An $80,000 Lesson
At 3:17 a.m., Lin Yuan stared at his phone screen, his fingers trembling slightly.
On the BTCUSDT perpetual contract screen, his position showed an unrealized loss of $12,000. He had gone long at $79,500 with 20x leverage and 6,000 USDT in margin. That was three months’ salary.
“It’s fine, just a pullback. It’ll bounce back any minute,” he whispered to himself, but his voice sounded especially hollow in the empty rental apartment.
Three days earlier, when Bitcoin had just broken above $82,000, he saw someone in a group chat post a screenshot showing their profits had quintupled in a month. The chat was buzzing with excitement, filled with messages like “The bull is back!” and “This time is different.” Lin Yuan had spent the whole night itching to get in, and finally opened the futures screen late last night.
He actually understood technical analysis. The moving averages were aligned bullishly, the MACD had formed a golden cross, and trading volume was rising. Every indicator was telling him the trend was up. But he overlooked one thing: when everyone is bullish, the market’s favorite thing to do is liquidate everyone.
At 11 p.m., Bitcoin started plunging. $79,000, $78,000, $77,000. Every $100 drop meant a $1,200 loss on his 20x leveraged position. He watched the liquidation price creep closer and closer to the mark price, his palms slick with sweat.
He tried adding margin. He added 2,000 USDT the first time, and the price dropped another $300. He added 1,000 USDT the second time, but one massive red candle wiped it out.
At 3:21 a.m., his phone vibrated.
“Your BTCUSDT perpetual contract position has been liquidated.”
Just one short line. His 6,000 USDT in margin was gone. Lin Yuan set down his phone and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind completely blank. He thought of the veteran trader who had told him last year, “Futures are a gambler’s game,” and of the afternoon when he had confidently declared, “I only trade spot.”
His phone lit up again. Messages were still flooding the group chat. Someone was shouting “Buy the dip,” someone else was cursing the “market makers’ shakeout,” and another person had posted a fresh screenshot of their profits. Lin Yuan muted the group chat and turned off his screen.
It was almost dawn outside. He opened his spot account. There were 400 USDT left. It was his last bullet.
This time, he decided to trade spot only.
#BitcoinSlipsBelow$80KAgain #EthereumDropsBelow$2300 #BitmineAdds10452ETH
At 3:17 a.m., Lin Yuan stared at his phone screen, his fingers trembling slightly.
On the BTCUSDT perpetual contract screen, his position showed an unrealized loss of $12,000. He had gone long at $79,500 with 20x leverage and 6,000 USDT in margin. That was three months’ salary.
“It’s fine, just a pullback. It’ll bounce back any minute,” he whispered to himself, but his voice sounded especially hollow in the empty rental apartment.
Three days earlier, when Bitcoin had just broken above $82,000, he saw someone in a group chat post a screenshot showing their profits had quintupled in a month. The chat was buzzing with excitement, filled with messages like “The bull is back!” and “This time is different.” Lin Yuan had spent the whole night itching to get in, and finally opened the futures screen late last night.
He actually understood technical analysis. The moving averages were aligned bullishly, the MACD had formed a golden cross, and trading volume was rising. Every indicator was telling him the trend was up. But he overlooked one thing: when everyone is bullish, the market’s favorite thing to do is liquidate everyone.
At 11 p.m., Bitcoin started plunging. $79,000, $78,000, $77,000. Every $100 drop meant a $1,200 loss on his 20x leveraged position. He watched the liquidation price creep closer and closer to the mark price, his palms slick with sweat.
He tried adding margin. He added 2,000 USDT the first time, and the price dropped another $300. He added 1,000 USDT the second time, but one massive red candle wiped it out.
At 3:21 a.m., his phone vibrated.
“Your BTCUSDT perpetual contract position has been liquidated.”
Just one short line. His 6,000 USDT in margin was gone. Lin Yuan set down his phone and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind completely blank. He thought of the veteran trader who had told him last year, “Futures are a gambler’s game,” and of the afternoon when he had confidently declared, “I only trade spot.”
His phone lit up again. Messages were still flooding the group chat. Someone was shouting “Buy the dip,” someone else was cursing the “market makers’ shakeout,” and another person had posted a fresh screenshot of their profits. Lin Yuan muted the group chat and turned off his screen.
It was almost dawn outside. He opened his spot account. There were 400 USDT left. It was his last bullet.
This time, he decided to trade spot only.
#BitcoinSlipsBelow$80KAgain #EthereumDropsBelow$2300 #BitmineAdds10452ETH