An eye-opening reality in the industry: 90% of people trading cryptocurrencies don't make money, but the problem is often not technical skill, rather attitude. Many people from the moment they enter the market don't treat this as a serious job.

In the first few years I entered the scene, I experienced all the common rookie mistakes—staying up late watching charts, chasing highs and selling lows, impulsively placing orders. I went through margin calls, insomnia, anxiety—all of it. It wasn't until I did something that seemed counterintuitive that I truly started to make stable profits: treating trading as a job with fixed check-in times.

The following 7 rules are what I’ve accumulated with real money. If beginners follow them, they can at least avoid losing money unnecessarily for a few years.

**Timing is crucial.** I only place orders after 9 PM. During the day, news is chaotic, false breakouts happen frequently, and it’s easy to get chopped. At night, emotions have been fully processed, candlestick patterns are cleaner, and trend judgment is clearer. After forming this habit, my loss rate significantly decreased.

**Profit-taking must be quick.** This is especially important. For example, if I make 1000 USDT, I immediately withdraw 300. Many make the mistake that the numbers in their account are just on paper; real money is only when it’s withdrawn to your wallet or bank card. Greed for a little more often leads to getting trapped.

**Technical indicators are not decorations.** Trading purely on gut feeling is gambling. My approach is to only look at MACD, RSI, and Bollinger Bands—at least two of these indicators must align before entering. This may cause me to miss some opportunities, but it greatly reduces risk.

**Stop-loss execution must be strict.** When I can monitor the market, I raise the stop-loss after profits. When I really don’t have time, I set a hard 3% stop-loss to prevent sudden crashes. Many people lose big because they can’t bear to stop-loss, turning small losses into big ones—that’s the most common fatal mistake.

**Profit-taking is routine.** I take 30%-50% profit on every trade. It may sound like giving up bigger gains, but in reality, it locks in profits. Greed once, and all previous efforts are wasted. I prefer to steadily take some profit each time rather than risking losing everything in a gamble.

**Cycle switching is often overlooked.** Use the 1-hour chart for short-term trades, the 4-hour chart for sideways markets. Ignoring cycle differences is like guessing blindly. The same candlestick pattern can have completely different meanings on different timeframes, which is why many people suffer frequent losses.

**These last few are red lines—absolutely must not touch:** No heavy positions, no high leverage, no trading coins you don’t understand. Trade at most 3 times a day. More importantly, never borrow money to trade. These rules may seem restrictive, but they are actually protecting your principal.

Trading is never about impulsive moves to turn things around; it’s about a set of rules you can stick to long-term. When you start trading at fixed times, placing orders according to a plan, and shutting down when the time’s up, you’ll notice an interesting phenomenon—money no longer depends on luck, but begins to steadily flow in. This feeling is worth every trader experiencing at least once.