The more you want to recoup the money you’ve lost, the more you should stop trading immediately. The most dangerous thing in the market is never being wrong once about a trade—it’s insisting on breaking even today. If you lose a trade, you feel unwilling to accept it, so you add positions right away trying to turn it around. When the market moves against you, you increase leverage again. In the end, once you realize you’ve misjudged, you lose everything—your entire principal is taken out. Many people’s liquidations begin with a single sentence: “I have to make this trade profitable.”
In the end, trading isn’t about who predicts correctly—it’s about who can still protect their principal after making consecutive mistakes. These five iron rules are the bottom line that Si Hai has always held:
1) Never place a trade without a basis. Before opening a position, you must be clear: Why are you entering? Where is the point where your judgment fails? Is the risk-reward ratio worth it? If all you can say is “I just feel it will go up,” then that’s not trading—it’s gambling.
2) If you don’t understand, stay in cash. The market moves every day, but not every segment of the行情 is meant for you. If the direction is unclear and the risk-reward ratio isn’t suitable, don’t force yourself to find opportunities. Staying out isn’t missing out—it’s actively filtering risk. A mature trader dares to open a position, and also dares to do nothing at all for the entire day.
3) Never go all-in and bet the whole account. Each trade must leave yourself room to make mistakes. A single losing trade must be kept within what your account can tolerate. You must never double your position in the next trade because you lost on the previous one. You can be wrong many times, but you must not let any single mistake end your trading career.
4) Stop-loss must be set before opening the position. Most massive losses don’t happen because your first judgment was wrong—they happen because you refuse to admit you’re wrong. Holding the position, averaging down, or moving the stop-loss only magnifies the error. A stop-loss isn’t surrender—it’s taking a controlled small loss in exchange for the right to stay in the market.
5) If your emotions get out of control, leave immediately. When you’re eager to get back to even, and you start feeling anxious after seeing others profit, first close the app. Si Hai’s rule is: after two consecutive losing trades, stop for the day. When you’re filled with anger and unwillingness, what you see isn’t the market—it’s the outcome you want to see.
The end of trading isn’t about prediction—it’s about self-control. Control your position size. Control your losses. Control the urge to get back to even quickly. As long as your principal is still there, opportunities will always be there too. If you can’t make it back today, it doesn’t matter—just don’t trade in a way that costs you tomorrow as well.
Don’t fumble in the dark in the crypto market—Xingjie does live trading. Want to avoid traps and stay consistently profitable? Follow the rhythm!