Diary of a Retail Investor ②: The bull market is here, yet someone is quietly crying
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Diary of a Retail Investor ②: The bull market is here, yet someone is quietly crying
Someone always has to pay for the feast, but I didn't expect to be the waiter.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Leek, Foresight News
Stimulated by the major利好 of easing tariffs between China and the US, BTC surged to 106,000 USD, ETH skyrocketed 40% in three days and briefly topped Douyin's trending list. Established altcoins and MEME coins flourished amid the rally, with daily green candles exceeding 30% becoming commonplace. Those who rode the wave are ecstatic; those holding no positions feel dizzy and disoriented. Coin holders have once again profited handsomely.
One friend told me: "When I went out for dinner last night, walking down the street, I suddenly felt like the world was mine. I spent $300 on a meal, then checked my exchange account afterward—up $3,000. It’s like spending without spending anything at all. That’s the confidence crypto gives me!"
I opened my wallet homepage, refreshed my balance several times, and never replied to my friend again.
Degen Teaches Me a Lesson
On May 13, I spent the entire morning trading DEGEN on 20x leverage, capitalizing on its surge. Coincidentally, DEGEN literally translates to "gambler." Originally promoted by Vitalik as the reward token for Farcaster—a Web3 social app—and as the native token of the Degen L3 chain, it performed well in 2024 (which I bought at the peak). But after more than a year of steady decline, in my view, its technological foundation and backing investors have lost relevance, transforming it into just another pre-pump "high-quality" altcoin.
Last night before bed, I already noticed signs of DEGEN attempting to break out from the lower ranks of the gainers list, but drowsiness made me sleep and I missed it. Waking up at 7:30 this morning, I saw a massive bullish candle breaking records, topping the gainers list. I broke down emotionally, chased the rally with 20x leverage, and bravely stood at the summit feeling the wind.
After cutting losses, seeing correction signals in BTC and other majors, I resentfully shorted, monitoring the volatile market while repeatedly swinging between profit and loss. Finally, I quickly closed the position half a minute before the actual downturn began—immediately regretting it—and continued shorting. But every time the price rebounded, I panicked and exited early. So despite a 20% pullback in DEGEN and being mostly short, I still failed to earn significant profits.
In the end, BTC rebounded, yet I kept mechanically shorting DEGEN. After DEGEN violently surged within minutes, I could only stand there emotionally shattered, forced to cut at a loss. Upon reviewing, I had lost 50% of my contract position after a busy morning.
Similar losses have cycled through multiple times these past few days.
While the entire internet shouts "Bull is back, hurry up!", a group of perpetual futures traders like myself stare blankly at liquidation emails. They aren't ordinary retail investors—they're evolved "contrarian gene" money-losers, enacting with real funds the loss philosophy: "When others are greedy, I'm greedier; when others lose a little, I go bankrupt."
They weld the words "never admit mistakes" onto their trading accounts. "Liquidation equals stop-loss" isn't a joke here. At BTC 86,000, opening shorts, they firmly believe they’re "Soros reincarnated"; when BTC breaks 90,000, they loudly predict technical corrections ahead. When BTC surpasses 100k, their voices grow quieter, yet despite nearly zero red-filled positions, they still cling on desperately.
Opening position logs reveals terrifying frequency among these manual traders—Buy/Sell markers densely packed every 15 minutes on individual charts. Yet analysis shows far greater losses than gains. When they eloquently analyze Powell, US stocks, Treasuries, gold movements, only to later wipe tears upon seeing liquidation notices, they say: "See? I told you institutions would dump—it’s just that I entered too early!"
The most vivid case remains the "position-holding veteran" in my futures group who, when BTC broke 100,000 USD, transferred all his USDT to a shady exchange and immediately opened a 500x short. He live-streamed his holding diary daily in the group:
"Day 1: Margin left 70%, Bollinger Band top divergence, RSI overbought, Air Force One assembling";
"Day 2: Top-up margin with wedding anniversary red envelope. Wife scolds me for going crazy over crypto. What does she know anyway";
"Day 3: Last message before liquidation: 'It's all exchange needle spikes—I'm going to file a complaint'."
After liquidation, the veteran actually felt relieved: "Now it's better—no need to explain why my phone stays lit at 3 a.m. every day."
Another Gen-Z coin buddy boasted to me: "I never look at K-lines when trading futures—only sentiment indicators: when others shout 'charge,' I short; when others shout 'short,' I charge. It's thrilling—like bungee jumping without a safety harness!"
Yet on the night ETH surged, he grew his 300U principal to 5,000U in half an hour via rolling positions. His screenshot hadn’t even warmed up in the group chat when 15 minutes later he posted: "Guys, goodbye—I’m liquidated."
Every bull market resembles a grand Ponzi dance, everyone stepping on K-lines. Those crying over liquidation messages, those disappointed amid the celebration—are not unintelligent, but blinded by greed—stop-loss, leverage, risk. Before the real numbers of profit/loss wildly fluctuate, we must admit: we all get mentally overwhelmed.
Therefore, whenever you’re about to share your profit screenshot, that’s often the best moment to actually cash out.
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