Account balance fluctuates around 180,000. I have been staring at the screen for the eighth year. I still remember when I first entered the market with only 50,000 yuan, and I never thought I would make it to today. The most profound lesson I’ve learned over the years is not how to grow quickly, but how to survive amidst risks.

The harsh winter of 2018 completely changed me. Within three months, my account dropped from 800,000 to 180,000. That blow left me with a sense of helplessness that I can still feel today. At that moment, I suddenly understood what is truly important — in the crypto market, survival always comes first.

Now, the 50,000 principal has grown to 3 million. Even in this year’s highly volatile market, I’ve kept the drawdown within 12%. It’s not because I have any secret or insider information, but simply because I strictly follow a few simple yet ruthless rules.

**Rule 1: The principal always comes first**

The most common mistake among beginners is going all-in. I’ve seen too many people with the mindset of "this time I will turn things around," only to lose their principal in the end. When I first started, I was also very aggressive, but failing in my startup taught me to be cautious. Back then, with only 50,000 yuan, I spent an entire week researching before I dared to enter. I finally decided to only invest in mainstream coins and stay away from projects with novel concepts.

When altcoins took off in 2021, a friend kept urging me to buy a certain "metaverse concept coin," claiming insider information that it could triple. I looked through the white paper, which was full of logical flaws. In the end, I only used 20,000 yuan of spare money to test the waters. When it rose by 50%, I immediately withdrew my principal, and let the rest ride. What happened to that coin later? You can guess without me saying.

**The key is proper fund management. Don’t overbet on a single project or strategy. There will always be opportunities in the market, but if the principal is gone, no matter how many opportunities there are, they’re useless.**