Having experienced five years of ups and downs in the crypto market, I have seen too many people wipe out their accounts from 300,000 in a single night. Those moments all share a common feature—the leverage multiplier was set too high.

As a trading analyst, I myself have fallen into this trap. Clearly correct about the trend, but because I used 15x leverage, I was liquidated the moment the market moved against me. When I saw the zero-balance notification at 2 a.m., I wasn’t thinking about how to recover, but about how ridiculous my five years of arrogance were.

After that experience, I began to seriously study the true risk mechanisms of leverage trading. The data is sobering: over 80% of liquidation positions had leverage ratios above 2x. In other words, the moment you open a high-leverage position, you’ve already pushed yourself to the edge of a cliff. With 10x leverage, a 2% market reversal is enough to trigger liquidation.

A trader from Zhejiang once told me a phrase I still remember: "Leverage is like choosing stocks, but using leverage is actually testing how well you know yourself." I clearly failed that test.

The contract market is essentially a zero-sum game. The rules designed by exchanges and market makers are meant to harvest traders who are unstable, have improper stop-loss settings, or have broken mental states during market fluctuations. The opponents you don’t see are often market manipulators.

So now I emphasize to all newcomers: surviving longer is a thousand times more important than making quick profits. Stories of overnight riches are alluring, but those who truly survive in this market are the ones who prioritize risk control first. Leverage is not a magic wand; it’s just a tool that amplifies both your gains and your risks. If used poorly, it will turn around and wipe you out.