Last week, I received a bank notification for a deposit. Looking at that extra eight-digit figure, I didn’t celebrate right away. Instead, I deleted all the market apps from my phone—this market has finally been endured, but I’m truly scared now.

After eight years in Hangzhou, I went from a fresh-faced newcomer with a full head of hair to a seasoned crypto veteran with a receding hairline and deep eye bags. When I entered the market in 2016 with $5,000, I couldn’t even tell the difference between the red and green candles on a chart. I just relied on sheer determination and refused to give up. I never took shortcuts or believed in those “get rich quick” schemes. I only used the dumbest method: reviewing 100 trades without fail every day, breaking down every operation to the minute, even noting down the fake moves of the big players.

Getting liquidated? That’s just normal. The worst time, I lost three years’ savings in a single week, hid in my rented room eating instant noodles, staring at Hangzhou’s nightscape outside the window, and almost packed up to go back home.

But it’s exactly these hard-earned lessons that helped me understand the underlying logic of the market—wealth never comes from luck, but from turning insight into returns. Today, I want to share a few of my most valuable takeaways. Hope they help you avoid detours, so you don’t pay with both your youth and your wallet:

Trading volume is the market’s “truth”; price is just “acting”

Many people focus on price charts, chasing rallies and panicking in selloffs. But price is like an actor’s face—unpredictable and ever-changing. What really matters is trading volume.