$BTC ‌$AKE ‌With the final $2,300, I put in $2,000. The outcome was exactly what everyone expected: it went to zero. I’m a contract trading newbie. During the time I was at home after leaving my job, I kept using a demo account to practice, experiencing countless runs of going to zero. Every day I had to reset it, sometimes several times. I repeated this patiently for more than a month—until the beginning of the month. I spent two days turning the demo account’s $60k into $1 million. In that moment, I arrogantly thought I’d figured it out.

On the 15th, I got my last month’s salary—$5,600 total. I split it into two parts: $2,600 for everyday living expenses while I go work in the factory next, and $3,000 as my original trading capital. At 7 p.m., the salary hit. I ate by 7:30 p.m., then couldn’t wait to deposit $3,000. After trading all night, I lost it—confused and clueless.

The next day, I got stuck in indecision: should I deposit another $2,000? I was making excuses to myself—first time, I definitely wasn’t in the right state to play on a demo; I didn’t have real trading experience. This time I would for sure be able to do it. Even if I made $200 profit every day, I’d withdraw $100. Then I wouldn’t have to live so tightly anymore. So I convinced myself. I didn’t even place many trades before the account was left with only the final $280. At that moment, my whole head was blank. Lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, I watched for a few minutes. Then I decided to go all-in—no stop-loss set, leave it to fate.

Unexpectedly, I got a 130% gain—more than doubled. After taking profit, I opened another trade and made over 80% as well. This time, Lady Luck stood on my side. I knew it was just luck. After calming down, I somehow found the feeling from playing on the demo account again. I entered my own trading “system.” Almost every single trade ended up profiting and taking profit. After a night-long battle, by 9 a.m. the next morning, my principal had reached $4,800—exactly 20 times.

I admit, at that point I got carried away, and heaven punishes every proud person too. Because of my arrogance and inner conceit, one trade seriously went wrong, and my funds pulled back by 30%. From that moment on, everything changed—zero, that was the end.