From Being 50 Million in Debt to a Life-Changing Turning Point in Crypto: 3 “Life-or-Death Lessons” I Realized After 8 Years

In 2017, in the early hours one night, I stared at the red words “Position Liquidated” — my account wiped clean, the balance left at exactly 3 million. That was all that remained after I burned through 20 million in capital, then recklessly borrowed another 50 million to try and cover my losses.

Back then, I was so poor that I had to count every penny, even for a single packet of noodles. My friends told me I was “not cut out for the market,” and my family wanted me to close my account and leave crypto behind.

But I was determined not to leave the market.

I printed out my entire losing trade history and pasted it all over the wall next to my desk. Every night, I scrutinized every candle, every sudden spike, every bout of FOMO that shattered my discipline. I learned, I hurt, I scolded myself.

Eight years later, I’ve built my own trading system. I make a living from it. I have freedom because of it. As for those who entered the market with me back then — 90% have disappeared.

Today, I’m not here to talk about lofty theories. I just want to leave you with three life-or-death principles — hard-earned lessons paid for with debt, sleepless nights, and my youth. If you’re new — this article is enough to help you avoid 80% of account-destroying traps and save you 5 years of wandering lost.

1. Three “Swords” for Profit: Turn Complexity into Simplicity

Newcomers to the market often drown in chaos: MACD golden–death cross RSI overbought–oversold EMA crossovers Unusual volume spikes…

The more you look, the more confused you get. Confusion leads to lost discipline, and lost money.

The system I use now is so simple that many people laugh, yet its stability rate exceeds 60%.

① Use higher timeframes to determine direction — “Red, Green, Yellow Lights” I only look at 4H and D of major coins (BTC, ETH). No looking at trash altcoins, no chasing shitcoin trends.

The whole market always has just three states: Green: D closes multiple bullish candles, price pulls back but doesn’t break support → only look for buy entries. Red: D closes multiple bearish candles, price bounces but doesn’t break resistance → only look for sell/avoidance. Yellow: Sideways, breaks out but no volume → stay out.

Remember this: If there’s a trend, don’t try to guess tops and bottoms. If there’s no trend, absolutely do nothing.

② Identify trading zones — “Three Market Anchors” New traders lose money for entering trades without support.

Just pay attention to these three zones: Tops and bottoms that have been tested multiple times → the market always remembers these zones. Fibo: 0.382 – 0.5 – 0.618 → the consensus zones for big money. Round number thresholds (50k – 60k…) → extremely strong psychological zones.

At these zones, just wait for a clear reversal signal and that’s enough to enter. Your win rate will be three times higher than random guessing.

③ Time your entry with smaller timeframes — “Wait for Double Confirmation” You have direction. You have location. But that’s not enough. You must wait for confirmation on the smaller timeframe (1H).

I only enter when one of these occurs: Reversal K-line: Hammer, Engulfing, Pin Bar… Exploding volume: a bullish or bearish candle with volume 50% higher than the prior 3 candles.

When both appear: you can avoid 90% of fake breakouts.

2. Eight Capital Protection Rules: To Survive, Learn How “Not to Die”

Making money once is easy. Keeping it is hard. New traders die because they lack discipline, not because they can’t analyze.

These are the 8 shields of survival I always keep posted at my desk:

① Only trade top 10 coins No matter the altcoin hype — stay away.

② Maximum risk per trade is 2% of account No matter your conviction, never all-in.

③ Always set stop-losses No stop-loss = waiting for your account to be wiped out.

④ Minimum R:R = 1:3 Profits must outweigh losses. This is mathematical law, not emotion.

⑤ No trading between 3–5 AM Low liquidity → easy to get stop-hunted.

⑥ Have a plan before entering any trade There are no “unexpected situations.” Only: if right, where do you take profit? if wrong, where do you cut?

⑦ Spend 30 minutes daily to review Winning trades: Why did you win? Losing trades: Was it technical or emotional?

⑧ Losing 2 trades in a row → take a break Because at this point you’re not trading, you’re “recovering losses.”

3. Three Red Lines: Cross These and Lose Everything

No matter how skilled you are, violate any of these three and your account is gone.

① Never FOMO — absolutely never chase a candle that has pumped 8%+ When the market surges vertically, most buyers are… the dumbest of the session. If you jump in at that moment — you’re the liquidity. Similarly, don’t try to catch falling knives during sharp drops.

② Never trade when you “feel kinda right” Any setup where you have to say: “Seems like…” “Looks like…” “Maybe…” → means it’s not good enough for a trade.

The deadliest mistake for newcomers: fear of missing out — and thus opening a baseless trade.

I’d rather skip 10 beautiful but uncertain setups than take 1 vague trade.

③ If your mind’s a mess → stay out Profit 30% → scale out to take profit Loss 5% → cut immediately The longer you wait, the more emotions rip your discipline apart.

In the end, the market is a psychological war — not a tactical one.

Final Words to Newcomers

The crypto market is not short on opportunities, but it is short on people patient enough to survive and wait for them.

If I had understood these three things in 2017, I wouldn’t have ended up in debt.

But today I write out everything that once destroyed my life — just so you don’t have to pay the price that I did.