The numbers on the screen jumped indifferently, and at that moment I realized: what is truly scarce in the crypto world is not the opportunity to get rich quickly, but the wisdom to survive.

On that sleepless night in 2020, I watched helplessly as my account shrank by more than 80% in just a few hours. The keyboard was rattling, my fingers were cold, yet nothing could change the situation. The plans I had been making just three days ago, those promises to my family, instantly turned into a fleeting illusion.

In my seven years in the crypto world, I have witnessed too many extreme stories. Some people gambled 20,000 on altcoins and turned it into 5 million in half a month, then flaunted their private jets on social media; I have also seen friends go bankrupt due to leverage, with their wives holding their children in despair. The crypto world is never short of legends of overnight wealth, what is scarce are ordinary people who can stand up after their dreams shatter.

From three liquidations to finding balance again, what I learned is not more advanced technical analysis, but three survival bottom lines bought with the price of blood.

**Rule 1: Leverage is a noose, not wings**

When I first entered this crypto world, I was also captivated by the saying "Fortune favors the bold." Using 20x leverage for the first time, I happened to catch a small bull market, making hundreds of thousands in a single day. It felt like riding a rocket, and I was confident that I was a born trading genius, splurging in high-end places and painting a picture of financial freedom in three years to my friends.

The beautiful dream was shattered by the sudden change in regulatory policies. The market plummeted across the board, and accounts were cut in half within two hours. Leverage amplifies not only profits but also your ignorance of risk. At that moment, I understood a hard truth: leverage is always a double-edged sword, and most people cannot handle this knife.

The market will not change direction because of your predictions; even the strongest trends of ETH and BTC may suddenly reverse. Leveraging is like going all-in at a gambling table; the thrill of winning once will make you forget the reality that losing once means losing everything. I now tell everyone who is still dreaming: if you need leverage to make money, it means you haven't really understood this market yet.