Having navigated the crypto world for eight years, my deepest insight is one simple truth: learning to sell is much harder than learning to buy.

During the 2017 altcoin boom, I set my sights on ADA. Starting to accumulate at $0.03, I bought in batches. Three months later, it surged to $1.2—my account doubled nearly 40 times. The first thing I did after waking up was check the market, eyes glued to the screen, calculating how I could buy a house outright with this money.

And what happened? Greed took over, and I stubbornly didn’t press the sell button.

ADA then plummeted. It crashed down to $0.2. Eighty percent of my profits evaporated in an instant, and my house dream was shattered. That lesson was unforgettable, teaching me a principle: in crypto, winners are not those who buy the most accurately, but those who know when to gracefully exit.

Later, I developed a method, using real money, and I want to share it with everyone.

**For taking profits, I use a ladder approach**:

Suppose a coin rises from $1 to $2, I first sell 30% of my position—recoup my principal, and I don’t worry about the remaining holdings no matter how they move. When it continues to rise to $3, I sell another 30%. Finally, I keep 40%, setting a trailing stop-loss. If the price drops more than 15% from the peak, I exit completely. This way, I avoid missing the entire rally but also prevent giving back all my profits.

**No bargaining on stop-loss**:

The maximum loss per trade is 5% of total capital. Immediately place a stop order at -10%. Treat it as insurance, not gambling. Market opportunities are everywhere in crypto, but if your principal is lost, there’s no chance to turn things around.

In these eight years, I’ve seen too many stories of overnight riches, and countless people completely wiped out in the rollercoaster of ups and downs. The ones who exit safely are always those who treat trading discipline as their lifeline.