I started keeping a record of my trades mainly because I was afraid I’d lose my mind during the tax season at the end of the year… I used to think, “It’s all on-chain anyway,” but when it actually came time to reconcile, the scattered details—transfers, swapping coins, cross-chain moves, Gas fees, airdrops, NFTs—got all mixed together, and my brain felt like it was tied into a knot. Now, after every operation, I quickly jot down a couple of notes: why I bought/sold, which wallet I used, and whether it was withdrawn from an exchange. To be blunt, this isn’t to be more professional—it’s just so that later, when I look at the record, I can remember the emotions and judgments I had at the time. Otherwise, it’s really easy to treat the same transaction as two separate ones.

Recently, everyone has been using ETF fund flows and risk appetite in the U.S. stock market to explain the ups and downs in crypto, and I also make a note of “the day I got swept along by public opinion”—it’s surprisingly useful. When I review it later, I can tell whether I had my own logic, or whether I was just being carried along with the hype. Sometimes, while writing things down, I even realize I misunderstood something back then, and I’ll correct it along the way. At least I won’t fool myself again come the end of the year. That’s it for now.