Late at night, I received a frantic call. A friend on the other end was rambling: "I only invested 10,000 USDT with 20x leverage, and it was a 5% pullback before I got liquidated. How could this happen?"

Looking at his trading records, I immediately saw the core issue—95% of his funds were fully leveraged, and he hadn’t set any stop-loss. Situations like this are common in trading markets. Many people interpret "full position" as "more resistant to drops," but this is the biggest misconception.

**Position Size Ratio Is the True Life-and-Death Line**

Take a 1,000 USDT account as an example. If you use 900 USDT to open a 10x leverage position, a mere 5% market move against you will wipe out your funds. But think differently—using only 100 USDT with the same 10x leverage requires a 50% move to be liquidated. The friend’s problem was exactly this—placing too many chips on a single bet, leaving no buffer when the market jitters.

**Three Iron Laws to Extend Your Trading Survival Cycle**

1. Keep single-position size within 20% of total funds.
For a 10,000 USDT account, this means a maximum of 2,000 USDT per trade. Even if you make a wrong call and set a 10% stop-loss, you only lose 200 USDT, keeping your principal intact and maintaining future opportunities.

2. Limit single-loss to no more than 3% of total position.
For example, with 2,000 USDT at 10x leverage, setting a 1.5% stop-loss results in a 300 USDT loss, which is exactly 3% of the account. Several consecutive losses like this won’t break you.

3. During market oscillations, stay on the sidelines; take profits when the trend is favorable.
Only participate when the trend is confirmed and key technical levels are broken. Even in promising sideways markets, learn to let go. Once in a position, stick to discipline—don’t add to positions based on emotions. This is the best protection for your principal.

**The Essence of Full Position Is Not a Gambling Tool**

The original purpose of full position mode was to reserve fault tolerance for volatility—provided it’s combined with light position sizing and strict risk control. A follower once kept blowing up his account every month, but after adopting this strategy, his initial 5,000 USDT grew to 80,000 USDT in three months. He told me something I remember well: "I used to think full position was gambling my life, but now I realize it’s actually about surviving more steadily."

The rules of this market are never about who earns the fastest, but who can survive the longest. Reduce directional gambling, and focus more on precise position management. Slow isn’t a disadvantage; slow is the fastest way to stay steady.

Opportunities will always come, but if your principal is gone, you won’t be able to seize any of them.