Seven years of navigating the crypto world: from hitting rock bottom at 60,000 to 5 million, risk control is my faith

In the spring of 2018, my small restaurant went bankrupt. The dream of entrepreneurship was completely shattered at that moment, leaving only 60,000 yuan in my bank account — my only lifeline. The landlord kept knocking for rent every few days, and my parents’ eyes were full of disappointment. I curled up in the rented apartment, scrolling through my phone when I suddenly saw a Bitcoin news story — that message pulled me out of the depths of despair.

I hesitated for seven days on a major exchange, repeatedly confirming the trading process. In the end, I went all in, risking all my savings — 6,000 yuan each, buying 9 Bitcoins. At that time, I had only one thought: I must turn this around.

The next two years felt like a roller coaster. The 2018 bull market suddenly arrived, and my account balance skyrocketed to 900,000. Watching the constantly changing balance on the screen, I was so excited I didn’t sleep all night, even starting to fantasize about buying a house and a car.

Then 2019 came. The crash happened without warning, and my account shrank straight down to 180,000 — back to square one overnight. That feeling of falling from the clouds made me truly understand what “paper wealth” means, and I tasted the price of greed.

What truly changed me was in 2020. After experiencing several major fluctuations, I completely changed my temper. No longer chasing gains or panic selling, I focused the remaining funds on mining and DeFi, managing them slowly like farming.

I developed three bottom lines: First, capital preservation always comes first — take out the principal after earning 50%; second, only do what I understand — avoid whitepapers I don’t understand; third, strictly control my position — allocate 60% of funds to Bitcoin and Ethereum as ballast.

In 2021, I finished reading Layer2 technical documents half a year early. Seeing an opportunity, I heavily invested in it, and since then, I never made the mistake of overtrading.

Over three years, the account balance gradually grew to 5 million. Not only did I pay off the debts from my startup, but I also bought a big house for my parents. My deepest takeaway after seven years is: the most valuable thing in crypto isn’t advanced technical analysis, but patience to survive. Earning slowly is more reliable than getting rich overnight, and not losing money is already making money.

I’ve organized my trading notes and practical experience over the years. Welcome to exchange ideas — I hope it helps you avoid some pitfalls.