📘 What is position sizing?
Position sizing means deciding how big a trade should be BEFORE you enter. Not "how much do I feel like buying", but "how much can I lose if I'm wrong".
The most common rule is simple: never risk more than 1-2% of your account on one trade. Lose 10 trades in a row and you still have about 80-90% of your money. Risk 20% per trade and three bad trades can cut your account in half.
📊 Live chart in the cover and in the image post below.
🔍 How to work it out
• Step 1: pick your stop-loss from the chart (where your idea is proven wrong). Last week's lesson covered this
• Step 2: measure the stop distance in %. Entry $100, stop $95 = 5%
• Step 3: decide your risk in dollars. $1,000 account x 1% = $10
• Step 4: position size = risk $ / stop distance %. $10 / 5% = $200
• That's it. The stop decides the size, not your mood
📈 How traders use it
• Wide stop = smaller position. Tight stop = bigger position. The dollar risk stays the same
• Volatile coins get smaller positions than BTC, because their stops need more room
• Leverage does NOT change your risk if the stop is set. A $555 position with 5x needs only $111 margin, but the stop still costs $10. Leverage just lets you put up less cash
• Without a stop, leverage is dangerous: a 10x long loses about 60% of its margin on a 6% drop
• Keep the same % on every trade so one loss never undoes a week of wins
🧪 Live example:
$BTC right now
• Nov 5 showed why size matters: BTC fell from $80,390 to $75,568 in a single 4H candle (12:00 UTC), about -6%. A 10x long with no stop lost roughly 60% of its margin in four hours
• Since then BTC has been stuck in a tight box: floor $74,888 (Nov 6 low, the first dip under $75K since August), top $76,250 (Nov 7 high). Today it sits near $75,870
• Example long here: the idea is wrong if BTC breaks the $74,888 floor. Stop with a buffer: about $74,500, which is 1.8% away
• $1,000 account, 1% risk ($10): position ≈ $10 / 1.8% ≈ $555
• $5,000 account, 1% risk ($50): position ≈ $2,770
• If you want a tighter stop, the position can be bigger. If you want more room, it must be smaller
⚠️ Common mistakes
• Choosing the size first ("I'll buy $1,000"), then guessing a stop
• Going bigger after a loss to "win it back" (revenge sizing)
• Thinking 10x leverage means 10x the risk. The risk is set by size x stop distance
• Opening several trades on coins that move together (BTC, ETH, SOL) and counting each as a separate 1%
✅ Quick checklist
• Stop first, from the chart
• Stop distance in %
• Risk = 1-2% of the account in dollars
• Size = risk $ / stop distance %
• Check total risk across all open trades
💬 How much do you risk per trade: 1%, 2%, or "it depends"? 👇
Not financial advice. DYOR.
#TradingTips #RiskManagement #Bitcoin