After spending a long time in the crypto world, you'll hear a question countless people are asking: "How much do I need to earn before I can fully cash out?"

At first glance, this seems like a very luxurious problem, but it’s actually the harsh reality of the crypto scene. Many people are not short of opportunities to make money; what they lack is the calmness to take profits at the right moment. The result? The chips accumulated through hard work are all lost in the next correction.

I remember back in 2019, a friend of mine invested $20,000 and in just three months, he turned it into $300,000. We kept calling him: "Bro, you can take it now." His answer was always the same: "Wait, let’s go straight to $1 million!" Six months later, his account was left with just over $10,000. He couldn’t even hold onto his principal.

The reason I remember this story so clearly isn’t just because I saw others do it, but because I experienced it myself. During the 2021 market rally, my account once surged to $1.8 million. Every day, I stared at that number, with one thought in my mind: "Double it again and I’ll cash out." But the market never follows the script. When I realized it, my account was down to $400,000. That period completely wrecked my sleep, and every night I kept asking myself: If I had taken profits earlier, would my life have been different?

But regrets can’t change anything. That lesson taught me a harsh truth: in the crypto world, the final victory or defeat is never determined by how high your account peaks, but by how much real cash you can withdraw in the end.

Some people in the market shout every day about "financial freedom," but they haven’t even learned the basic principle of "taking profits when it’s good." After that, I set a strict rule for myself: when my position triples, I immediately take half of the profits. No conditions, no excuses. Only then can I avoid being hostage to the numbers on my account and survive longer in this market.

Someone might ask: "So, how much do I need to earn to be satisfied?" This question is actually asked backwards. Money is never enough; there’s never enough "enough" in the world. True satisfaction comes from being able to convert your gains into reality before the market pushes you into a corner.

There’s a popular saying in crypto: The last person to survive and laugh is never the one trying to exit at the top. Why? Because that’s just a fantasy. Those who actually make money are the ones who choose to get off halfway up the mountain. They don’t greed, wait, or deceive themselves.

Crypto markets are highly volatile, and opportunity and risk are always two sides of the same coin. Instead of obsessing daily over how to hit that "perfect number," it’s better to understand how much fluctuation you can tolerate and when to take profits. This isn’t conservatism; it’s the wisdom to survive in the jungle.