The path of the crypto market has never been about shortcuts. To survive longer and better here, it's not luck that matters, but the discipline to withstand volatility and control greed.

I am a living example myself. Seven years ago, I entered the crypto world with 1800 yuan, with no background and no information sources, just a rookie obsessively studying candlestick charts. In two years, I grew my account from zero to 5 million. I have seen too many stories of overnight riches and witnessed countless people losing everything in an instant. I almost became one of the latter.

Through these years of trials and tribulations, I truly understand: technical analysis is just a stepping stone; real competitiveness lies in mindset and disciplined execution. Here are a few trading rules I share with you, forged with real money.

**Don’t rush to run during rapid rises and slow declines**
I learned this lesson the hard way. Once, Bitcoin surged 10% within a few hours. I thought a big trend was coming, but then it started to gradually decline. Over a week, it kept falling, and I was terrified, thinking it was going to crash, so I hurried to close my position. Little did I know, it was just a shakeout, and I missed out on a bigger rally that followed.

This kind of rapid rise followed by slow decline is actually a manipulation by the market makers. They use this pattern to create panic and force retail investors to give up their chips. True top signals often look different: a violent surge over a short period, then a sharp cliff—this is a clear sign of the market makers offloading.

How to distinguish? The key is whether the decline after the rapid rise is accompanied by shrinking trading volume. If volume gradually decreases, it indicates the big players are still holding their positions—that’s a shakeout, not distribution.

**Don’t rush to buy the dip during rapid declines and slow rises**
I remember March 12, 2020, very clearly. The entire crypto market plummeted, Bitcoin was halved in a single day. The subsequent market was very strange—although there was a rebound, it was very slow and kept getting suppressed. Many thought the bottom was in and started to buy the dip. But then another deep correction came, and those who bought the dip got trapped.

This is also a market maker’s tactic. A quick drop is meant to hit stop-losses, then they slowly pull the price back to attract buy-the-dip traders, and then continue to dump. So don’t be fooled by slow rebounds. The real bottom is often accompanied by violent moves—sharp drops and rises—not this sluggish bounce.