Trading for a year and still getting liquidated? It’s not that you don’t know how—it’s that your position sizing is wrong.
If you’ve been trading crypto for over a year and still keep getting liquidated on futures, it’s not that you don’t know how to trade. You’re getting three things wrong.
Leverage isn’t the same as risk. Position size is what makes or breaks you. If you use 100x leverage with just 1% of your account, a hit costs you that 1%, not your entire account. Someone I know trades ETH at 20x, using only 2% of their capital each time, and hasn’t been liquidated in three years. Actual risk is roughly leverage multiplied by position size. Leverage can be high, but your position must be small. Low leverage with your entire account in a trade can still wipe you out.
A stop-loss isn’t admitting defeat—it’s a fuse. Most accounts that get wiped out in a crash had losses exceeding 5% before the trader finally cut them. Keep each trade’s loss under 2% of your capital. If that fuse blows, your account survives. Without one, a single wick can burn down the whole electrical panel.
Adding to a position isn’t going all in. Use 10% for your initial position to test the waters, then add only with profits. With 50,000 in capital, start with 5,000 at 10x. Adding to profits is compounding; adding to losses is giving your money away.
Position size can be calculated: capital × 2% ÷ (stop-loss distance × leverage). With 50,000 in capital, a 2% stop-loss, and 10x leverage, the maximum position is 5,000. Anything more isn’t bravery—it’s removing the fuse.
Take profits in three stages. At 20% profit, close one-third. At 50%, close another third. For the rest, exit if the price breaks below the 5-day moving average. If you make hundreds of trades a month, fees can quietly eat up 20% of your capital. If you don’t take profits, most of your gains will eventually disappear.
With a 2% stop-loss and a 20% take-profit, a win rate of around 34% can be enough to come out ahead. You don’t need to get every trade right. You need to keep your losses small and hold on when you’re right.
Four rules are enough: risk no more than 2% per trade; make no more than 20 trades a year; aim for a risk-reward ratio of at least 3:1; and stay out of the market 70% of the time. Markets are about probabilities. Risk 2% to catch a trend—don’t wager your life savings on a hunch.
I’ve written these four rules up in my small group, @老森笔记 . If you’re still repeatedly getting liquidated while trading with high leverage and oversized positions, leave your leverage and position size in the comments. I’ll help you calculate the maximum size for your next trade.
If you’ve been trading crypto for over a year and still keep getting liquidated on futures, it’s not that you don’t know how to trade. You’re getting three things wrong.
Leverage isn’t the same as risk. Position size is what makes or breaks you. If you use 100x leverage with just 1% of your account, a hit costs you that 1%, not your entire account. Someone I know trades ETH at 20x, using only 2% of their capital each time, and hasn’t been liquidated in three years. Actual risk is roughly leverage multiplied by position size. Leverage can be high, but your position must be small. Low leverage with your entire account in a trade can still wipe you out.
A stop-loss isn’t admitting defeat—it’s a fuse. Most accounts that get wiped out in a crash had losses exceeding 5% before the trader finally cut them. Keep each trade’s loss under 2% of your capital. If that fuse blows, your account survives. Without one, a single wick can burn down the whole electrical panel.
Adding to a position isn’t going all in. Use 10% for your initial position to test the waters, then add only with profits. With 50,000 in capital, start with 5,000 at 10x. Adding to profits is compounding; adding to losses is giving your money away.
Position size can be calculated: capital × 2% ÷ (stop-loss distance × leverage). With 50,000 in capital, a 2% stop-loss, and 10x leverage, the maximum position is 5,000. Anything more isn’t bravery—it’s removing the fuse.
Take profits in three stages. At 20% profit, close one-third. At 50%, close another third. For the rest, exit if the price breaks below the 5-day moving average. If you make hundreds of trades a month, fees can quietly eat up 20% of your capital. If you don’t take profits, most of your gains will eventually disappear.
With a 2% stop-loss and a 20% take-profit, a win rate of around 34% can be enough to come out ahead. You don’t need to get every trade right. You need to keep your losses small and hold on when you’re right.
Four rules are enough: risk no more than 2% per trade; make no more than 20 trades a year; aim for a risk-reward ratio of at least 3:1; and stay out of the market 70% of the time. Markets are about probabilities. Risk 2% to catch a trend—don’t wager your life savings on a hunch.
I’ve written these four rules up in my small group, @老森笔记 . If you’re still repeatedly getting liquidated while trading with high leverage and oversized positions, leave your leverage and position size in the comments. I’ll help you calculate the maximum size for your next trade.