In the years when I first entered the market, I also jumped in when Bitcoin broke through its previous high, and the market enthusiasm could burn a person half to death. I only had 10,000 yuan but was dreaming of changing my fate. The result was a harsh reality check in the first year—buying five different coins at the same time, staring at the app every day, and not noticing the project team’s announcement of跑路, with my principal directly halved.

Later, during the bear market, I held full positions and stubbornly endured, with my account shrinking by as much as 80%. During that time, I really wanted to delete the app and completely leave the circle.

But I survived. Looking back, it’s not about finding some secret, but about lessons learned that formed a few rules—veterans don’t necessarily earn more, but all of them got wiped out by these iron laws. Beginners follow these, and at least they can reduce losses by half.

**The first deadly mistake: Spreading your bullets too thin**

That 10,000 yuan was divided into 5 parts, 2,000 yuan each for different coins. The gains didn’t keep up with the pace, and the losses hit every one. It seemed like risk diversification, but actually, it trapped me. A person only has so much energy, and managing good and bad news for 5 projects is impossible. Once, I saw news that a certain coin’s team disbanded a day late, and it had already hit the limit down.

Now, the rule has changed: for principal within 100,000 yuan, only hold down 1-2 coins.

For example, I used to stubbornly hold SOL, not just following the trend blindly, but researching ecosystem progress, developer activity, and on-chain data. When it rose 30%, I wouldn’t panic because I knew the foundation of that coin. During a bear market, I only keep at most 5% of my position to test the waters. If I lose, I immediately withdraw, never stubbornly hold on.

Diversified investment can indeed prevent risk, but over-diversification becomes laissez-faire—ultimately, you can’t make money, and when losing, you can’t quickly cut losses.

**The second deadly mistake: Greed can eat up all gains**

The most painful was Dogecoin. From $0.1 to $0.3, I didn’t sell. I was thinking of doubling my money, but it immediately fell back to $0.08, and all unrealized gains disappeared. Many people have stumbled in this greed at the “last point.”

Statistics show that after profits exceed 50%, there’s over a 50% chance of giving back most of the gains within 30 days—not because the coin is bad, but because greed automatically freezes your rational judgment.

Now, my take-profit rules are very strict. When the increase reaches the target, I sell in batches, not chasing the last penny. The same applies to stop-loss. If the floating loss exceeds the expected ratio, I cut immediately—no charts, no community voices, no fantasies of rebounds. Discipline has saved my life.