Just saw a trending topic on a certain platform: 'Post-95 university students lose all their tuition fees in cryptocurrency trading, crying and posting for recovery tips.' I feel heartbroken for him even through the screen. After 8 years in the industry, I've seen too many people treat the crypto world as a 'get-rich-quick express train,' only to fall into meticulously dug pits: buying high on meme coins and getting cut, losing private keys and ending up with nothing, leveraging and getting liquidated then deleting software overnight... Today, let's get real, I'm going to share my survival rules from the bottom of my box; newbies can at least reduce losses by 80% after reading!
1. Lack of awareness, entering the market is just giving away heads.
I often say: The threshold in the crypto world is never 'opening an account,' but 'can you understand the logic behind it.' Don't rush in just because the neighbor Wang says 'BTC has risen again'; if you don't even know what a hash is or how smart contracts operate, what's the difference between that and gambling with your eyes closed?
In my early years, I had a disciple who asked right away, 'Which coin can double?' I told him to finish (mastering Bitcoin) before speaking. He found it troublesome and turned to chase a newly launched Meme coin, only to have the project team run away overnight, and his little savings went down the drain. Really, if you want to make money, first improve your understanding:
Don't just look at price K-lines; understand the underlying blockchain (you should be able to clearly explain basic terms like consensus mechanisms and cross-chain).
Distinguish between mainstream coins, stablecoins, and worthless coins; don't treat Meme coins as long-term investments.
Follow reliable information channels (like in-depth industry graphic platforms and authoritative overseas crypto media); don't trust 'insider news' from WeChat groups.
My personal habit: spend 1 hour every day looking at on-chain data, and digest a technical white paper each week — a small gap in understanding can lead to a significant loss in your wallet.
2. Risk control: engrain 'small-scale trial' into your DNA.
In the crypto world, a daily fluctuation of 20% is commonplace. I've seen the most exaggerated cases where a certain altcoin increased 5 times in half a day and then dropped back to its original point. The most common mistake beginners make is to throw all their savings in, fantasizing about 'a big turnaround', only to be taught a lesson by the market.
My iron rule: always use money that 'losing it won't affect your life' to enter the market. For example, if your monthly salary is 5000, just putting in 500 for trial is enough — this 500 is not for you to make money, but to pay for 'market tuition'. Don't imitate those gamblers who use 5x or 20x leverage; a friend of mine played perpetual contracts last year with 100x leverage, initially making 20,000, but a slight pullback led to a total loss, and he called me crying that night; he is now completely out of the crypto world.
Dollar-cost averaging is a safety net for beginners: even if you are optimistic about mainstream coins, don't go all in at once. Split your purchases into 3-6 batches; this can average out costs and help avoid being caught off guard by sudden market movements.
3. Details hide dangers: if you choose the wrong private key and platform, everything is in vain.
'If the private key is lost, the coins are gone' — I have to remind my fans of this every day. Last month, a fan reached out to me saying he stored his mnemonic phrase in his phone's notes, and when he lost his phone, the 5 ETH inside went down the drain, and he couldn't retrieve it.
Listen to me: write your mnemonic phrase by hand in a physical notebook and lock it in a safe; start with basic hot wallets, and only consider hardware wallets when your assets exceed 50,000; choose platforms based solely on 'clear regulation, good user reputation, and transparent inflow and outflow'; those small platforms you've never heard of are just waiting to run away.
There's another pitfall: don't authorize wallets casually! Last year, a certain project was involved in an 'airdrop scam', and a bunch of people clicked on unfamiliar links to authorize, resulting in their wallets being instantly emptied — I always double-check the project's background before authorizing; I'd rather miss out on 10 airdrops than step into one pitfall.
4. Don't let emotions lead you: those who make money understand 'counterintuitive' actions.
Short-term trends in the crypto world are not based on fundamentals at all; it's all about emotional speculation. Recently, a certain Meme coin was hyped by KOLs, and someone in the group shouted, 'If you don't buy now, you'll miss out!' As a result, a group of beginners rushed in, and the whales sold at a high price, causing the coin price to be halved. I was advising everyone to stay calm in the group, but was criticized for having a 'sour grapes mentality'; now all those people have come to privately apologize.
My operational principle: open the fear and greed index; if it exceeds 75 (extreme greed), reduce your holdings, and if it falls below 25 (extreme fear), slowly build your position; don't trust KOL's 'exclusive recommendations'; I've seen too many KOLs take money from projects to promote them, then secretly sell off their own holdings; use on-chain data analysis tools to track capital flow; data won’t lie, but people will.
