Interview with Jeff Ma: The Three-Year A9 Journey of the 2004 Genius Trader
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Interview with Jeff Ma: The Three-Year A9 Journey of the 2004 Genius Trader
Another trading prodigy rises.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsThe crypto world never seems short of young, brilliant traders—like today’s interviewee, Jeff Ma.
A university student, he achieved an asset leap from A6 to A9 in just three years. Though he once faced debt and liquidation, he still pushed his personal asset peak to RMB 1 billion. His growth trajectory is nothing short of legendary—fuelled by a high-leverage rolling position strategy that enabled exponential wealth growth. Having competed multiple times in Bitget trading contests, he earned strong results—but behind those dazzling numbers lie countless sleepless nights, 24/7 rotating market monitoring under intense pressure, and repeated resilience rising back from liquidations.
Through this conversation, BlockBeats aims to reconstruct Jeff Ma’s trading system. He is both an aggressive trader unafraid to go all-in with 40x leverage—and a disciplined fund manager acutely aware of risk control. He acknowledges luck’s role in wealth accumulation, yet emphasizes the value of discipline and systematic thinking. This is not a “get-rich-quick” fairy tale, but rather the story of a young trader navigating, stumbling, and continuously evolving within a high-risk market. Below is the full transcript:
From CS:GO Item Arbitrage to Crypto Trading
Q: You’re a young trader born in 2004. What sparked a university student’s deep passion for trading?
Jeff Ma: I’m entirely self-taught—I built my entire trading system on my own. I genuinely love trading; only authentic passion can sustain you over the long haul and deliver the biggest results. If you don’t truly love trading, you won’t succeed—you must love this industry.
I started out trading CS:GO skins. But that market is quite limited—shallow depth, and tightly controlled by the game developer. If Valve—the company behind CS:GO—decides to crack down on scalpers or arbitrageurs, it can simply issue a bearish policy, wiping out massive market value overnight.
So initially, I was very cautious—I didn’t jump straight into bulk trading. Instead, I first studied cross-regional arbitrage opportunities. I noticed CS:GO had regional pricing disparities, and Argentina was a low-price region at the time. Cross-regional arbitrage isn’t as easy now as it used to be, but back then, whenever Valve released new official items, I’d use a USD-linked card to buy a cross-regional account and purchase official game items at lower cost. After the 7+7-day trade cooldown period ended, I’d immediately sell—simple brick-moving arbitrage, identical in logic to exchange-based arbitrage in crypto.
At first, I bought these items for personal use—to play the game myself—only later realizing they could be resold. Then came a major CS:GO update (now rebranded as CS2), and I made nearly a 30% profit in one go. That moment clicked: this game could actually generate real money—more practical than anything taught in university. I began researching how to earn even more—it became my fastest path to improving my life.
Many of my classmates were preparing for graduate school entrance exams or civil service tests—pursuing stable careers. But I sensed the macro environment was deteriorating. I realized I needed to do something different—not follow the crowd. The knowledge taught in school felt low-value to me. I needed to become a rare, irreplaceable talent—doing things others couldn’t imitate or replicate. Trading fit that perfectly. Later, a friend introduced me to crypto, and I gradually transitioned into crypto trading.
Q: You’ve mentioned you first entered trading by copy-trading a legendary trader known as “Dreaming of a Million Since Childhood.” For a novice trader, identifying genuinely skilled professionals among thousands is extremely difficult. How did you spot him? What metrics convinced you he was worth following—return rate, win rate, max drawdown, or something else?
Jeff Ma: Yes—a friend introduced me to the space, and I started copy-trading “Dreaming of a Million Since Childhood,” the legendary trader I referenced earlier.
That friend entered the space early and watched “Dreaming of a Million Since Childhood” grow from a tiny capital base. Crucially, even during his lowest point—his worst-performing phase—he only suffered a 50% drawdown, never liquidation. That’s critically important.
By then, he already managed large-scale copy-trading volumes. Many followers criticized him during drawdowns, so he shut down all public channels. Ironically, right after he went dark, his performance skyrocketed.
He specialized in right-side breakout trading—with outstanding return and drawdown metrics. At the time, I didn’t yet understand “rolling positions,” but his swing trading was exceptional: narrow-stop, right-side breakout strategies. Except in rare cases, he consistently applied tight stop-losses. I’ve kept that core idea—but now adjust take-profit levels dynamically based on market conditions.
He withdrew from public view about a year ago. His final iconic trade occurred just before stepping away—BTC hovered around $72,000–$74,000, and he shorted at $72,000. BTC later dropped below $50,000. Though he exited early, that was his last open position before vanishing. I still remember it clearly.
After that, he completely disappeared—no longer offering copy-trading services publicly or privately. To date, there’s been no sign of his return; he’s effectively untraceable.
He traded only BTC and ETH—that’s what I admire most. Only these two assets truly test raw skill: altcoins may involve insider information or manipulative “whales” deliberately attracting retail copy-traders, turning followers into liquidity traps. But Bitcoin doesn’t work that way—trading BTC and ETH is pure, head-to-head skill competition.
Q: Copy-trading and independent trading are fundamentally different tiers. How did you evolve from passive copy-trader to an independent trader who understands—and replicates—the underlying logic? Also, after one liquidation, you began studying options trading. Options remain highly challenging even for finance-trained professionals. As a non-finance background youth, how did you self-learn this domain? Through which specific channels? Which books or courses did you study? How long did it take—from zero knowledge to live deployment of options strategies?
Jeff Ma: Simply put: learn from books, learn from successful people, and learn from the market itself.
I read widely—books and videos—and selected a trading system matching my personal style. When others recommended books, I found “Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques” sufficient for pure technical analysis—akin to what many call “naked price action” trading. To me, that’s the best technical indicator: raw candlestick patterns.
I never learn from people who haven’t achieved tangible results. Many “teachers” lack big wins themselves—they merely retell others’ stories, like Livermore or some legendary trader. Without hands-on experience—or without achieving extraordinary results—I refuse to learn from them. I’d rather trade myself—even if I lose—because at least I’m a practitioner.
I learned quickly because I practiced with small capital while studying. After that liquidation, I wasn’t focused on slow recovery—I urgently sought a superior strategy to rebuild a stronger trading system.
I discovered options offered extremely high returns—especially weekly expiries—but carried commensurate risk. So my learning capacity exploded, and I mastered and deployed options practically within an extremely short timeframe.
I’ll admit I likely have some natural aptitude—and yes, timing played a role: some newly learned strategies succeeded immediately in that market environment. Honestly, I hadn’t expected profits to materialize so fast; luck was definitely involved. Otherwise, when I first started learning options with minimal capital, I went all-in—buying only 1–3 day expiry weekly options, mostly out-of-the-money, not in-the-money.
But I didn’t want my orders monitored by others. Even large funds executing spot or perpetual contracts often use “iceberg orders”—splitting large orders into smaller chunks executed incrementally, hiding true intent from on-chain or exchange data. That’s essential protection for large capital.
Q: You’ve mentioned using 40x leverage for ETH rolling positions—and hitting A7 via BTC rolling positions in February 2024, then breaking through A8 via ETH rolling positions in November 2024. While lucrative, rolling positions carry extreme risk. Could you detail your rolling logic? Specifically: how do you select entry points? How do you set stop-loss and take-profit? Under what market conditions do you activate rolling? And how do you manage position sizing per trade?
Jeff Ma: My core rolling logic starts with heavy left-side bottom-fishing—confidently deploying large positions—not averaging in, but aggressively entering futures contracts near bottoms. Often, I’ve already accumulated spot positions, and as the market keeps falling, I convert spot to coin-margined or USDT-margined futures and enter heavily again. Realistic leverage for such heavy entries is typically 5x–10x.
Then, rolling means adding positions on floating profits—if the market bottoms and rebounds, and I’ve caught the absolute bottom, I add as it rises. I decide based on technical indicators, fundamentals, and macro factors.
Add-ons are usually half the size of the initial position. Earlier, I was more aggressive—adding half or even equal to the base position. Whether using 40x leverage or BTC rolling in February 2024, I employed the most aggressive rolling strategy possible. Now, I’d call it “floating-profit scaling”—not true rolling—because I’ve significantly scaled back; additions are much smaller.
For stop-loss and take-profit: with BTC, I often set breakeven stops once floating profit hits 1–2%, placing the stop slightly above my entry. With BTC currently around $100, that’s basically just covering fees. If the trade goes wrong, my principal remains untouched—floating-profit scaling feels like waking from a dream. I’ve recently rolled positions too—and failed.
Crucially, my biggest gains come from single-directional trends—not swing trading, scalping, or intraday trades—but from major trend moves. Rolling delivers the highest returns—but also the deepest losses. Consecutive stop-outs would be excruciating.
Beyond rolling, another frequent strategy is swing trading—holding positions for several days, not intraday—with risk-reward ratios around 1.5–3. Again, tight stops: ~1% for BTC, 1.5–2% for ETH. Current allocation: 60% spot, 20% futures, 20% options.
Why I Chose Bitget
Q: You’ve participated in multiple Bitget trading contests—for example, placing 4th in the 2025 Bitget King Cup Global Invitational (KCGI) and 60th in the 2024 KCGI. How did these competitions help improve your trading ability? Did Bitget’s contest mechanics, leaderboard systems, and real-time verification features help build your trading credibility?
Jeff Ma: Participating repeatedly in Bitget contests gave me one overwhelming impression—not how strong I am, but how abundantly talented this market is. You’ll see countless elite traders on leaderboards—but the real question is: can talent survive long-term here? Many win briefly, then fade.
I constantly remind myself of Liang Xi’s case. Before his liquidation, he was undeniably one of the market’s most gifted traders—but he hasn’t returned to that form since. To me, that proves a vital point: trading isn’t just about scoring one win—it’s about preserving that result. Money is infinite, but losses happen fast. Without timely profit-locking, even the prettiest equity curve can vanish in one失控 moment.
In these contests, I’ve seen too many peers and so-called “genius traders”—most are flashes in the pan, unable to endure long-term. That sharpens my awareness: there’s always someone better, somewhere higher. I don’t consider myself the top-tier trader—but I’ve learned when to attack aggressively, and when to adopt relatively conservative strategies amid higher uncertainty—never chasing maximum returns at all costs.
As for the contests themselves, they’ve indeed helped boost personal visibility and trading credibility. Many exchanges run regular futures-related events, but Bitget’s contests stand out in mechanism and format—not just rankings, but integrated leaderboards and real-time verification systems making results visible and verifiable. Their incentive design is also diverse—not just cash prizes, but points redeemable for USDT, smartphones, luxury merchandise, or travel rewards. Recent events even featured LV physical prizes—making trading feel less like cold number-crunching and more like an immersive, holistic experience—easier to retain top traders in the ecosystem.
Q: With numerous crypto exchanges—including Binance, OKX, Bybit—all mainstream choices, what led you to choose Bitget as your primary platform? From a high-frequency trader’s perspective, what unique advantages does Bitget offer in product design, order book depth, slippage control, funding rates, etc.? Also, you previously mentioned in a video that you no longer recommend MetaMask, preferring Bitget Wallet instead—what makes Bitget Wallet better?
Jeff Ma: I avoid declaring one exchange “superior.” More accurately: which exchange best fits my current trading habits and capital scale? Binance, OKX, and Bybit are all mature, leading platforms—each with strengths. In functional coverage, Bitget has now integrated a Tradestation-like system, launching its TradFi section—offering U.S. stock indices, gold, silver, and commodities trading—similar to Bybit.
What truly keeps me long-term at Bitget isn’t any single feature—but overall stability and cost efficiency. First, Bitget runs frequent activities—trading contests, incentives, loyalty programs—all sustained over time. Second, their service responsiveness—speed and quality of support—is noticeably smoother, which matters immensely for high-frequency trading. When your pace is rapid, every minor friction gets magnified.
From a pure trading standpoint—depth, slippage control, fee structure—I find Bitget feels closer to a mature centralized exchange. In contrast, many on-chain perpetual DEXs offer transparency advantages—public, verifiable data, rankings, and trades—but everyone sees the results, not the person behind them. Practically, I also notice on-chain products still struggle to fully replace CEXs—especially for larger capital—whether in fee structures or execution efficiency.
Regarding wallets: I’ve previously noted in videos that I don’t recommend frequently using general hot wallets like MetaMask. For large capital, I still use cold wallets—e.g., imToken. For daily operations, I limit myself to a few stable, purpose-built wallets—like Bitget Wallet.
One key advantage of Bitget Wallet is its seamless integration with real-world spending. Its native USDT card works effortlessly for micro-transactions—e.g., everyday expenses under $200 can be paid directly, eliminating frequent withdrawals. Standard international cards—Visa or Mastercard—typically charge ~3% fees, whereas the USDT card saves that cost entirely—spend-and-go, simple and efficient.
Also, Bitget Wallet features an “Earn Center,” regularly launching airdrops and light-engagement activities. I occasionally join—and recommend them to followers too. Sometimes we get “rekt” (laughs), but overall, participation thresholds are low and UX smooth—easy to complete passively. These features aren’t core for me, but collectively, they create a more complete, cohesive user experience.
Q: What conveniences has Bitget brought you? How specifically does Bitget support outstanding traders?
Jeff Ma: I’ve attended multiple Bitget-organized offline events—well-run, content-rich. For instance, the City Station series—I joined the Shanghai edition. It launched in Changsha, then Chengdu, then Shanghai. For me, the value lies not in format, but in genuine interaction—sitting down with peers to discuss trading, markets, in a comfortable atmosphere that meaningfully expands cognitive boundaries.
Offline, you realize participants aren’t all crypto-native. Some peers primarily trade U.S. equities or manage institutional capital—crypto may not even be their largest allocation. Conversing with them reveals valuable cross-market logic and perspectives—how they assess macro cycles, screen assets, or allocate across asset classes. These insights rarely hand you direct answers—but provide invaluable reference points for future decisions.
Bitget’s support for top traders and high-net-worth users is also well-structured. VIP-tier users receive targeted activities and privileges—e.g., complimentary tickets to Singapore F1 or Token2049 in September–October; recent plans include island getaway trips. Even VIP3 members receive regular airdrops and exclusive perks. This support isn’t one-off—it’s sustained, delivering noticeable benefits for users actively and consistently trading on the platform.
How New Traders Can Build Trading Discipline
Q: You founded MaShen Capital—a significant shift from individual trader to fund manager. What’s MaShen Capital’s current AUM and team size? What’s your future roadmap? What role do you envision MaShen Capital playing in the crypto investment landscape?
Jeff Ma: I’m extremely selective about partners—only collaborating with people I know personally offline, especially for substantial capital. Negotiating fund partnerships via internet or DMs is absolutely off-limits—it’s my hard line. Exact AUM isn’t disclosed externally. Currently, I have one partner—but I remain the sole portfolio manager and execution lead.
In positioning, I never benchmark against institutions or individuals. My only competitor is myself. Whether in crypto, U.S. equities, gold, or commodities—I care solely whether this year’s metrics beat last year’s. Even if returns don’t rise, smaller drawdowns and tighter risk controls signify progress.
As capital scales, trading inevitably changes. Personally, I could go all-in, load up, act aggressively—but managing external capital makes that unacceptable. Risk control becomes paramount. Not losing money already beats most participants in any market; sustaining 20% annualized returns is already fund-grade excellence. Of course, I still care about returns—but now, priority shifts to hedging and portfolio restructuring—keeping max drawdown under 20%.
Q: As a 21-year-old who reached A9, what advice do you have for newcomers? How can they avoid the pitfalls you experienced? What core traits define an excellent crypto trader? What percentage of your current trading ability comes from books/courses versus market “tuition”? Which stage—A6 to A9—was hardest to break through?
Jeff Ma: First: always avoid liquidation. The most direct method? Set your stop-loss before opening any position—and enforce it strictly. Many failed trades stem not from wrong analysis—but broken discipline: canceling stops mid-downtrend, or constantly trailing stops downward. Even if price eventually recovers, that trade fails—it breaks your system.
Second: don’t misinterpret high leverage. Many see nominal 100x/150x/200x leverage and equate it to going all-in. But most professional traders use cross-margin mode. E.g., with 100x leverage, opening just 1% position size yields only 1x effective leverage. High leverage’s purpose is capital efficiency—enabling concurrent multi-asset exposure—not amplifying risk.
On learning paths: I believe technical analysis needn’t be overly complex. “Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques” alone suffices for foundational mastery. More crucially, build macro literacy—basic macro/microeconomics, plus sensitivity to key events: interest rate hikes/cuts, FOMC meetings, geopolitical conflicts—all directly impact asset prices, e.g., war boosting gold.
From A6 to A7, frankly, luck played a big role. I’d just learned rolling—and hit BTC’s primary bull run starting from $40,000, scaling profits perfectly with the trend. But A8 to A9? That’s unquestionably the hardest stage—the toughest in my entire trading career. It’s rife with errors: many blow up and zero out here, and failure brings crushing psychological whiplash.
This stage intensely tests mindset and execution. Pressure mounts relentlessly—even if your position ends the day in floating profit, your first morning action is checking whether your breakeven stop got triggered. My partner and I rotated 24/7 monitoring—sleeping with headphones on, ready to call instantly upon signal alerts, prepared to execute anytime. Without nerves of steel, surviving this phase is nearly impossible.
Q: Looking ahead from early 2026, how do you view this year’s crypto market? How will BTC, ETH, and other majors perform? Any particularly promising trade setups or sectors? How will your personal trading strategy adapt this year?
Jeff Ma: I don’t foresee a sweeping, explosive breakout or extreme rally this year—but nor do I believe it’ll be purely bearish. Even in bear markets, relentless downtrends don’t persist forever—there will be periodic rebounds. So I won’t just short—I’ll systematically accumulate at appropriate levels to capture meaningful rebounds.
My main focus remains BTC, ETH, BNB, and SOL. Accumulating BTC between $60,000–$84,000 is perfectly viable. If we enter a deep bear market, SOL dropping below triple digits wouldn’t surprise me—and could be violently sharp.
I’ll stay extremely conservative in Memecoins—only considering PEPE and DOGE, or similarly battle-tested, market-validated projects. Newly launched coins or projects with unclear logic? I avoid them entirely.
In overall asset allocation, a critical adjustment this year is increasing gold and U.S. equities exposure—reducing Web3 weight. U.S. equities have repeatedly hit new highs—e.g., the S&P 500—and my ETF allocations have already set new阶段性 records. Such cross-market diversification is vital for lowering overall volatility and drawdown.
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