There are too many people investing in cryptocurrencies, and most of them fall into the same trap—claiming "value investing" before entering the market, only to be played around by market sentiment during trades. It's not that you're unlucky; the key is that you don't have a trading discipline that can isolate noise.

Over these eight years, I’ve gone from constant huge losses to relative stability, and the biggest insight I’ve gained is: making money never relies on clever operations; instead, it’s about making fewer repeated mistakes. The following seven rules have saved my account before, and maybe they can give you some inspiration.

**First: Position sizing is the foundation of survival**

I divide my capital into five parts for operation. For any trade, the position size does not exceed 20% of the account. The stop-loss is strictly set 10% below the cost price. Consider the consequences: a single wrong judgment can lose at most 2% of the principal. Even if you make five consecutive mistakes, the total loss is only 10%. But as soon as you catch a trend, the profit can fill all the error gaps. That’s why many people stay in this market—it's not because they are always right, but because they design the cost of mistakes well. In the crypto world, being able to survive and see the next opportunity is itself a victory.

**Second: Trend is your real moat**

A rebound in a downtrend? That’s like catching a knife in the air—don’t touch it. A correction in an uptrend? That’s the real buying opportunity. I’ve spent a lot of time validating this logic: when moving averages form a bullish alignment, any pullback could be a good entry point; conversely, when they form a bearish alignment, any rebound is a signal to reduce positions. Don’t expect to perfectly bottom-tick or top-tick; that’s a gambler’s game. Once a trend is established, it’s almost impossible for it to reverse easily. Going with the trend is always more reliable than guessing.

**Third: Stay away from coins that surge rapidly**

You often see stories of coins tripling in a week. It’s tempting. But what’s the reality? After a sharp rise, these coins either enter a long sideways phase or crash outright. When market momentum exhausts, those rushing in are usually the last bagholders. I’d rather miss out on such "thrilling" profits than gamble my hard-earned capital on small probabilities.

**Fourth: MACD is not a prediction tool, it’s a confirmation tool**

Many people use MACD to predict the future, but I don’t do that. I see it as a mirror for confirming the trend. A golden cross below zero? It might be a trap for trap traders. Wait until it crosses above zero before taking it seriously. Similarly, a death cross at high levels often indicates energy is waning, but the real risk usually materializes when a death cross occurs above zero. No matter how sensitive the indicator, it only tells you what has already happened, not what will happen.

**Fifth: The lower the trading frequency, the better the mindset**

Beginners often like to trade every day, as if they’re losing money whenever they’re idle. In reality, it’s the opposite. The more you trade, the more mistakes you make. My current habit is to look for weekly opportunities, maybe making two or three trades a month. What are the benefits? First, you have time to think calmly and won’t be driven by market fluctuations; second, your win rate per trade tends to be higher because you’re waiting for high-probability setups rather than accepting every opportunity.

**Sixth: Always keep some reserve**

Keep about 30% of your account in cash. This isn’t conservatism; it’s to have the ability to respond when unexpected market moves happen. I’ve seen too many people fully invested, only to be forced to stop out when the market reverses. But if you have ammunition, a downturn can turn into an opportunity to add positions. Crypto market volatility is enough to give you flexibility—being partially in cash is more rational than chasing maximum profits with full positions.

**Seventh: Record every trade, but not for review**

Many people keep trading logs, but few find them useful. Most logs end up as emotional diaries—happy when making money, frustrated when losing. My logging is simple: reasons for entry, reasons for exit, and the market environment at the time. Periodically reviewing them isn’t for regret, but to identify under what conditions I tend to make mistakes. This method has helped me recognize some repetitive error patterns; fixing a few can significantly improve your results.

The crypto market doesn’t require you to be super smart; it requires you to stick to these rules. Most failures are never due to wrong methods but because people give up halfway through execution.