Author: Nancy, PANews
In 2024, the cryptocurrency market experienced a tumultuous year filled with volatility and development, with Bitcoin breaking the $100,000 mark, opening a new chapter for the industry. In this ever-changing market, some traders lost their way due to reasons such as loss of control over their mindset, poor position management, information lag, and lack of strategy. However, there were also traders who successfully seized market opportunities and achieved considerable returns through precise decision-making, decisive actions, and deep market insights.
Amidst the alternating prosperity and decline of the market, effectively balancing risk and return, and adjusting strategies to cope with different market fluctuations are key factors that determine whether one can profit in the cryptocurrency market in the long term. In this article, PANews shares the operational experiences and investment lessons of several seasoned traders interviewed and compiled, exploring how to optimize trading strategies, capture market opportunities, and secure profits.
Trading Reflections: Risk, Strategy, and Emotion
In the volatility and uncertainty of the cryptocurrency market, the experiences and lessons of traders provide valuable insights. Whether adopting a robust investment strategy or speculating on short-term opportunities, risk management, strategy adjustment, and emotional control are particularly important in trading.
Amanda, CIO of Chainup Investment, has over seven years of cryptocurrency trading experience and flexibly adjusted her strategies this year based on market changes. For instance, in Q1, she selected several potential projects, including AI tokens RENDER, FET, and AIOZ, as well as DeFi tokens RBN, PENDLE, and INJ. By Q4, in addition to investing in IOTA, she actively purchased DOGE, PEPE, and some political MEME coins, while also holding multiple projects such as RSR, DYDX, LQTY, and KAIA. Amanda also places great emphasis on short-term speculative opportunities; particularly in November, she increased her position to capture the benefits of the Trump Trade and exited in time to secure profits. However, she also revealed some regrets during the interview, such as missing the opportunity to heavily invest in SOL and MEME in the first half of the year, and while she successfully captured gains in the first half of SUI, she failed to fully grasp its subsequent rise.
CashCashBot founder "撒币哥" has also accumulated rich trading experience in the cryptocurrency field, with a trading history spanning seven years that allows him to navigate the market with ease. In the interview, he revealed that he achieved good results in MEME sector investments this year, particularly with MOODENG's staggering 5000-fold increase, which brought in $350,000 in profits.
With three years of trading experience, cryptocurrency KOL LaserCat397 is a deep player in the MEME track, achieving overall asset growth this year through investments in MEME coins. However, he also faced challenges in investment judgment and position management, such as a misstep in trading the MEME coin PUPS, which led to a near 90% drawdown in floating profits.
In contrast, Alex, VP of Cobo with six years of trading experience, adopted a conservative investment strategy. His most successful trade this year came from Bitcoin, while his biggest regret was participating in the airdrop activities of aevo and vertex, missing the opportunity with Hyperliquid.
Top trader Eugene recently summarized his experiences and lessons in trading, particularly regarding the mistakes of neglecting stop-loss points and failing to stop losses in a timely manner. He revealed that due to SOL's strong performance on low time frames (LTF) and the confidence gained from previous successful trades, he went long on SOL with $60 million, but when SOL fell below the stop-loss point, he chose to continue holding, maintaining a 'hopeful' mindset, which led to the largest single loss in his account.
Survival Guide from Tools to Mindset
In trading decisions, many successful traders utilize third-party tools to assist in decision-making, improving efficiency and accuracy, thereby reducing decision-making errors. These tools can help capture market signals, analyze on-chain data, and provide real-time feedback, enabling traders to better grasp the market's pulse.
Amanda revealed in the interview that her team developed a data monitoring platform and customized on-chain data tools, such as Dune and Flipside. Additionally, the team uses CryptoQuant, Coinglass, Artemis, Defillama, and Kaito to observe Bitcoin on-chain data, exchange contract data, and public chain indicators to help make more precise investment decisions.
"撒币哥" believes that on-chain data analysis is crucial for capturing market trends in advance. He uses the on-chain trading signals and data analysis tools provided by his own developed CashCashBot to quickly identify which market hotspots are attracting smart money and the potential investment directions of on-chain main forces. LaserCat397 mentioned that he used Abot, but this tool is about to shut down.
Although leveraging third-party tools can enhance trading capabilities, trading in the cryptocurrency market, characterized by high volatility and risk, is not easy, and even experienced traders cannot guarantee that all judgments are correct. Therefore, survival experience is particularly valuable, especially for novice traders.
Cryptocurrency analyst Altcoin Sherpa pointed out that a bull market does not mean that all coins will return to ATH (all-time high) levels, and one should not stubbornly hold out for unrealistic target prices. If the investment portfolio is highly diversified, it is advisable to sell 50-75% of holdings at the end of the next rotation. Additionally, one should continuously analyze data weekly, constantly reassessing the market cycle's peaks and endpoints, and independently analyze and operate their investment portfolio.
"The most successful traders do not achieve their current success by perfectly timing every peak. If you have unrealized profits that can change your life, you gain a benefit that cannot be measured in money: a permanent improvement in your life and the lives of those around you," noted cryptocurrency researcher Route 2 FI.
Former TradFi CTO @Game believes that investors should focus on key areas, combining capital scale, advantages, and market conditions to concentrate on the fields that best fit current market conditions and can yield the highest returns. They should also clarify their operational methods in investment, trading, and speculation, and develop a clear action plan (market cap range, stop-loss points, profit plans, etc.) and engage in continuous reflection. Furthermore, they should avoid working in isolation and expand their horizons to include important information circles that provide macro trends, market cycles, and other insights beyond their current understanding.
Cryptocurrency KOL Based Money Lich King summarized dozens of survival rules, such as not recklessly using perpetual contracts, not blindly idolizing founders, not locking up your tokens, not buying assets that have surged, not connecting to unfamiliar applications, and remembering to take profits, among other practical advice.
Amanda suggests that newcomers should keep an open mind, always pay attention to market dynamics, focus on areas they understand, find the positive and negative balance of projects, and only invest when they can accept the negatives of a project, provided the positives far outweigh the negatives. "撒币哥" emphasizes that on-chain data analysis skills are essential for every trader and that one should establish a trading strategy that suits them and strictly adhere to it. Alex believes that cultivating the right mindset is key, as a good mindset helps in making calm decisions. LaserCat397 advises newcomers to start from their areas of strength, find a suitable track for themselves, and focus on doing what they are good at, which will yield better results with less effort.
Strategy Optimization from Capturing Opportunities to Securing Profits
In the context of changing market environments, adjusting trading strategies and methods is also crucial for accelerating returns. From the traders' sharing, it is evident that we should respond flexibly to market changes and continuously assess and optimize trading strategies based on our own situations, finding opportunities in short-term market fluctuations while maintaining flexibility and sensitivity in long-term trends.
Alex candidly stated in the interview that the cryptocurrency market experienced significant pullbacks in March this year, particularly in August and September, when market liquidity was extremely low. During this phase, his personal strategy was to withdraw funds from the market and invest in neutral strategies in DeFi and arbitrage. He believes that as the cryptocurrency market becomes increasingly professional, the returns from previous funding fee arbitrage strategies are gradually diminishing, necessitating the search for new opportunities, with strategies increasingly shifting on-chain.
"Previously, the trading path was BTC to ETH, then to large coins and small coins; but now it is BTC to SOL, then to small coins. The issuance of stablecoins has a more significant impact on the performance of small coins," Amanda pointed out. During market fluctuations, appropriate rebalancing and profit-taking are necessary. Risk management is very important; generally, she categorizes each investment token/project before making decisions, assessing whether the project has fundamentals, whether it has popularity, and whether it is driven by technology. For example, projects with fundamentals can have their positions increased, while for popular projects, it is essential to judge the sustainability of that popularity and pay attention to whether there are catalysts (as the cryptocurrency market is still largely inefficient, it is crucial to pursue market consensus; discovering Alpha too early also carries significant opportunity costs); for projects driven by technical factors, close attention should be paid to price trends. She emphasizes that in a bear market, it is essential to reduce holdings of coins with suboptimal economic models, while in a bull market, one should be more sensitive in adjusting strategies, trading frequently, and taking profits.
In "撒币哥"'s view, this year's market is more focused on on-chain MEME. He believes that changes in on-chain data provide high-value reference signals that were previously unattainable on exchanges, allowing for more precise trading strategies. For instance, trading strategies can be adjusted by analyzing changes in on-chain main force holding data.
LaserCat397 stated in the interview that the market was very difficult to operate in mid-year, advising everyone to take fewer actions and observe more, waiting for the best opportunity. In a bull market, one needs to broaden their perspective and then hold on.
Altcoin Sherpa indicated that in the near future, investors should try to consolidate their investments, reducing the number of new positions opened and lowering the overall variety of holdings. In the recent wave of rising prices, he has sold many coins with low confidence and reallocated funds to other higher-quality projects.
"Making money in the cryptocurrency market is one thing; securing profits is another. When planning your exit strategy for a cycle, the goal is to minimize the drawdown from the peak after the cycle shifts. For those who claim to be able to sustain profits in both bull and bear markets, I can only wish you good luck, as this means you need to become one of the top 0.01% of traders globally," Eugene emphasized.
Potential Sectors and Investment Opportunities from the Trader's Perspective in 2025
In the atmosphere of a bull market, major global institutions have recently released their outlooks and predictions for the cryptocurrency market in 2025. From the traders' perspective, 2025 is expected to be a more diversified and mature market, with various emerging sectors and technologies likely to become new growth points.
Altcoin Sherpa pointed out that the cryptocurrency market is expected to enter a new upward phase within the next 4-8 weeks, mainly driven by Bitcoin's dominance (btc.d) being at a high level, seasonal factors, potential rises in Ethereum/Bitcoin, market capital rotation, and a shift in government attitudes. However, from a rotation perspective, it seems that all coins will rise, but there is no overall upward trend. From now on, the market will primarily belong to traders rather than long-term holders.
LaserCat397 believes that 2025 will still be the main stage for the MEME sector. In addition, he is particularly optimistic about the performance of infrastructure projects, especially in the payment sector. "撒币哥" envisions 2025 as the year of large-scale adoption for the cryptocurrency market. He believes that compared to the past, various infrastructures will be significantly improved, leading to more users and capital flowing into the market. In particular, MEME coins, due to their simplicity and strong dissemination capabilities, are likely to become the preferred sector for new traffic entering the market.
Alex also holds an optimistic view of the market prospects for 2025, believing that the future focus will mainly be on AI, DeFi, and payment sectors. Amanda pointed out that 2025 may be the latter half of the cryptocurrency bull market, with significant growth potential for small coins. She reminds investors to pay attention to "top signals," which are market signal shifts and high-risk timing, while emphasizing the importance of "being sifu"—exiting the market at the right time to avoid being consumed by market fluctuations. In terms of specific sector selection, she is optimistic about the overall growth potential of AI, especially AI agents, Move language (more choices for RWA, BTC L2, Chain Abstraction, new DeFi), and RWA-related projects.
Eugene is optimistic about the MEME market, recently highlighting four MEME coins: MOODENG, CHILLGUY, PNUT, and GOAT. He believes that although these MEME coins have experienced significant panic selling and have given back most of their gains from the altcoin season, he still views these projects positively and leans towards positioning them for long-term investment.
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