After eight years in this market, the most unforgettable experience has to be the 2017 altcoin frenzy.

That year, I set my sights on ADA, gradually buying in from 3 cents. Who would have thought that in just under 90 days, it would skyrocket to $1.20, ballooning my account nearly 40 times—that feeling was like winning the lottery.

Every morning, the first thing I did was open the app to check the prices, watching the zeros behind my balance jump up one by one. In my head, I was already planning to pay cash for my dream house. But that’s how people are—when you’re making money, you always think you can wait a little longer. Then ADA suddenly plunged, crashing all the way down to 20 cents, wiping out 80% of my profits in an instant, and my house-buying plans went up in smoke.

It was after that setback that I truly understood a simple truth: getting in is easy, but getting out is where the real skill lies.

Later, I figured out a system that suits regular folks—you don’t have to stare at the screen all day, and you can still control your risk.

First, about taking profits—I use a “laddered selling” approach.

Say a coin goes from $1 to $2. I’ll sell 30% at $2 to get my principal back, so even if it crashes later, I won’t lose money. If it goes to $3, I sell another 30%, and set a trailing stop on the remaining 40%. If the price pulls back 15% from the peak, it auto-sells. This way, you catch the main uptrend but avoid riding it all the way down.

As for stop-losses—I have a strict rule: never lose more than 5% of my principal on a single trade.

Every time I buy, I immediately set a conditional order with a 10% stop-loss, which is like buying insurance for the trade. Don’t be afraid of missing out—there’s always opportunity in crypto, but if you lose your principal, there’s no coming back.

Over the years, I’ve heard countless stories about getting rich overnight, but even more about people losing everything on the rollercoaster. The ones who really make money are those who stick to their discipline.

I remember once after a stop-loss, the coin doubled in the short term, and my friends joked that I was too cautious. Three months later, it went to zero—surviving in this market is always more important than making a quick buck.