Every time I see the numbers on the market fluctuate, I think of that sleepless night three years ago—when 400,000 vanished from my account out of nowhere. That lesson came with a hefty price.

Some time ago, a friend of mine confided in me, telling how he invested all his three years' savings. At the craziest point, his account doubled four times, but now? The principal is gone, and he's collapsing in front of the K-line at 3 a.m. That moment, I saw my past self years ago.

The hardest question in the crypto world isn't actually how to make money—making money is the easier part. The real challenge is what happens after you earn it—you have to keep it. I've seen too many people mesmerized by the numbers on the screen, forgetting a simple truth: if you haven't withdrawn it, it's just a number. Like dreaming of winning a big prize, only to wake up and find your wallet still empty.

**The Bloody Stories Amid Market Fluctuations**

I have a childhood friend named A Zhe. During the 2021 market rally, he invested 20,000 yuan and within less than half a year, it grew to 600,000. I seriously told him, "Take out 200,000 to put in a fixed deposit, and the rest can be gambled with—you won't lose."

He laughed confidently, "Bro, you're too conservative. One more surge, and I’ll have enough for a down payment."

And then? When it dropped from 600,000 to 400,000, he said it was a normal correction; when it fell to 200,000, he started swiping his credit card to top up; in the end, his account was left with just over 8,000 yuan, unable to even pay his credit card bills. Now, when we meet, he avoids me.

Ironically, I went through the same madness. Last year, my investment portfolio once surged to 1.2 million. Every morning, still half-asleep, I’d start calculating: "If it goes up a little more, I’ll buy a new computer; if it goes up a little more, I’ll take the whole family abroad." Looking back now, that state was no different from gamblers in a casino betting on red with wild eyes.

Until that late night, when mainstream assets suddenly plunged— that was my true moment of enlightenment. The prosperity on the screen, as long as it’s not secured in your pocket, is never truly yours.