After three margin calls, I finally understand a principle—less is more.

At the end of last year, a college classmate came to see me in the middle of the night. His account only had 2,700 USDT left and asked if I could help him turn things around and break even. I didn’t talk about technical indicators; I only gave him three trading rules written with blood.

Three months later, he sent me a screenshot: the account grew to 51,400 USDT, all without a single liquidation.

Today, I’m sharing this methodology. How much you can learn from it depends on how much you respect the market.

**Rule 1: Divide your principal into three parts; only then can you talk about profits**

Split 2,700 USDT into 3 parts, each 900 USDT, and never touch them.

The first part is for short-term trades. Make at most two trades per day, and immediately close the software after opening a position. Even one extra second of hesitation counts as greed—that’s the truth.

The second part is for trend positions. If the weekly chart doesn’t show a bullish alignment or a volume breakout above the previous high, then pretend to be dead. Moving aimlessly in a choppy market is no different from throwing money away.

The third part is for backup. When the market spikes or margin gets tight, use this to add to your position. As long as the green mountains remain, you won’t worry about firewood—this refers to your principal, not your account balance.

A liquidation is just losing a finger; having your principal wiped out is like losing your head. Without capital, even if the next bull market arrives, it’s of no concern to you.

**Rule 2: Only trade the middle of the trend; sleep the rest of the time**

I was liquidated nine times in choppy markets before I understood this.

First, when the daily moving averages are not in a bullish alignment, go completely flat. Don’t waste time worrying about “Did I miss it?”

Then, only enter a position with one-third of your first part when there’s a volume breakout above the previous high and the daily chart stabilizes.

Once in, if your floating profit reaches 30% of your principal, take half of the gains immediately. For the remaining part, set a 10% trailing stop to let your bullets fly a bit longer.

Markets are like fish—just catch the middle part; leave the head and tail for others to brag about. This isn’t conservatism; it’s wisdom for longer survival. Mainstream coins like BTC, ETH, SOL follow this logic too; their volatility patterns are similar.

**Rule 3: Execute your plan mechanically, let the system be your villain**

Before trading, write a plan and execute it like a machine:

Set stop-loss at 3%—automatic close when hit, no excuses to “wait a bit longer.” The human brain is most prone to illusions when losing money; automation is the best remedy.

When floating profit hits 10%, move your stop-loss to your cost price. Even if the market reverses later, it’s risk-free. Any subsequent gains are pure profit.

Shut down your trading app promptly at midnight every night. If you can’t sleep, just uninstall the app. The longer you stare at the screen, the more chaotic your mindset becomes; the more chaotic, the faster you lose money. This is a blood-and-tears lesson learned from the market.

It sounds simple, but I only arrived at these three rules after three margin calls and two all-nighters.

The market is always waiting for you, but your capital won’t stay around just to let you repeat your mistakes. First, keep your life safe; the rest—wave theories, indicators, mystical methods—can be studied slowly.

I don’t sell courses or earn commissions; I just want to carve the lessons of an old veteran into a signpost. If these can help you avoid some detours, then all my sleepless nights weren’t in vain.

Wishing everyone to safely bring their principal back. The remaining explosive profits—leave them to time and luck.