Everyone in the crypto world knows that some post screenshots of profits at 3 a.m. claiming to be "gurus," while others have experienced the pain of cutting losses and leaving the market. To survive, it's not about luck or news; it's about a trading discipline that has been repeatedly validated by many participants—simple and brutal, yet fighting against the most deadly human greed.

**Funds must stay alive for compound interest to begin**

The most tragic stories in the crypto space often unfold like this: someone invests all their house money into a new coin, feels like a genius with a 5% gain, but loses sleep over a 3% dip, and finally exits with almost nothing. The common point in these tragedies isn't choosing the wrong coin but risking too much capital.

Those who truly survive follow a strict rule: **Divide total funds into 5 parts, and only use 1 part for each entry**. Sounds conservative? The benefit is that even if you make 5 consecutive mistakes, your total loss won't exceed 10% of your principal—most people don't get a second chance to recover after 5 errors, but this method gives you that chance.

Two hard rules support this: if a single loss reaches 10%, exit unconditionally (reject the luck of "waiting and seeing"), and if the total daily drawdown exceeds 2%, stop immediately and review. This isn't cowardice; it's a firewall against emotional trading. Surviving in a bear market provides the capital to outperform others in a bull market.

**Hold your hand before trend confirmation**

The biggest mistake during a downtrend is catching falling knives—thinking that the dip is the bottom. During an uptrend, people want to buy the top, fearing missing out on gains. As a result, some buy halfway up the mountain, while others take profits and watch the main rally be eaten up by others.

The correct approach is to wait for clear trend signals. For example, in major coins like ETH, observe whether the MA20 (20-day moving average) turns upward after declining, or if the price breaks through previous resistance with increased volume—these are signals to enter, not based on gut feeling but on technical patterns.

Once the trend is confirmed, be brave to hold your position. Using a trailing stop to lock in profits is smarter: if ETH rises 10%, move the stop-loss up by 5%, turning unrealized gains into guaranteed profits while allowing further upside. This way, you avoid exiting too early and missing big moves, yet also prevent large reversals from eroding profits.

The last bottom line: in a long-term downtrend, better to stay in cash than gamble on a rebound. Such rebounds are often false breakouts; missing them can lead to being trapped. Protect your ammunition and wait for the true trend reversal.

Essentially, trading in the crypto space isn't about fighting the market but fighting your own human nature. Those who make money are often not because they predict perfectly, but because they survive the longest.