Retail investors crashing in crypto circles basically come down to one reason——they simply didn't calculate the risks clearly before jumping in. The technical skills aren't much different; what differs is whether their brains are engaged or not.

I helped a friend organize their trading strategy some time ago. He turned 6,500U in principal into 320,000U over four months. How did he do it? Actually very simple, just one principle: first figure out how much you can afford to lose, then think about how much you can make.

For short-term contracts, my approach is light positions and quick hands. Take 10,000U to trade ETH short-term, once losses hit 3% I exit immediately, take profits at 6%-8% in batches. Sounds slow, but small profits compound into big returns. Trading is like walking on a knife's edge; when it's time to exit, you can't hesitate.

Spot mid-term trading requires a different strategy. If you want to catch wave movements, you need to learn to tolerate pullbacks. Your stop-loss must be placed at the "lifeline"——previous lows or key moving averages; once broken, exit unconditionally. When profits hit 35%, sell half first, set a trailing stop-loss on the rest allowing roughly 8% pullback. Nobody can sell perfectly at the peak, but banking profits in the high zone means you've already won.

The most critical point here is: position size determines your mindset, and mindset determines the final outcome. With light positions, when your account drops 20% you can still sleep soundly; with heavy positions, even one market point makes you anxious. Heavy positions without stop-loss? That's like driving on the highway without brakes——disaster will strike eventually.

Two points you must remember: stop-loss isn't a cost, it's an amulet that keeps you alive; take-profit isn't greed, it's the market's reward for your discipline.

Treat every trade like it could be your last. There's always opportunity in the market, but once capital is gone, the game is completely over. Whether you can recover your account this round depends not on how good the market is, but whether you have the ability to constrain yourself with rules. Those who survive in crypto and still make money are always the ones who dare to take action first and know when to cut losses.