Accumulating your "first bucket of gold" in the crypto world doesn't follow a fixed timeline. Some people turn their fortunes around with a stroke of luck, while others gradually build wealth through a comprehensive trading system. The path you choose essentially determines how long this process will take and whether you can ultimately preserve and grow your earnings.

Let's first break down the core differences between these two paths.

**The Fast Track of Luck**

This is the subconscious "shortcut" for most beginners — chasing after so-called "hundred-bagger coins," trading high-leverage contracts, and riding every market hot trend. It sounds like a way to get rich overnight, but in reality, most people end up losing everything in a single night. Even if you make money in the short term, what about long-term? In the face of emotional swings and probabilities, losses are actually mathematically inevitable. This isn't really "earning," but gambling — consuming not just your time, but also your hard-earned capital and valuable trading career.

**Using Rules to Compound**

This is the true dividing line between professional traders and amateurs. Instead of chasing overnight riches, it’s about building a systematic trading framework — risk control with rules, logical entry points, and standardized stop-losses. This path takes time to refine, but each trade accumulates experience, and every compound interest amplifies your advantages.

The choice of which path to take is up to you. But the numbers will speak.