Seven years ago, on that late night, a single candlestick changed all my perceptions of this market.

$ETH shot up from 1800 to 2400 in one go, and I threw all my funds—$3000—into it. My finger hovered over the buy button, and my heartbeat was completely hijacked by the market. Every surge made me dream a little more.

Over the next seven days, I was completely floating. Unrealized gains approached $6000, but I ruthlessly dismissed the take-profit alerts. The only thought in my mind was: I must wait until $3000 to sell, after all, mainstream coins are resilient.

During that period, my life was entirely dominated by my phone screen. When friends invited me for hotpot, I declined. When I couldn’t sleep at 3 or 4 a.m., the first thing I did was check the market trends. I truly felt that this money was already in my pocket.

Then, the Federal Reserve’s rate hike landed.

$ETH plummeted straight from 2400 to 1900 in less than half a day. I watched helplessly as unrealized gains turned into hail, melting away one after another. I kept telling myself—mainstream coins will rebound; this is just a normal correction. But the account figures don’t lie. In the end, I saw the balance return to $3000, as if that wild ride never happened.

Sitting on the floor, nibbling on cold leftover bread, I finally understood a truth: no coin’s resilience can match human greed.

I paid tuition more than once. When NFT prices rose from $15,000 to $32,000, I didn’t sell, and in the end, I had to cut my losses. I traded $BTC in swings, deleting stop-loss orders out of stubbornness, and ended up halving my account. Back then, I didn’t really not understand the logic; I just refused to accept it.

It was only after being repeatedly ground down by the market that I gradually developed three lifesaving habits.

**The first habit is diversification.**

I no longer believe in putting all my eggs in one basket. I always keep some $BTC in a cold wallet—just hold it there; then allocate some funds to focus on mainstream coins like $ETH and $SOL; most importantly, always keep some cash in my account as a buffer. No matter how fierce the market, I can avoid full positions.

Full position means cutting off your own way out, and that’s unnecessary.

**The second habit is realizing profits.**

Last year, when $ETH rose from 1900 to 2500, the paper gains looked great—over a hundred thousand U. I didn’t get attached to the illusions on the screen; I took out a big chunk and stored it safely. When it later dropped to 2100, I wasn’t even a little nervous.

That moment made me realize: the numbers on the exchange are just illusions of market sentiment. The only truly yours are the parts transferred to your wallet and bank account. Numbers can deceive, but physical assets won’t.

**The third habit is executing stop-losses.**

When a single loss hits 2%, I sell; if the monthly drawdown reaches 5%, I stop trading altogether. I used to believe mainstream coins had natural resistance to drops, until I stubbornly held on and lost $3000—then that illusion was shattered.

Now, executing stop-losses is as natural to me as breathing. Small mistakes shouldn’t be ignored—they will eventually become big problems. Cutting losses in time is the best protection for oneself.

The miracle stories in crypto are never absent, but what’s truly rare is: after climbing out of the bottom, still maintaining a clear head.

If you’re also exploring this path now, or want to share your risk management insights, let’s chat.