Market trends are constantly changing, and people are keen to chase the next opportunity to get rich.
The blockchain industry has never stopped innovating, with the Crypto and AI booms superimposed, NFT, Memecoin, RWA...
New hot spots and new legends emerge one after another. Some people have experienced their assets increase by A8 overnight but then almost return to zero, and more people are trapped in the dilemma of chasing highs and selling lows.
Nine-year veteran OG Bit Wu @BTW 0205 tells us from his personal experience: After the prosperity, what can truly make you invincible is patience and deep thinking.
He jokingly calls himself an “ancient KOL” and started creating crypto content in 2016. At this stage, his life was going through a trough and his second venture was almost a failure.
But at this moment, the gears of fate turned quietly - he received 40 bitcoins as a reward for outsourcing mining software development. Overnight, his journey in the crypto world began.
This is the Friends of OKX series of dialogue interviews. This series aims to explore the work stories, industry thinking and lessons learned of KOLs from different backgrounds for novice users to learn and refer to.
This issues interviewer is Mercy @Mercy_okx , welcome everyone to follow (*´∀`)~
ICO mania: Overnight success
In 2017, the initial coin offering trend swept the world. Various tokens emerged like mushrooms after rain, and the prices went through a crazy rise.
Bit Wu recalled that at that time, the price increase of copycat tokens far exceeded that of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and tens of thousands of yuan of capital could easily turn into tens of millions.
According to him, the account value had reached billions at the peak of the bull market.
During that time, he would see millions more in his account every day, but he had become numb to it. “After reaching A8 , I no longer felt anything about the millions more in my account.” The illusion of capital made him forget himself for a while, as if success was easy.
But looking back, he found that when everyone around him was immersed in the carnival, the most important thing to do was to stay sober and be wary of the risks brought by the bubble.
Edge of Zero: Madness and Anxiety
As expected, the bubble burst. In 2018, the bear market hit, ICO projects collapsed one after another, countless altcoins went to zero, and his wealth evaporated overnight.
Looking back, Mr. Wu admitted that this round of plunge made him fall into a loss loop - the investment projects lost money, the altcoins lost money, and Bitcoin and Ethereum also lost money when they were exchanged. The more operations he made, the deeper the losses, and he became more and more anxious.
He reviewed the situation: “The more I operated, the more mistakes I made. The more I lost, the more I gambled. The more I gambled, the more afraid I became… Eventually, a complete closed loop of losses was formed.”
The gap from the peak to the bottom caught him off guard. During that period, he tossed and turned and couldnt sleep all night. It was then that he realized that cognition must keep up with market changes and avoid path dependence. Once the previous path to wealth fails, it is necessary to find a new direction.
Reflection and Reconstruction: Finding the “Well Water”
After this devastating blow, Mr. Wu began to establish a systematic trading framework and a method for sustained profitability.
He believes that if you want to survive in the crypto industry for a long time, you must build an anchor point - just like having a self-flowing well that can provide water continuously even in droughts.
During this period, he found that he was able to generate a steady income from the content and advisory channels he had established early on, even when the market was down.
This is equivalent to preparing a well of information for yourself, which can still provide nutrients when the market dries up.
This channel smoothed out the downward cycle for him and became a constant source of water.
In addition, through continuous research and writing, you can constantly verify market hypotheses, deepen your understanding of various mechanisms, and prepare for the next opportunity.
Turbulence and Higher Vigilance
As soon as one wave of losses subsided, another wave arose. An unexpected storm once again tested Mr. Wu’s understanding of the industry, and some of his assets were once again reduced in value.
This accident made him realize that there are two types of risks in trading crypto assets: one is the violent fluctuations of the market itself, and the other is policy and legal risks. In order not to repeat the same mistake, he made a more conservative choice.
Learn to distinguish what are the real core assets, and emphasize that decentralized assets are the ones that truly belong to you.
He believes: “Only by holding Bitcoin can your assets truly belong to you and belong to you for a long time.”
After that, his positions gradually shifted toward Bitcoin, and he basically abandoned all risky bets and stuck to this digital gold.
At the same time, he constantly reviews his experiences and deepens his understanding while producing content. Just like the Feynman Learning Method he advocates, writing itself is a method of in-depth learning. Countless reviews have helped him better control his emotions and continuously optimize his strategies.
Whenever there is a bear market, he would rather hold on and wait for the next bull market to come, and then deploy funds in small batches. This slow and steady approach gradually worked: time allowed him to accumulate more and more bitcoins, and also made him calmer.
Today, he rarely trades, usually only two or three times in a cycle. For him, the real victory is to calmly see the increase in wealth after ten or twenty years.
The truth about “slow is fast”
After experiencing two major asset drawdowns, Mr. Wu summed up his four-word motto - Slow is fast
In his opinion, many people think that only by following up quickly can they seize opportunities, but in fact, industry opportunities emerge in endlessly, and the most difficult thing is to survive and be adequately prepared.
He explained that the slow here does not mean passive waiting, but a well-thought-out and systematic process.
Only by patiently polishing the details and verifying the assumptions can you act decisively when the opportunity comes.
He said it was like watching a cat at home catching a fish: My cat may sometimes wait there for half an hour... Once it puts its hand in, it can catch the fish. I think slow is fast, and this is actually the process.
Observe slowly, think slowly, and strike suddenly when you are fully prepared. True success is not a fluke that happens overnight, but a one-shot victory supported by deep thinking and a tenacious mentality.
Mental training: from anxiety to calmness
In fact, Mr. Wu believes that trading is a combination of deep thinking + rational decision-making + quick action, and mentality is the foundation.
In the last bull market, he suffered heavy losses due to frequent trading due to excessive anxiety.
At that time, some changes will occur in the body, it will be difficult to sleep, and the mood will not be good; after being anxious, you will want to make operations... The result of anxiety is loss.
This experience has honed him into the state of a meditative Zen master, and market fluctuations can no longer easily affect his emotions.
As he said: The last round of anxiety made me feel more pain, so I am not anxious this time.
With this calmness, he can observe the market calmly. Even though many people around him are trading frequently and betting on the market, he insists on putting 80 to 90 percent of his funds in mainstream currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and only uses a small amount of ant warehouse to participate in and sense hot spots.
Not everyone can handle the rhythm of frequent trading. For Bit Wu, he is more suitable to identify the pattern in each alternation between bull and bear markets and do low-frequency trend trading.
Of course, he also suggested that every trader should find a track that suits him or her and not blindly follow the trading methods of others.
OKX Financial Management and Diversified Allocation
At the strategic tool level, Mr. Wu has always practiced the concept of slow is fast.
First, he emphasized the importance of stable financial products: Financial management can ensure that your assets can still grow well in a bear market, and the OKX coin earning product line does a good job. In other words, in a bear market or sideways market, using coin earning products such as fixed income or dual currency to allow assets to grow by themselves is the key to maintaining wealth.
About 80% of the funds in his own portfolio are allocated to mainstream assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the remaining 10%-20% are spread across stablecoin earning and dual-currency strategies.
He most often uses the Yubibao (simple earning coins) and Dual Currency Win on the OKX platform. For example, in the face of the recent surge in Bitcoin, he once placed a dual-currency strategy based on a single currency: setting a target selling price for Bitcoin (for example, 108,000), the annualized return can reach 20%.
In this way, once Bitcoin rises to the target price, he can earn higher returns; if the market goes down, he will convert the funds into USDT dual currency to obtain profits.
Simply put, through financial management tools, you can make your funds move on their own, earn considerable interest in a stable manner, and stay away from the complicated chasing of rising and falling prices.
Not only limited to crypto assets, he is also making hedging arrangements across markets. For example, he recently bought some gold to fight against the risk of fiat currency inflation; at the same time, he is also optimistic about the long-term opportunities of the US technology stock index.
He believes that the future technological waves (AI, biotechnology, etc.) will most likely still be borne by the leading US stocks, and buying US stocks should be a very good choice in the next ten or twenty years.
Based on these judgments, he almost never touches futures contracts and high leverage in the exchange. He believes that normal people cannot control leverage of more than one times.
All in all, his overall strategy now is: patiently hoard coins + earn stable returns + moderate hedging.
Although this strategy is slow-paced, it brings steady returns and allows him to always keep sufficient chips in a bear market, so that he can be in the best position to welcome the next wave of increases.
Last words
In Teacher Wu, I seemed to see the calmness and composure of a light boat has passed through thousands of mountains. From his experience, I felt that there is no shortcut on the road of trading, only steady progress.
In the ever-changing world of Web3, don’t rush to follow the trend, but carefully build your own underlying framework, path and mentality. When the next opportunity comes, you will be able to seize it.
Do you have similar ups and downs? What is your trading philosophy? Feel free to share your stories and insights in the comments section! Premium content will give you three sets of the latest OKX peripherals~
If you also agree with the wisdom of slow is fast, please like and forward this article so that more people can see Teacher Wus practice and thinking and grow together~
Disclaimer
This article is for reference only. This article only represents the authors views and does not represent the position of OKX. This article is not intended to provide (i) investment advice or investment recommendations; (ii) an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or hold digital assets; (iii) financial, accounting, legal or tax advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such information. Holding digital assets (including stablecoins and NFTs) involves high risks and may fluctuate significantly. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is suitable for you based on your financial situation. Please consult your legal/tax/investment professionals for your specific situation. Please be responsible for understanding and complying with local applicable laws and regulations.
