In the three screenshots, the account balance that was originally $6000 suddenly stopped at $0.02 in the last one, and the accompanying voice message broke off with a crying tone: 'Bro! I went all in with a 10x long position, how did it disappear just because it dropped 3 points? I was clearly watching the daily chart and got the big direction right!'
Opening the transaction record he sent, I almost sprayed the water I just drank on the screen: $5800 all thrown in, not to mention the stop-loss line not set, and not a penny left for backup. This is not trading at all! It's clearly treating the crypto market like a village gambling den, guessing the size—if you win, you shout 'All in', and if you lose, you’re left with nothing.
In the past five years of grinding in the circle, I have seen enough liquidation dramas to fill a series: Some people put in $40,000 in principal and went all in with 20x leverage to chase a popular coin, only to be forcibly liquidated when the market corrected by 5%; others thought that '10x leverage is like playing', but after entering with a heavy position, they were wiped out by a sudden spike. Everyone loves to blame 'too much leverage', but no one wants to admit: what truly clears the account is never the 10x or 20x numbers, but the 'gambler's mindset' of how much principal you dare to stake.
I started trading with 'all-in tools' in 2021, without relying on guessing market trends or chasing hot spots, and instead managed to double my investment within six months without any liquidations. It’s not that I was lucky; it’s that I adhered to three 'anti-human' rules — these are the ironclad risk management principles I force my students to copy 20 times and stick on their screens.
1. Single position 15% position limit: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and throw stones into the basket.
No matter how 'certain' the market looks, the maximum single position should be 15% of total capital. For instance, if you have a $12,000 account, you should only invest $1,800; even if you’re wrong and have to stop-loss at 10%, you’ll only lose $180, which is at most just a 'scratch'.
During the last bear market rebound, a certain cryptocurrency surged 18% in a day, and half of my friends went all in, while I only invested 15% of my account with 10x leverage. As a result, the market corrected by 10% that afternoon, and many people were directly liquidated, but I calmly stopped my losses with a low position and even made enough for a hot pot meal by shorting. Remember: trading isn’t about 'gambling for a big win'; it’s about 'staying alive to wait for the next opportunity' — keeping your principal allows you to seize the moment when the market arrives.
2. 2.5% stop-loss red line: Don’t fall in love with the market; break up when it’s time to break up.
I’ve summarized a 'foolproof stop-loss formula' for beginners: 2.5% of total capital divided by the leverage multiplier is the volatility stop-loss point you can bear. For example, if you have $1800 with 10x leverage, then 2.5% of the total capital is $300, which translates to a market movement of 1.67% — set the stop-loss line at 1.67%, and even if it triggers the stop-loss, it won’t result in significant damage.
Previously, there was a student named Xiao B, who always insisted on 'stubbornly fighting the market', saying 'let's wait a bit and it will bounce back' after losing 5%, only to end up crying when he was liquidated. After following my 2.5% stop-loss rule, he told me, 'It turns out that a stop-loss isn’t about losing money; it’s about preserving the qualification for the next trade — it’s always better than losing all the principal and not even being able to enter the market.'
3. Daily breakout timing: Don’t jump around during consolidation; otherwise, you might easily break your leg.
Many people don’t blow up because of the trend; they blow up because of 'guessing the consolidation'. In a market with up-and-down spikes, you think you’ve hit the bottom, but in reality, you’re only halfway up the mountain; you think it’s time for a correction, only to break through to new highs directly.
I never enter the market during a 4-hour consolidation period; I only take action once there is a clear breakthrough of key resistance levels at the daily chart level. Furthermore, I never chase positions after entering — last year, a student named Xiao C couldn’t help but add positions twice while watching a certain cryptocurrency soar, only to be met with a large bearish candle that wiped out not only his profits but also his principal. It’s important to know: the money earned in a trend is made by waiting patiently, not by piling on positions in a rush; the more anxious you are, the more likely you are to crash.
Previously, a student named Xiao D was even more exaggerated; he blew up his account every month for the first half of the year and ended up with only $2800, almost deleting the software and quitting entirely. After strictly following these three rules with me, he no longer chased prices or heavily gambled on the market, and over four months, he managed to grow his account to $4500. When he later reported this success to me, he said, “It turns out that going all in isn’t about gambling on size; it’s about controlling positions to steadily make money — before, I was giving away my principal, but now I’m making money with my profits.”
In fact, going all-in or using incremental positions are just tools, like a kitchen knife; it can cut vegetables but can also cut your hand, and the key is whether you can control your strength. The crypto market has never lacked opportunities; what it lacks are 'survivors' who can steadily catch the market. You may not understand complex indicators or advanced candlestick theories, but you must understand risk management; after all, in this market, staying alive is more important than anything else.
