Back when I only had 2,000U left, I even felt embarrassed to mention it—after all, in crypto, people talk about tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of principal flying around. Who would care about such pocket change?

But three months later, when my account showed 60,000U, I suddenly understood something: turning things around is never about the size of your principal, but whether you dare to fight your own greed to the end.

Honestly, before I held this 2,000U, I had just suffered a big loss. During that time, just seeing the candlestick chart made me anxious, and my fingers would tremble for ages hovering over the order button. Later, I forced myself to figure out one thing: either keep gambling on luck and wait to lose it all, or play by the rules and stay alive.

I chose the latter. The method was as basic as it gets, but it worked.

How did I do it exactly? I split the 2,000U directly into 5 parts, with each 400U serving as an independent ammo stash. Each time I opened a position, I only used one part, the remaining four stayed untouched—this isn’t being conservative, it’s giving myself a way out.

Then I stuck strictly to risk/reward ratios: stop-loss locked at 3%, so the most I’d lose per trade was 12U; take-profit set at 6%-10%, meaning I’d pull out after making about 24U. Some people think this return is stingy, but think about it: if you lose less and survive longer, that’s how you build momentum.

Last month, I looked back at my trading records: I took a total of 70 trades, with a success rate just over 60%. I took losses on 28 stop-loss exits for a total loss of 336U, and banked profits on 42 take-profit exits for 1,470U. In the end, I netted 1,134U, doubling my principal. See? Making money isn’t that mysterious.

I managed to stick to this strategy thanks to three iron rules:

First, always set a stop-loss on every trade. No matter how much it hurts, never hold on hoping for a reversal—the market won’t turn back just because you feel bad.

Second, take your profits when your target is hit. Don’t expect to catch all the profit, just take your share and move on.

Third, don’t chase the market blindly. I only trade breakout patterns I understand; if I don’t get the setup, I stay out.

I’ve seen too many people fail at position management: they get the direction right but blow up because they went all-in; they make 50% but refuse to cash out, then end up cutting losses at minus 20%; or they stubbornly hold against the trend until their account is wiped out. They talk about making a comeback, but their actions are just giving money away.

I never bet on being right about direction; I only bet on whether I can strictly follow my rules.

If you only have a few thousand U as starting capital right now and want to move up, remember these points: don’t trade based on gut feeling, and don’t jump on every hot trend you see. I’ve seen plenty of people start with just a few hundred U and, thanks to similar position discipline, make over 10,000 a month—not because they’re lucky, but because they know how to stay alive.

Crypto has never been a place where having little capital means no chance. People with a method can take off with 1,000U; people without rules can burn through 100,000U and be left with nothing. The difference is whether you’re trading with your brain or gambling with your emotions.