At 3:30 AM, my phone kept vibrating nonstop. A fellow crypto trader I’ve known for three years called, his voice trembling: "It’s over... I went all-in with 10,000 USDT long, and it just retraced 3%, my account is gone."

I paused silently for a few seconds. The scene was all too familiar—five years ago, I had also fallen into the same trap. Back then, like him, I thought going all-in was a sign of courage, believing that risking my entire capital made me a true warrior. But after a wave of retracement, my position disappeared, and my faith was shattered.

I asked to see his trading record, and the problem was obvious: he entered with 9,500 USDT full margin, without even setting a stop-loss. That’s a textbook case of "dying from reckless courage." Many people mistakenly believe that going all-in means making big money, but in reality, it’s the fastest way to get out. Going all-in is like holding a knife to your neck—when the market moves against you, it will cut you.

I told him a numbers game. With a 1,000 USDT principal, if you use 900 USDT to leverage 10x, a 5% drop wipes out your account instantly; but if you only use 100 USDT at the same leverage, it takes a 50% drop to get liquidated. The fundamental difference between these two is the "survival space"—that’s the core of position management.

After being repeatedly lessons by the market over the past two years, I’ve distilled three iron rules. First, never risk more than 20% of your total capital on a single trade; this way, losses are just minor scratches. Second, keep each loss within 3%, and don’t gamble on the most promising directions. Third, during market oscillations, prefer to stay out of the market rather than trade recklessly—money can be earned endlessly, but staying alive is the most important.

With these three rules, I survived three major liquidation waves. Not only did I avoid losses, but I grew my account from 7,000 USDT to nearly 40,000. That friend later rebuilt his account based on this framework, and after three months, he told me his account had doubled—finally understanding what "stability" really means.

The cruelest truth of the crypto market is this: you can’t control the market, but you hold the power over your position size. To earn more, you first need to learn how to lose within limits; don’t expect to get rich overnight, first avoid the risk of being wiped out in one night. I’ve been using this strategy for five years—zero liquidation, steady profits. The key is to stay alive first, then make money.