There are always people DMing me, asking: In this space, what does it really take to survive?

To be honest, back in 2018, I was the textbook definition of a degenerate gambler. I traded crypto to the point of selling my house, losing over a million yuan in total. I really survived that period by delivering food—starting with a capital of 20,000 yuan, clawing my way back bit by bit. What stuck with me most was once turning 3,000 yuan into 60,000 in a single trade—a 20x gain—only to lose it all in a single liquidation soon after.

The real turning point came during the 3/12 crash in 2020. That day, my partner and I called trades in a small WeChat group of 20 people, saying it was time to bottom fish ETH at $80 and BTC at $3,000. Only five people dared to follow. Later, when my account hit 5 million for the first time, I finally understood—black swan opportunities like that don’t come every year. Whether you dare to act depends on your knowledge and mindset.

After all these years hustling, I’ve summed up a few things. Mindset and understanding come first; technical skills are secondary.

Let’s talk about BTC first—it will always be the boss of this market. If you want to make it in this space, you have to keep a close eye on it. When it rises, altcoins have room to move; when it falls, most small coins follow and crash. Occasionally, ETH will have its own independent trend, but don’t count on alts to withstand a broad market dump.

There’s another pattern: BTC and USDT are like a seesaw. When USDT is rising, you’d better be careful with Bitcoin; when BTC is pumping, take the chance to stash some USDT and lock in profits.

Timing is also crucial. From midnight to 1 a.m., there are often “wick” moves—set some orders before bed, and you might wake up to a bargain. 6 to 8 a.m. is a key indicator period: if the market dumped in the first half of the night and is still dropping during these two hours, closing your eyes and adding to your position is usually a good move—the market often bounces that day. If it pumped overnight and is still rising in the morning, it’s time to get out—most likely a correction is coming.

Don’t lose focus at 5 p.m.—that’s when U.S. money enters the market, and big moves are most likely. As for “Black Friday” and other such sayings, don’t take them too seriously—Fridays have seen both dumps and pumps; what matters is the news flow.

Lastly, here’s the most practical advice: As long as it’s not a shitcoin and has real trading volume, don’t panic if it drops. Whether it’s three to five days or a month, it usually comes back. If you have spare funds, average down in batches; if not, just hold on—it’s usually not a big problem. My proudest trade was buying DOGE at 0.085 and never selling—at its peak, it went up over 50x.

The facts prove that in the end, trading crypto is all about patience. Sticking it out alone doesn’t beat having the right team. The more chaotic the market, the more you need a strategy.