Stop believing in the nonsense of 'zero-cost comebacks!' Back in the day, I rushed into the crypto market with the five thousand yuan performance bonus I had just received, not even understanding the difference between 'mainstream' and 'altcoins.' I followed the big brother in the group who shouted buy signals for 'animal coins,' and as a result, the money I made in three days was completely wiped out during the LUNA crash, leaving only a few hundred yuan in my account, cleaner than my wallet at the end of the month.
As an analyst who has been navigating this market for five years, I have seen too many newcomers holding onto their living expenses, thinking they can 'take a gamble.' They either get trapped by the myth of the 'hundredfold coin' or break down emotionally during the wild ups and downs. Today, I’m sharing my survival tips, each one marked by my blood and tears. New friends, remember these well; they can help you minimize losses by at least 80%.
First iron rule: Capital is more valuable than life; safeguard your bottom line before talking about making money.
The most common mistake newbies make is throwing in their house down payment or even borrowed money, always thinking, 'This wave will recover my losses.' I made this mistake early on, investing half a year's salary, panicking and losing sleep after a 20% drop, ultimately selling at the lowest point. Now I have set three rules for myself that I won't break, no matter who advises me:
Invest spare money, never use leverage: Use within 10% of monthly income to participate, for example, if monthly salary is ten thousand, invest one thousand. Even if it all fails, it won't affect food and rent, keeping my mindset stable. Those who say 'borrow a chicken to lay eggs' often end up losing even the chicken.
Forced stop-loss, don't confront the trend head-on: Whether trading short or medium, I've set a 5% 'life and death line'. If the short-term drops below the 5-day average line or the medium-term below the 20-day average line, exit immediately, never hold on to the illusion of 'just wait for a rebound'. Remember, the market is full of opportunities, but what's scarce is capital.
Diversify positions, don't put all your eggs in one basket: Invest 30% in mainstream assets for the long term as a 'ballast'; use 50% for swing trading to earn from fluctuations; keep the remaining 20% as reserve funds to add more when it drops to key positions, and have confidence when it goes up.
The second truth: Going with the flow is the key to winning easily, bottom fishing is a rookie's grave.
When I first entered the market, I always thought, 'It has dropped so much, it must be the bottom', but each time I tried to bottom fish, I ended up buying halfway up the mountain, being called a 'professional bag holder' by seasoned players. Later I realized there is no 'absolute bottom' in the crypto market, only 'relative trends'. Learning to follow the trend is a hundred times more reliable than guessing the bottom.
During a downturn, even if it drops by 50%, don't blindly enter the market. Wait for clear signs of bottoming out—like not making new lows for three consecutive days or a large bullish engulfing candle—before considering action; during an uptrend, don't chase high prices! Wait for a pullback to key support levels to buy low, reducing risk by half. Here’s the key point: trading volume is crucial. A low-level surge in volume is a real breakthrough, while a price increase without volume is just a 'castle in the air', easily broken.
Don't be greedy with technical indicators, three are enough to conquer the world.
Many newbies start by studying a dozen or twenty indicators, putting MACD, RSI, and KDJ all together, and end up more confused and making wrong judgments. Now I focus on three core indicators, simple and efficient, with high success rates:
For swing trading, look at 'daily lines for direction, weekly lines for support, and 15-minute charts for entry points'—when MACD on the daily level is in the red column, it indicates a strong upward direction; if the weekly Bollinger Bands' middle line holds steady, it serves as strong support; when the 15-minute chart shows a golden cross signal, coupled with increased trading volume, entering the market is definitely right.
Short-term trading is simpler, focus on popular tracks and volume, take profits at 15% and stop losses at 5%, only look at the average price line for 1-3 minutes, hold positions online, exit offline, and don't be swayed by emotions.
Using the right tools saves half the effort, newbies shouldn't act like 'headless flies'.
Good tools can help you avoid 80% of pitfalls. The ones I commonly use are just these few: use market analysis platforms to draw support and resistance levels, which are 10 times more accurate than guessing; watch macro information platforms for policies and industry dynamics to avoid black swan events in advance; use on-chain data platforms to check fund flows to know whether big money is buying or selling; and also fraud prevention tools to uncover the tricks behind those 'shady projects', don't be deceived by flashy promotions anymore.
