Eight years ago, I was curled up in a rental room in a city village in Guangzhou, with only a hundred yuan left in my account, too stingy to even buy a 15-yuan rice bowl with toppings. I endured this life for nearly a year and a half. And now? On the balcony of Shenzhen Bay No. 1, looking at the more than 20 million assets in my account, it feels like a dream. But this is not luck; every penny was earned through blood, sweat, and lessons learned.

The most painful lesson happened in 2017. I chased a coin that had risen 300%, and in a moment of impulsiveness, I poured all my money in, only to almost lose everything overnight. I later realized that the manipulator cutting the leeks is not mysterious at all—just a few old tricks.

Watching the movements of manipulators actually leaves clues. Concentrated equity, low prices before a surge to raise funds, small trading volume in the early stages—these are signals. Once a coin surges more than 30% in a short period, then trades sideways at high levels for three or five days, and suddenly drops more than 15% with increased volume, nine times out of ten, the manipulators are pulling out. The historic case of Hui Tao Group in Hong Kong stocks is impressive: the stock price skyrocketed 35 times, then plummeted 97% in a single day, with low-price fundraising in the early stage and quiet selling at high levels. The manipulators netted 200 million HKD and then disappeared. Similar scenes are played out every day in the crypto world, but most people don’t realize they are the ones being cut.

In 2019, I stepped into a pit again. Held mainstream coins at high levels for two months, with decreasing trading volume. I was naive enough to think it was safe, only to see the price drop straight to $12. That time, I truly understood: sideways trading at high levels is actually more terrifying than a plunge.