After years of grinding in the cryptocurrency market, I’ve discovered a harsh truth: the ones who actually make money aren’t those who charge in the hardest, but those who are still standing at the table.

I’ve seen too many beginners treat perpetual contracts as their ticket to making a comeback. The moment the market fluctuates, they go all in with their entire position, only to get wiped out by a single pullback. Eventually, I summed up a few survival rules—not guaranteed to make you rich, but at least they can keep you from dying halfway.

**Let’s talk about position sizing first.** Never put all your bullets in at once. I have a friend who chased that ZEC rally last year, went all in, and got wiped out the next day—didn’t even get a chance to make a comeback. The most expensive thing in the market isn’t the opportunity cost; it’s when you don’t have money to seize the opportunity.

**Next, trend judgment.** A lot of people love to call bottoms and tops, thinking it makes them look technically skilled. But honestly, following the trend beats guessing a hundred times over. When the trend is up, a pullback is a chance to get in; don’t always try to catch the absolute bottom—that’s for the gods. During that last XNY rally, every pullback had people calling the top, and what happened?

**Risk control discipline is the most crucial.** I set strict rules for myself: no single loss exceeds 5% of my capital, profit targets are at least above 5%, and I keep my win rate around 50%. Sounds conservative? But as long as you strictly follow these three, your equity curve will trend upward. During the RIVER rally, this take-profit and stop-loss approach is exactly what got me through.

**Then there’s trading frequency.** If you’re opening five or six positions a day, or dozens in a month, you’re basically working for the platform. Traders who actually make steady profits only take two or three carefully planned trades a month. The market won’t run away, but your capital might.

To sum it up: control your position size, follow the trend, strictly enforce risk controls, and reduce your trading frequency. If you can master these four, you’re already ahead of 90% of the market. Staying alive is the most important thing—because only if you survive do you get to play the next round.