After seven years in the cryptocurrency market, I’ve realized one thing: knowing when to buy is just the starting point; what truly determines wins and losses is when you sell.

My most painful lesson happened in 2020. I had my eye on ADA and started buying in batches at $0.03. Three months later, it soared to $1.2—my account gained a string of extra zeros, nearly a 40x increase. Back then, every morning I’d wake up checking my balance, my mind filled with visions of buying a house.

The result? I didn’t sell a single coin.

Later, ADA crashed back down to $0.2, wiping out 80% of my profits. The house plans, of course, fell through. That move taught me that paper profits aren’t real money; only what’s locked in counts.

Now, I use a “staggered exit strategy.” For example, if a coin goes from $1 to $2, I’ll sell 30% to get my principal back. If it rises to $3, I’ll sell another 30%. The remaining 40%, I set a trailing stop—if the price drops more than 15% from its peak, I liquidate everything automatically. This way, I can ride the main uptrend without watching my profits evaporate.

I’m even stricter with stop-losses: I never let a single trade lose more than 5% of my principal. Every time I buy, I set a conditional order—if it drops 10%, I cut it immediately. Don’t feel bad about small drawdowns; the crypto market never lacks for opportunities, but once your principal is gone, it’s really gone.

Over the years, I’ve seen countless get-rich-quick stories, but even more people burn through their ammo in endless volatility. The ones who consistently make money are those who execute their rules like machines.

Once, I stopped out of a coin and it doubled in three days. My friends said I was too timid. But I have no regrets—three months later, that thing went straight to zero. In this market, surviving is a thousand times more important than making fast money.