If you want to make money in the crypto world, the first lesson is not choosing coins, but learning not to lose money.

Recently, my friend Akai came to reconcile accounts with me. I pulled up our chat records from half a year ago, and the screen was full of his despair—his account had dropped from the highest point to 20,000 USD, and every message was asking, "Bro, is there still hope for me?" Now, he has 140,000 USD sitting in his account, and his whole demeanor has changed.

When he first approached me in November last year, he was in this state: he would go all-in whenever a big influencer called a trade, enter the market on instinct when prices dove, panic-sell at small gains, and stubbornly hold on when prices fell. After this series of actions, only a quarter of his account remained.

He asked me with red eyes, "Is there still a chance? I want to recover my money."

I poured cold water on him: "Don’t think about making money now, just focus on surviving."

**The Core Trap of Continuous Losses**

His biggest problem is actually a common flaw among retail investors—when they lose money, they’re unwilling to cut losses, always thinking it will bounce back. But the harsh reality is: once assets lose more than 50%, it typically takes over 120 days to recover to the original cost. During this waiting period, how many market opportunities have been missed? How many better chances have been overlooked?

The highest cost in the crypto world is never transaction fees, but time. Passive waiting to break even may seem safe, but the opportunity cost paid is terrifying. Behavioral finance calls this the "disposition effect"—being reluctant to take profits when winning, stubbornly holding on to losing positions. It’s human instinct to dislike losses, but successful traders understand one key principle: cut losses early, and reallocate the remaining funds to more promising opportunities.

**Frequent Trading Accelerates Losses**

The first thing Akai changed was to break his trading addiction. He used to trade several times a day just out of impatience, but the more he traded, the more he lost. Data shows that low-frequency traders have much higher annualized returns than those who trade intraday frequently. Calm down, set clear trading rules—when to enter, when to exit, what risk level to accept—this is the way to survive.

His current strategy is simple: manage risk well, follow discipline, don’t gamble on market trends, only gamble on his own execution. The turnaround from 20,000 USD to 140,000 USD was achieved through this kind of change.