Eight years ago, I arrived in Shanghai dragging a suitcase, with only 500 yuan in my pocket, but carrying debts of hundreds of thousands. I even had to rely on friends to help cover the rent.

Looking back now, my crypto assets have reached eight figures. But this is definitely not a story of overnight wealth.

This is a "clumsy method" I’ve summarized over eight years through countless stop-losses and reflections.

## From Confusion to Enlightenment

When I first entered the crypto world, I was like most people—obsessed with all kinds of complex indicators, staring at the screen late into the night, rushing in when prices rose, and selling out when prices fell. The result? The more I lost, the more I wanted to double down to recover; the more I tried to recover, the more my account suffered.

That period was truly a vicious cycle. I lost hair by the handful, and my mental state collapsed.

Until one day, I realized a simple truth: this market isn’t short of smart people. What’s truly lacking are those who can stick to discipline.

## Complexity Won’t Kill Me, Simplicity Saved Me

I used to watch over a dozen indicators at once—RSI, KDJ, Bollinger Bands, and various custom combinations. I’d jump in and out on 5-minute charts, trading frequently.

And then? My account kept shrinking, and I felt more and more exhausted.

What actually allowed me to achieve stable profits was the simplest things—daily charts, a single moving average, plus the MACD indicator. Just these three.

Now, my trading interface is so clean it’s almost laughable. No bombardment of countless indicators, no frequent entries and exits. Instead, through this simplification, I’ve survived, and I’m doing pretty well.

What about those big influencers who used to post beautiful profit screenshots on social media? Most of them have long disappeared. The crypto world is never short of stars; what’s missing are the “longevity stars”—those who can survive for a long time.

## My Four-Step Practical System

**Step 1: Pick the target, only look for strong signals**

I only trade the top 20 mainstream coins by market cap. Those small coins that seem to have explosive profits? I completely avoid them.

For entry timing, I only look at one signal: whether the MACD on the daily chart has formed a golden cross above the zero line. Simple and crude, but effective.

**Step 2: Set the position size and stick to it**

For every trade, I pre-calculate the risk position. 2-5% of the account is my bottom line, never exceeding it.

Why so conservative? Because I’ve seen too many stories of people being wiped out by a single heavy position. Smaller positions mean longer survival; longer survival means more chances to make big money.

**Step 3: Set stop-loss and execute mechanically**

This is the hardest step. Because stop-loss means admitting mistakes, and admitting losses of real money.

My approach is: once I enter a trade, the stop-loss is already set. No matter how fierce the market gets or how much I struggle psychologically, I cut at the set point.

Sometimes, after a stop-loss, the price rebounds, and I see my account lose a bit. It’s uncomfortable. But in the long run? This “disciplined stop-loss” has saved me countless times.

**Step 4: Protect profits, take partial profits**

When a position is profitable, I take profits in parts. For example, when profit reaches 20%, I sell 1/3; at 50%, I sell another 1/3; the rest follows the trend.

This way, I can safeguard the principal and early gains, and still catch big moves.

## Final Words

This method may seem very ordinary. No high-end quantitative algorithms, no complex derivatives arbitrage.

But it’s this ordinariness that has allowed me to survive the turbulent waves of the crypto market.

In the crypto world, opportunity and risk are always twin brothers. Choosing complexity doesn’t necessarily mean faster profits, but sticking to discipline definitely means longer survival.

And living longer, in itself, is a kind of ability.