One Meme coin trade made me realize that making money and securing profits are two completely different things.

I've seen many people make 5x, 10x gains.

But in the end, the money they actually take home might be less than what they initially earned, the 100%.

I'm one of them.

Once, I made a Meme coin trade with a floating profit close to 5x.

When I finally exited, there was less than 30% left.

After that trade, I truly understood:

Making money and securing profits are not the same thing at all.

In crypto all these years, I’ve noticed a very interesting phenomenon.

Most people focus on how to buy, but few seriously study how to sell.

Including myself in the past.

A few years ago, I made a Meme coin trade, and to this day, I still remember the entire process.

Not because I earned the most, but because that trade completely changed my understanding of profit.

The market sentiment was extremely hot at the time.

Almost every day, I saw new stories of wealth.

Open social media, and it’s either a project has multiplied tenfold, or someone has caught the next hot trend.

The whole market was filled with a feeling:

Making money seemed to become especially easy.

At that stage, I also noticed a Meme project.

No complicated fundamental analysis, no exclusive news.

Just seeing the discussion increasing, the community growing rapidly, and trading volume expanding.

Looking back now, what truly attracted me back then wasn’t the project itself.

It was the continuous influx of attention and liquidity.

So, I bought in.

At first, I didn’t have high expectations.

But within a few days, the price started rising rapidly.

My account was in the red every day.

Today it’s up 20%,

Tomorrow up 30%.

In just a week, my position nearly doubled.

By then, I had already reached my initial profit target.

But the most dangerous part of the market is:

When everything is going smoothly, people gradually lose their respect for risk.

Making 100%, they start expecting 200%.

Making 200%, they begin fantasizing about 500%.

The faster the price rises, the fewer reasons there are to sell.

I kept looking for reasons to hold on.

The community became more active.

More influencers started discussing.

More funds entered the market.

Every signal seemed to tell me:

The trend is far from over.

Later, the price continued to rise.

At its peak, the floating profit of this position was nearly five times.

That was the first time I saw the numbers in my account grow so quickly.

Honestly, that feeling is very addictive.

You feel like you finally understand the market.

Feel like this time is different from before.

Even start to believe:

You really have the ability to catch the next big surge.

Looking back now, what really caused me to lose most of my profits wasn’t the market,

but myself during that phase.

Because from the moment I doubled my position, I stopped trading according to my plan.

And started trading based on emotions.

Each day it rose, my confidence grew.

Each new high, my desire increased.

Eventually, I didn’t even care about how much the project was worth.

Only how much it could still go up.

But the market never moves according to personal will.

The real turning point came after a correction.

When it first dropped 10%, I thought it was just normal profit-taking.

When it dropped 20%, I told myself:

Strong projects all experience oscillations.

When it dropped 30%, I started refreshing the chart frequently.

Every time I opened the candlestick chart, I hoped to see a big bullish candle to recover the dip.

When it dropped 40%, I felt regret for the first time.

But strangely, regret didn’t make me sell. Instead, it made me even less willing to sell.

Because as long as I didn’t sell, I could tell myself:

This is just a correction.

As long as it rebounds, it’s still salvageable.

So I kept waiting.

Waiting for the rebound every day.

Thinking tomorrow will be better.

Later, the market’s hot spots started shifting.

Funds began to flow out.

New narratives appeared, new hot topics took over.

And that project, which was once discussed by countless people every day, gradually lost attention.

The speed at which the hype disappeared was much faster than the rise.

Until that moment, I realized:

When prices go up, everyone talks about value.

When prices fall, everyone looks for someone to buy the dip.

Finally, when I truly exited, my profits had shrunk from nearly five times to less than 30%.

From the result, this trade was still profitable.

But that feeling didn’t resemble victory.

It felt more like a delayed review.

Because I suddenly realized:

Throughout the process, I actually bought correctly but sold incorrectly.

And from that moment on,

I truly understood a phrase for the first time:

Floating profit is not profit.

Selling is.

Many times, we think we lose money because of bad judgment.

But later, I realized most losses come from emotional outbursts.

Buying with a plan, selling on feelings.

The more you earn, the more reluctant you are to sell. Always thinking, “Just a little more, it’ll go higher.”

Always believing the next candlestick will create a miracle.

But the market’s best trick is to turn away at the peak of greed.

Since then, I started forcing myself to set exit rules.

Double my investment to break even, reaching target prices to take profits in stages.

Pre-setting exit conditions instead of making decisions on the spot.

Never aiming to sell at the absolute top.

Because I gradually understood:

Investing isn’t about who earns the most.

It’s about who can truly take the money and walk away.

To this day, I still participate in some Meme trades.

But my mindset is completely different from before.

I used to always want to catch the next hundredfold opportunity.

Now I care more about controlling risks and locking in profits.

After experiencing several market cycles, I realized:

What really separates people isn’t how many times they catch a surge.

It’s about making money when opportunities come,

and putting that money in your pocket before the hype fades. @Gate__Square #我的Gate交易时刻