#MyGateTradeStory#good

#我的Gate交易时刻

From millions to zero: The only truth a seasoned investor has gained through blood and tears

— Written in front of a $60,000 Bitcoin, I no longer want to repeat the same mistakes —

That year, I was just one step away from financial freedom

In the 2017 bull market, I think many veteran traders remember that feeling — waking up every day, the numbers in the account bouncing around.

I'm not a genius, but I definitely caught the right rhythm. Starting with a few thousand dollars, adding positions and rolling over, by the end of the year, my account held over ten million.

What does over ten million mean? Back then, I thought I wouldn’t have to work again in my life.

I started looking at houses, cars, and even planning a "retirement life." But there was one thing I never did — withdraw funds.

A voice inside kept saying: "Wait a bit longer, it can still go up."

You all know what happened next. In 2018, the bear market hit harder than anyone expected. Bitcoin dropped from twenty thousand to three thousand. I not only didn’t sell, but kept adding to my positions and bottom-fishing during the decline.

The final result was — total liquidation, nothing left.

Over ten million, gone to zero.

That night, I sat in front of my computer, the numbers on the screen making me shiver. It’s not that I was upset about the money, I hated myself: I had made a profit, so why didn’t I just leave?

I thought I had learned my lesson, but I hadn’t.

In 2022, Dogecoin’s rally came again.

Honestly, I initially didn’t see meme coins as promising. But the market doesn’t follow logic — if it rises, it rises. I hesitated for a few days, then finally jumped in.

This time, I learned to be "smart" — I set a take-profit.

As a result, my account grew from a few hundred thousand to over a million.

A million dollars is already an astronomical figure for ordinary people. I started to get carried away again. I thought the reason I lost ten million last time was because of Bitcoin, but this time it was Dogecoin — different.

Then I made a decision: go short.

I told myself, this time I’ve got the right direction, I want to double my profits again.

But the market gave me a loud slap. After I shorted, Dogecoin surged again, and my short position was precisely liquidated.

Over a hundred thousand, gone again.

That day, I didn’t sit in front of my computer dazed like in 2018. I threw my phone on the ground. Because I knew, this wasn’t the market’s problem — it was mine.

The following years: the same script, different numbers

Do you think I would stop here? No.

In the following years, I experienced several more big market moves. SOL, ETH, BRC-20… each time, I made decent profits, sometimes hundreds of thousands, sometimes over a million.

But what was the ending? All ended in losses.

Either liquidation or holding through the decline, only to see all profits wiped out, then losing the principal again.

I kept reviewing and found a suffocating pattern:

Every time, I was making money. Every time, I didn’t withdraw. Every time, the market would take back my profits, including the principal.

This isn’t luck — it’s human nature.

It’s not that I lack the ability to make money, it’s that I lack the ability to keep it.

Finally, I understood one thing:

After all these years, after so many liquidations, I finally realized a truth so simple it’s almost laughable:

In the crypto world, making money isn’t the skill — withdrawing is.

If you make ten million but don’t withdraw, that ten million isn’t really yours. It’s just a number on the K-line chart, and the market can take it back at any time.

If you make one million, withdraw eighty thousand, even if you get liquidated later, you still have eighty thousand. Your life won’t collapse, your mindset won’t spiral out of control, and you’ll have another chance.

But if you don’t withdraw a single cent, what’s the difference between that and gambling? Worse — because at least in gambling, you know who the house is. In crypto, you are the biggest house yourself, and your opponent is your own greed.

Written in front of $60,000

Now Bitcoin has fallen back to around $60,000, and many are asking me whether to buy the dip.

My answer: Yes, but this time I will withdraw.

Not because I suddenly became smarter, but because I’ve been scared into it.

The ten million in 2017, the one million in 2022, plus countless small profits and big losses in between — these numbers could buy me several houses. But now? My bank account doesn’t have the numbers it should.

So if you ask me, what’s the most important lesson in crypto?

It’s not how to pick coins, not how to read K-lines, not how to leverage.

It’s: after making money, immediately, unconditionally, withdraw.

Locking in profits — these four words are worth millions.

It took me seven years to truly learn this. I hope you won’t have to pay such a high tuition fee like I did.