I traded for a long time without understanding that profit is not just hope for a price increase. Profit is your clearly defined profit target at which you exit the position. And this radically changes the results.

I've seen many beginners who just buy a coin and wait. They wait for weeks, months, and their money is stuck. This is a huge mistake. When you plan your profit in advance, you solve three problems at once: you understand the exact exit point, make frequent small profits instead of rare large ones, and gradually increase either the number of coins or capital.

The formula is simple but effective. The target price equals the entry price multiplied by one plus the profit percentage divided by 100. It sounds complicated, but in practice, it takes 10 seconds.

Let me give a real example. Bought a coin at $1, aiming for a 0.5% profit. The target price will be $1.005. Just place a sell order and wait. Or another example: entered at $0.328, targeting 0.6% profit. I will exit at $0.330. Nothing complicated.

But what profit should you choose? If you don’t want to hang around in the coin, consider 0.3–0.6%. If the coin jumps wildly, you can go for 0.7–1.0%. Above 1.5% is already high risk, especially if the market isn’t rising and you just won’t reach your target price.

Many people underestimate the commission. The exchange charges about 0.1% on entry and 0.1% on exit, totaling 0.2%. Therefore, your profit should be at least 0.2%; otherwise, you’ll end up in the negative. If you set a 0.5% profit target, the actual profit after fees will be about 0.3%.

What happens if your profit target is wrong? Too small — the commission will eat everything, and you’ll stay at your starting point. Too large — you simply won’t wait, and the coin will drop, leaving you in a loss for several days. Not calculating at all is like going to an unfamiliar city without GPS.

The market is slightly red right now. BTC has fallen 0.47% and is trading around 71.08K, ETH down 2.54% at about 2.18K, BNB down 2.25% near 601. Even in such moments, profit is your anchor that prevents panic and stupid moves.

My advice: always calculate your profit before a trade. Don’t guess, don’t rely on intuition. Calculate using the formula. It’s better to make five trades with 0.5% profit each than one with 5% that you never reach. Trading is math, not gambling.