who disappeared—like archaeology—and I’ve gradually come to see that people who can get through one bull-and-bear cycle after another radiate a certain similar “temperament.”

It isn’t a temperament of luck, but a complex mix of human nature—tangled with both pain and sober clarity.

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

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

They don’t only look at price; they look at market cap. They don’t only look at upside; they look at liquidity depth. They know that when a coin with a $100 million market cap rises by 10x, it’s harder—more than 100 times harder—than a coin with a $10 million market cap rising by 10x.

Second, they can distinguish between “consensus” and “narrative” with surgery-like precision.

When I was moved into a frenzy by narratives like “the moon” and “stars and the vast sea,” they were observing: Are people genuinely using this protocol, or are they only trading it for hype? When incentives stop, how many remain?

They use the “Rookie’s 5 Questions” from @0xPickleCati to interrogate every trending project. Are there outsiders? Can it pass incentive-decay tests? Does it form into a daily habit? Are users willing to tolerate temporary shortcomings for the advantages? Is anyone willing to build with love instead of expecting pay?

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

After my “fellow’s” scam, I finally understood that in cypto, trust must be grounded in verifiable on-chain behavior and a long-term consistent reputation—not in private talk like “I’ll just tell you.”

Fourth, they have a behavioral system of “anti-self.”

This is the most essential point. They know their own emotional weaknesses—fear, greed, FOMO, and revenge trading—and when the market is calm, they pre-plan action routes for moments when emotions threaten to get out of control.

“If it drops 30%, I reduce my position by 25%—not add more.” “Any buying decision must cool off for 24 hours before execution.” “If a single loss exceeds 2% of total funds, stop all trading for the day.”

These rules aren’t doctrines written on paper; they’re burned into the muscle memory of their trading instincts.

Their belief is built on quicksand, yet solid as bedrock.

It sounds contradictory—but that’s exactly the key. Their “faith” in a certain token or protocol is built on a clear awareness of the possibility that it may fail. They embrace uncertainty. So their persistence isn’t blind loyalty; it’s the mindset of an adult who says, “I’m willing to bet on this possibility—and take full responsibility for all consequences.”

Their belief can state opposing viewpoints calmly, rather than zealously erasing dissent.

The Cypto market is the most efficient “human nature filter” on this planet. It doesn’t filter for the smartest—it filters for the most resilient. It doesn’t filter for those who can make money—it filters for those who truly understand how not to lose money.

I also want to ask everyone: in your experiences of crossing bull and bear markets, what is the most core trait you’ve observed in those who “survive”?

Is it extreme calm? Risk aversion? A learning machine? Solitary endurance? Or decisive execution?

Meanwhile, if you’re reading this and a friend’s face comes to mind—someone who matches these traits—please share this article with them, and add a sentence: “I think you are exactly that kind of person.”

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