That summer in 2019, I experienced a dream-like 58 days.

Starting with 300,000 as principal, I rolled it up to 3.89 million. Every day, I’d wake up and watch the numbers in my account jump, feeling like I was the one chosen by God. I posted a screenshot of Bitcoin’s soaring K-line in my WeChat Moments, with the caption: “Making money these days is easier than drinking water.” Got a bunch of likes below.

I thought I had found the switch to wealth.

Three months later, Bitcoin started plunging from its $20,000 top. At that time, I was still adding leverage. Just like that, 3.42 million evaporated in contracts, and in the end, there was only 50,000 left in the account, barely enough to pay the fees. The screen popped up with four big red words: “Liquidation completed.” I sat in front of the computer in a daze for half an hour. That night, I understood one thing: luck comes fast, and goes just as fast.

I've seen it all these years. During bull markets, everyone’s a “believer,” but when the bear market hits, they all become “bag holders at the top.” There’s a buddy I know—back in 2021, he mortgaged his house and went all in on Dogecoin, made it 8x but couldn’t bring himself to cash out, ended up getting liquidated and even lost his house deed.

Later, I figured it out: to survive three cycles of bull and bear markets in this space, it’s not about god-level trading, it’s about the ability to survive.

I quit gambling. Now I divide my positions into three parts: the core position only holds Bitcoin and Ethereum, the swing position does grid trading to earn small profits, and the speculative position occasionally plays with altcoins—just a little. Some say I’m as conservative as an old man, but this conservativeness cost me more than three million in tuition fees.

Also, don’t trust exchanges too much. In 2020, a second-tier platform ran off with funds. I had already moved 80% of my assets into a cold wallet, so I wasn’t affected. Remember, coins only truly belong to you when they’re in your own wallet.

Every day, there are people shouting about “insider info” and “100x coins” in the market, but those who really make money are the ones who can endure and are willing to wait. My account climbed back up from 50,000 to two million—not some legendary story, just following the rules and controlling myself. Making money fast isn’t real skill; holding onto it is what counts as winning.

Now I don’t chase the dream of getting rich overnight. Back then, I was fumbling in the dark alone, getting battered and bruised; now I’ve figured out a bit of the game, and I have a lamp in my hand to light the road ahead.