When my account was down to only two thousand in 2018, I truly felt hopeless. That feeling is hard to describe—staring at the screen, hands icy cold, completely unsure of where to go next. I endured this for eight years, gradually growing my assets to 36 million. Throughout this journey, I experienced ups and downs, liquidations, anxiety, and gradually developed a set of trading rules that work.

A common mistake among many beginners is to sell at the first sign of a rally, only to get shaken out. In fact, rapid rises and slow declines are not the top. What are the truly dangerous signals? It’s when the price surges on high volume and then immediately dumps—this is a clear sign of distribution.

During the big market move in 2021, I saw a certain coin rally for three days straight, with trading volume continuously increasing. Many people FOMOed into chasing the high. On the fourth day, a large bearish candle dropped, and the volume exploded. I didn’t think much and just cleared my position, which helped me avoid a 50% drop afterward.

There’s another trap that’s especially deadly—don’t rush to buy the dip after a flash crash. When the decline is sharp and the rebound is slow, jumping in to buy is likely to get you trapped. The market feeds on this. When you think “it’s almost the bottom,” you’re often still far from the real bottom.

During the flash crash in 2023, a certain project was halved in three days. Many people, hoping to pick up bargains, rushed in, only to get more deeply trapped. I waited until trading volume truly shrank and price fluctuations narrowed before gradually building my position, ultimately catching that rebound.

Exchange candlestick charts can lie, but volume and time do not.