“After I had $300k in debt, I used contracts to get my life back.”

Many people, when they enter the crypto market, carry a dream of changing their lives. Some aren’t willing to earn a fixed salary for the rest of their lives. Some want to escape real-world pressure. And some simply see others making money and hope they can seize an opportunity too. But anyone who has truly experienced the market knows that crypto trading has never been a simple wealth-multiplier—it’s more like an exam on cognition, mindset, and human nature. Some people grow through the market; others pay the price for greed.

Today we’re sharing the story of a fan who is 31 years old. He used to work as a real estate sales agent. He went through a peak in income, then a low point with debts—finally pulling his life back onto track little by little by rebuilding his trading system.

He said: “In the past, I thought the biggest failure in life was not being able to make money. Only after going through debt did I realize that what’s truly terrifying isn’t falling—it’s not knowing why you fell in the first place.”

During the years he worked in real estate sales, he saw all kinds of life changes. When the market was good, some people made tens of thousands from closing a single home deal. Others, because the market shifted, had months with no income. Working in sales made him understand early on that no income source is ever permanently stable. When he was young, he also worked hard, hoping to change his life through his own abilities. With his communication skills and years of accumulated customer resources, when the market was good, his income wasn’t low—making tens of thousands per month was also common. But the biggest characteristic of the real estate industry is that it fluctuates clearly. When the market environment changes, income drops quickly.

In 2020, pressure on the real estate industry kept increasing, and he started rethinking his future. He didn’t want his life to be completely tied to an uncertain industry, so he began looking for new opportunities. Around that time, he first came into contact with the crypto market. At first, he didn’t think about getting rich by trading coins; he only approached it with a learning mindset to understand this new field. In the beginning, he even felt that digital assets were far from him, and he didn’t know whether this industry had real value. But as he kept learning, he realized that behind blockchain there’s more than just price movement—there’s also technological development, ecosystem building, and market demand.

So he started investing. His first real “breakthrough” came from two directions. In the real world, he used the network he had built through years of sales experience to do some side projects to add extra income, letting his principal accumulate slowly. In the crypto market, he didn’t chase popular narratives from the start; instead, he chose mainstream assets he could understand. As the market rose, his account also saw growth. From small capital to a clearly larger asset base—that was the first time he felt that ordinary people could change their income structure by improving their cognition.

He said: “Before, making money depended on meeting clients nonstop and closing deals nonstop. But that time, I realized that when your cognition changes, the way wealth grows also changes.”

However, many people go through a phase after they start making money—where they begin to overestimate themselves. When he first started investing, he was very cautious: researching projects, controlling position sizing, and considering the worst-case scenarios. But as his account kept turning profitable, his mindset slowly started to change. He began to feel that he had mastered some patterns, and he believed he understood the market better than when he first entered.

Especially when he saw some people on social platforms showing off their contract trading profits, he felt unbalanced. Others could earn tens of thousands in a day; others could double in a few days—so why did he still have to accumulate slowly? This shift in psychology led him to start touching futures/contract trading.

During his first attempt, he felt a completely different kind of stimulation. Compared with spot trading that gradually trends upward, contract trading magnifies returns at a much faster pace. After the first few trades, he really did make money. As the account number rose, his confidence kept growing. He started to believe he had found a faster way to make money, and he also began to think that those who had lost money in the past only lost because they hadn’t learned the method.

But the biggest danger in the market is that when things go well, it makes people forget about risk. As his profits increased, he raised his position size, increased leverage, and started paying less attention to risk. Previously, when trading, he thought more about how to accumulate over the long term; later, he focused more on how to make money quickly. Previously, he would plan in advance; later, he started trusting his own judgment.

Until one time the market suddenly reversed—prices dropped quickly and his account began showing losses. Under normal trading logic, he should have cut losses and exited in time. But at that moment, he didn’t want to accept the mistake. He thought it was just a temporary fluctuation. If he held on, the price would definitely come back. So he added to his position for the first time. After losses expanded, he continued adding. He kept telling himself: “As long as the market rebounds, everything will come back.”

But the market didn’t follow his plan.

In the end, he didn’t only lose the money he had previously made—he also ended up with debts of $300k because he kept adding to positions.

That period was the hardest time of his life. During the day, he still had to deal with customers and keep his normal work routine. At night, when he got home, he couldn’t sleep properly. The losses on his account and the pressure in real life made him experience, for the first time, what failure really means.

But it was also during that period that he started to rethink trading.

He said: “In the past, I thought losing money was because the market wasn’t good. Later I realized the real thing that defeated me was my emotions. I wasn’t losing to the market—I was losing to the version of myself that wanted to turn things around quickly.”

After that, he stopped trading blindly and began relearning trading. He整理ed all his past losing orders, going through them one by one and reviewing why he entered, why he added positions, and why he hadn’t cut losses. He discovered that the most important thing in trading isn’t prediction—it’s risk management.

After restarting, he set new trading rules for himself. First, control position size. Previously, when he saw an opportunity, he would think about how much to put in so he could make more. Now he thinks about whether, if he’s wrong in his judgment, he can afford to take that loss. He understood that market opportunities are always there, but principal only exists once. Second, stick to stop-losses. In the past, he thought cutting losses meant admitting defeat; now he knows stop-loss is only part of trading. No one can guarantee being right every time, but you can control the impact caused by errors. Third, learn to wait. In the past, he wanted to trade every day, believing that not trading meant missing opportunities. Later, he realized that most mature traders spend most of their time waiting, and only strike when they are confident they understand the setup.

He started reducing leverage. He no longer focused on how much he could make in a single day, but on whether he could stay stable over the long term. Every day, he reviewed both the market and his own emotions, recorded what went wrong in each trade, and kept adjusting his approach. Slowly, he regained his trading rhythm.

After working hard for a period of time, he not only paid off his debts, but also rebuilt a stable source of income. Today, he no longer treats contracts as gambling tools; he treats them as a trading method that requires discipline and experience. At the same time, he continues to develop his career, making investing a part of his income structure.

He said: “In the past, I wanted to prove myself with just one market move. Now I want to rely on long-term accumulation, so I can give myself more options.”

In the future, he hopes to keep improving his investment abilities while also developing his business, so life becomes more stable and stable.

In fact, many people who enter the crypto market go through similar processes. At first they think there are many opportunities. After they start making money, they feel like they’re great. Only after losses do they truly begin to grow. The market doesn’t reward impulsive people, and it doesn’t reward those who only think about turning things around quickly. The people who can go far are those who, after experiencing failure, are willing to review, willing to change, and willing to improve themselves.

In the end, trading isn’t about who makes money the fastest—it’s about who can stay in the market for the long term. Position control protects your bottom line; stop-loss discipline prevents one mistake from wiping everything out; emotion management is the key that determines how high a trader can ultimately go.

If you’re also exploring the crypto market right now—having experienced profits and losses, or currently looking for a trading rhythm that fits you—feel free to come and exchange ideas together. In our team, there are many ordinary traders. They have also made mistakes and been educated by the market, but through continuous reviewing and summarizing, they gradually build a trading system that belongs to them.

There’s no fantasy of getting rich overnight, and there are no unrealistic promises. What we have is more communication about market logic, and together improving trading cognition, so you can walk more steadily in this market.

Because what truly changes your life has never been a single lucky market move. It’s the ability you still have to start over after going through a low point.