What kind of people can survive the bull and bear markets?

What kind of person can traverse bull and bear markets?

In your experiences of navigating through bull and bear markets, what is the core trait of those who ultimately “survive”—the true survivors?

After reading picklecat’s article, the question that has been lurking in my heart finally has a clear answer.

1. The eternal illusion called “This time is different”
   “This time is different!”—the survivors of 2013 heard this phrase when they bought their first Bitcoin; by the peak of the bull market in 2021, this phrase echoed in their ears once again; even now, this phrase still whispers like a ghost, as if an old friend has returned. The difference is that the speakers have changed from generation to generation.

Thinking back to when I first traded meme coins, the same thought was running through my head—“This time is different!”

At that time, I had just transitioned from the stock market to Crypto, carrying the belief from the stock market that “spot trading is not afraid of losses, buy more when the price drops.” I exchanged a lot of money for SOL, and then, like scattering sesame seeds, I threw several, dozens of SOL into pools with various bizarre names.

At that moment, I only thought, “This coin is only $0.00001, if it goes to $0.0001, that’s ten times,” simple arithmetic replaced complex thinking.

To this day, my wallet still contains those messy names, and their existence now feels absurd to me. Their lifespan was not measured in days or months, but in minutes or hours.

At a certain point in time, these projects stopped updating, and the “shared dream” and “let’s build together” in the groups quickly turned into accusations and wails of “when will the pump happen.”

That was the first time I truly felt that in Crypto, “going to zero” is not an exaggerated rhetoric, but a physical reality happening every day in countless wallets.

2. The most expensive tuition: the fantasy of “insider information”
   A more ironic lesson came from my most trusted circle. When I started to doubt life after losing money trading meme coins, a friend approached me, “This time is really different,” he said mysteriously, “I know someone from the project team, it will be listed on a major exchange next month, the internal price guarantees profit.”

You can guess the outcome; I invested the money, but that project never launched, and my “friend” later told me he had also been scammed. That money became the most expensive lesson of my crypto career (so far)—it completely eradicated my last shred of fantasy about “insider information.”

3. The “temperament” of survivors: clarity after pain
   Over the years, I have excavated, like an archaeologist, the mistakes I and my vanished friends made, and I gradually came to see that those who can traverse one bull and bear cycle after another exude a certain similar “temperament.”

It is not a temperament of luck, but a complex one, mixed with pain and clarity.

First, they have an instinctive reverence for numbers and a clear perception of scale.

While I was recklessly throwing SOL around, the survivors were calculating fully diluted valuations, checking on-chain holding distributions, and asking, “If everyone sells, how much capital is needed to catch the fall?”

They do not just look at prices; they look at market caps; they do not just look at percentage gains; they look at liquidity depth. They know that a coin with a market cap of $100 million rising tenfold is much harder than a coin with a market cap of $10 million rising tenfold.

Secondly, they have a surgical ability to distinguish between “consensus” and “narrative.”

While I was emotionally stirred by narratives like “moon” and “the sea of stars,” they were observing: Are people truly using this protocol, or is it just hype? When the incentives stop, how many people will remain?

They use the “five questions for retail investors” from @0xPickleCat to scrutinize every popular project: Are there outsiders? Can it survive through incentive decay testing? Has it formed a daily habit? Are users willing to tolerate temporary shortcomings for the benefits? Is anyone willing to “generate power with love”?

Third, their understanding of “trust” is as cold as ice.

After my friend’s scam, I realized that in crypto, trust must be placed above verifiable on-chain behavior and a long-term consistent reputation, rather than private “I only tell you.”

Fourth, they have a self-contradictory behavioral system.

This is the most crucial point. They are acutely aware of their emotional weaknesses—fear, greed, FOMO, revenge trading—and during calm market conditions, they pre-define action roadmaps for moments of emotional loss of control.

“If it drops 30%, I will reduce my position by 25%, instead of averaging down.”
“Any buying decision must cool down for 24 hours before execution.”
“Stop all trading today if a single loss exceeds 2% of total capital.”

These rules are not dogmas written on paper but are ingrained in their muscle memory of trading instincts.

Their faith is built on quicksand yet as solid as a rock.

It sounds contradictory, but that is the key. Their “faith” in a particular token or protocol is based on a clear awareness of its potential failure. They embrace uncertainty, hence their persistence is not blind loyalty but a mature mindset of “I am willing to bet on this possibility and bear all consequences.”

Their faith can calmly articulate opposing views rather than fervently eliminate dissent.

The crypto market is the most effective “humanity filter” on this planet. It does not filter for the smartest, but for the most resilient; it does not filter for the best at making money, but for those who understand how not to lose money.

I also want to ask everyone, in your experiences traversing bull and bear markets, what is the core trait you have observed in those who “survive”?

Is it extreme calmness? Risk aversion? A learning machine? Loneliness and endurance? Or decisiveness?

At the same time, if you have read this far and a friend’s face that fits these traits appears in your mind, please forward this article to them with a note: “I think you are that kind of person.”

Because in this field, where most people are destined to become fuel, recognizing and approaching those who can survive in the long run is itself one of the most important survival wisdoms.