Woken up by my phone vibrating in the middle of the night, I opened my eyes to see a screenshot of an account sent by my cousin — that clueless kid who six months ago took ten thousand yuan to "pay tuition" now has four zeros following his account balance.

To be honest, my level of shock at that time was no less than when I made 500,000 in a single trade that year. There are many people in this circle who make quick money, but those who can steadily magnify small funds have never relied on luck. As someone who has been in this industry for six years, I know all too well how many "get rich quick myths" eventually turn into "total wipeout tragedies." My cousin was able to escape this time simply because he stepped on the pits that I had walked through with real money.

Today I will lay out a few hard-earned lessons, each one comes with a real cost behind it.

**About leverage, don't mistake a knife for wings**

When I first entered the circle, I was also quite inflated. Using 20x leverage, watching the account numbers jump up, I felt like I was on top of the world, almost thinking I was a chosen trader. The most memorable time was in the morning when I increased my position, and by the afternoon, my account had gained 500,000. That night, I called up my friends for skewers, and we were carrying beer by the whole box.

Then reality slapped me in the face. That year, the regulatory policies suddenly tightened, and within less than two hours, my account dropped from six figures to four figures. I stared at the screen refreshing, my fingers numb. Later, I understood a principle: leverage is a double-edged sword; using it to cut meat could also cut yourself. Newbies treat it as an accelerator, but essentially they are risking their principal.

Now my leverage is locked within 3 times, and the position of a single cryptocurrency does not exceed 5% of the total funds. It's not that I've become timid, but I've seen too many people fall.