Back when I first got into the circle, I thought I knew what I wanted. Actually, I wanted nothing — just to get rich quickly.

The logic of holding coins and lying back to win sounds beautiful. But in reality? If your principal is small, relying on compound interest to double your funds is too slow. Missing out on a cycle is like wasting years in vain. Even more frustrating is that projects talking about long-term value this year can suddenly disappear without a trace. That’s when I realized, time simply cannot wait.

Later, I turned to contracts. My initial reason wasn’t for the thrill, but purely for efficiency. Trading contracts on major coins like BTC and ETH allows quick validation of whether your judgment is right. If you’re wrong, there’s no need to dwell — just cut losses, keep your funds alive, unlike being stuck in trash coins with no way out. Perpetual contracts don’t fundamentally change the scale of risk, but they do change the speed of entry. They enable retail investors to run at the same pace as big funds for the first time, which is actually very crucial.

But there’s a condition here, or you could say a line of life and death — you can only trade mainstream coins.

Altcoin contracts? That’s not trading, that’s sacrifice. When the project disappears, all your technical analysis, candlestick models, and risk control strategies become a joke. And then blaming the contract tool when you lose? Stop it. Tools never kill people; greed and ignorance do. I’ve blown up before too, and that moment made me realize — it’s not the market that loses, it’s your own perception.

Over the years, traders who have survived, whether trading spot or contracts, have actually followed one iron rule: bet where there’s broad consensus, then lock in the risk. Don’t think you can make up for poor judgment by adding leverage.

So, contracts themselves aren’t the devil; they’re like a mirror that reveals your true face. When used on mainstream coins like BTC and ETH, they amplify your judgment — an amplifier of your decision-making. When used on third-rate coins, they become an accelerator for losing money.

Finally, I ask you: are you really trading, or just gambling? If you can’t figure out this question, no matter which market activity you’re in, the outcome is pretty much the same.