The threshold for making money in the crypto world, frankly, is whether you can control your greed.

Many people have suffered losses not because they don't understand stop-loss, but because they can't get over that mental hurdle—wanting to hold on and turn things around after a loss, or waiting for a rebound when the market drops. They talk about discipline and risk control, but in practice, they always want to gamble a bit more. Watching unrealized losses grow bigger, they deceive themselves into thinking "just a little more time and I'll break even." But that's not persistence; that's greed choking you.

I’ve also stayed up late watching charts, chasing gains and cutting losses, losing money faster than I could earn it at work. Later, I found a way to stabilize this—only trade signals I fully understand, and ignore anything that seems tempting but isn’t clear, never making reckless moves.

These are lessons learned with real money:

**Trading Time Is Critical**
During the day, market information explodes, and price movements are chaotic like a headless fly. After 9 PM, fewer market participants, and the trend becomes clearer, making it easier to identify direction.

**Build a System of Indicators**
Never trust intuition; it’s the most deceptive thing. Before entering a trade, at least three indicators should signal the same direction: MACD golden/death cross, RSI overbought/oversold, Bollinger Bands contracting or opening. When two or more indicators agree, it’s worth considering entering.

**Learn to Use Stop-Loss Effectively**
When you can monitor the market constantly, move your stop-loss up with each upward wave to lock in profits. When you can’t watch the charts all the time, set a hard stop-loss (like 3%) and walk away—don’t leave any room for surprises.

**Two Uses of Candlestick Charts**
For short-term trading, wait until two consecutive candles in the 1-hour chart point in the same direction before following. This filters out many false signals. If the direction isn’t clear, switch to the 4-hour chart to find support and resistance levels, and act when near key levels.

**Avoid These Types of Coins**
Coins driven purely by emotion tend to rise wildly and fall just as fiercely. You might think you’re chasing opportunities, but in reality, you’re just grabbing chips held by others.

Final words: In this market, giving up unrealistic fantasies is harder than admitting mistakes. Greed can cause you to lose all your profits for the month in one go, but a good stop-loss can protect your gains for an entire month. True experts aren’t those who earn the most, but those who lose the least and survive the longest.