Seeing so many people rushing into the crypto market chasing dreams of getting rich overnight, only to lose their principal in the end, I truly feel deeply. My sister’s experience, to be honest, is a living lesson of climbing out of a deep pit.

I remember very clearly an afternoon last year, she was standing on the balcony for a long time, then started deleting trading apps. Her hands were trembling the whole time. After deleting them, she directly threw her phone onto the sofa, and the screen cracked like a spider web. 360,000 yuan, three years’ savings, all gone. Her eyes were red, and she could only squeeze out three words: "All gone." Then she locked herself in the study for three days and nights. I left food at the door, only able to hear the rustling of pages inside. The person who used to be able to hear her cheerful laughter in that office seemed to have disappeared.

I was actually very worried she might give up on life, because 360,000 yuan is no small amount for anyone. Until spring, she主动约我去小区旁的茶馆. When the tea was just brewed, she took out that cracked-screen phone, and the balance showed: 3600U.

"Now there are only two paths," she said, "either admit defeat and completely exit, or rely on this little principal to turn things around." I saw her grip on the phone still firm, but her eyes had a kind of light, brighter than when she was fully invested. That person who refused to give up was finally back.

No one could have imagined that this "small principal" was really revived by her. From 3600U to over 100,000U, not only filling the 360,000 hole but also earning an extra 30,000 yuan. Later, she recapped the whole process with me, saying there was no insider info or calling signals from experts, it was all market harsh lessons that she summarized into "life-saving rules."

That methodology is more reliable than any course I’ve heard. The core is four words: Risk First. She said every trade must first calculate where the stop-loss point is, and how much loss is acceptable. No matter how tempting the market looks or how many people are calling for a buy-in, this bottom line cannot be changed. Another is position management—never put all your funds into one direction, build and reduce positions in batches. And then there’s mindset—when watching your account drop painfully, the first reaction should be to check if you violated any rules, not to think about adding more to gamble on a rebound.

What impressed me most was a sentence she said: "The crypto market is never short of stories of getting rich overnight; what’s missing are those who can survive until the next bull market." When she was losing money, a group of us discussed daily which coin would rise ten times, who dreamed of a hundredfold. Only after losing money did we realize those dreams are of no real help in making money.

Now, her trading account, although not showing extraordinary gains, is steadily growing every month. Most importantly, she sleeps well and doesn’t have to worry about waking up to an account wiped out. She said this quality of life is worth much more than the thrill of chasing daily limit-ups.

Many people around her, after hearing her story, want her to recommend coins or create tutorials, but she refused. She said there’s no coin that must rise, all money is built on others’ losses. Instead of blindly believing in the future of a certain coin, it’s better to learn how to protect your principal first. This sounds a bit bleak, but for those struggling in the crypto market, it might be the clearest advice.