i think a trader’s theoretical ceiling is raised when they learn to be kind to themselves. you don’t make it anywhere without embracing who you are. life is so much more vibrant than the dark corners of self-doubt. its important to place high expectations on yourself, its quintessential to give yourself time to achieve them

my greatest attribute as a trader is humility. i am above no one no matter how much money i make. ive learned just as much from people with 4-5 figs as i have from people with 7-8 figs. anyone who seriously dedicates themselves to this craft is in the same state anyway, pre-rich. the name of the game is to extract as much knowledge you can, whenever you can. there is no limit to what you can know so never dismiss an individual or experience as something meaningless. i say all this because it is never ever easy even though the constant pnl posting may lead you to believe it is. this market isn't "free", its ruthless and untameable. don't fault yourself for "underperforming", be happy you performed at all.

you want to get rich fast but you aren’t rich yet so you over-trade trying to get a big win and end up losing more than you win and ultimately you are poorer and further from your goal just because you were undisciplined/bored/addicted

shit broke my heart when ansem said he didn’t think nub was funny. i literally laid in my bed sobbing for a hour or two (i lost track of time). not because it bars any future ansem shills, but because im gunna be richer than my goat in 3 months when nub is at 1b

don’t let people posting upnl fool you. i’ve roundtripped/lost 500k since april and that money was a lot of my port. haven’t had a big win in a few month but i have never been close to giving up. the market has its way of demoting your rank, its a sign that you weren’t ready for that level. don’t fret, with time you will find your footing, success isn’t a honey pot chart, it has the highest peaks and the deepest troughs. know that your pain paves the path ahead for your happiness. god put us in the position to make generational wealth so we will make that money again. remember, if you still have hunger then you will make it.

started with a 100 $dym airdrop, @VersusFNF , and the hunger and drive i had from losing it all

i’m a way worse trader than ppl probably think i am and that goes for literally anyone on twitter with a following. everything on here is engagement bait, marketing, or elon bucks farming and it’s best, as a trader, to assume so until proven otherwise. trading is represented in such an unrealistic and honestly twisted way on this platform and if you ever find yourself struggling to “keep up” then it’s best if you just deleted the app. you gotta think the reason so little retail has entered this cycle is because the first accounts that are pushed to them are ppl like bitlord, alex becker and miles deustcher. some people never make it out of there. to me you only ever escape the “trenches” when you finally navigate your way out of the rektfencer scam casino and think for yourself.

onchain is a game with factors out of your control. i used to complain all the time about insider pnds, kols exploiting their followers for exit liq, fnfs vamping coins but i realized that feeling frustrated about these things was counter-productive. truth is, none of these things can ever be cleansed, they are simply game mechanics that the player must strategize around. in a free market everyone plays for themselves and their guild, anything is fair game, and its up to the player to devise a way to conquer them

best thing to ever happen to me was losing it all

never chase pumps on revived meta coins since most of those initial green candles will be pvpd down into a consolidation phase as most capital in the coin during this time is toxic. what i mean by this is that most “smart” investors had already accumulated the coin before the meta was resuscitated and are taking profits aggressively in the price spike and any capital chasing the pump will sell as quick as they bought as none of them have conviction. it is when this initial phase has concluded that slower investors can evaluate whether the meta is sticky enough to begin dcaing into or too weak to be worth their time.

you’ll be at the lowest point in your life, bitcoin looking like it’s about to touch the pits of hades and twitter will put a post on your timeline from an 18 year old trencher with a gmgn graphic with 300k upnl on it with the caption “not a bad month but could be better”

the more positions i have open, the more my decision-making deteriorates. i used to fret over missed opportunities not realizing that chasing them was only jeopardizing the opportunities i had already caught.

ive asked myself time and time again, am i destined to continue to make the same mistakes over and over again until hopefully something in my head clicks? i ask this because ive gained and lost six figures 4 separate times, each time believing that i had at last buried the hatchet, that the resets i have endured, lessons i have learned, mistakes i have committed would surmount to something of substance. "this time is different" but the whole time im approaching trading the same way, no strategy, no discipline, no plan. sure, i have more knowledge than last time but its like having high level gear but not being high enough level to equip it. i realize now that a trader's most important battle begins off the screen. since 2021 ive approached portfolio growth the same way, generally undisciplined, spray and pray, no plan trading that, has indeed made me money, but only in euphoric markets. when the wind is flush to the sails, i make a ton of money as the bull market rewards greed and fomo, when the ships speed has slowed down to a trickle, i lose it all. this has happened to me four different times, each in a different type of market, and with each and every "failure" i promise myself that the next time im given such a blessing, ill try my very best to cherish my newfound wealth, just to ultimately squander it. sound familiar? probably because this is every new (and old) trader's achilles heel. there is no depth that cant be touched by human greed nor height to which our gluttony cannot ascend. having knowledge and experience but no discipline is like having a magical staff but being unable to wield it. with practice and control, a wizard may brandish the power of the staff, but without, the staff is reduced to mere oak and precious metal. there is no magic without discipline as there is no winning without restraint. im a seasoned onchain veteran yet none of my knowledge serves me well if my weakness to my greed triumphs my knowledge of the game. thus, learning self-control is the key to unlocking your power, a way of applying those precious experience points you have accrued over many a battle. this self-control, or lack thereof, proliferates into all facets of your life, and begins with the simplest of routine. at its most basic, you will trade as you live your life. if you wake up whenever you want, sleep whenever you want, succumb to your vices and then trade, how can you expect to succeed? on the contrary, if you wake up at a set time, sleep at a set time, and meditate before you trade, how can you expect to fail? how you do anything is how you will do everything. consistent effort, attitude and behaviour in all aspects of life will deeply effect your approach to trading. i want and will go the gym 4-5 times a week. i want and will wake up at 8am and sleep at 12am every day. i want and will meditate everyday. i will not go on my phone as soon as i get up everyday. none of these things involve actually making trades, but they have so much to do with how i execute when i am at my computer clicking buttons. you see, this routine/mindset is crucial to how i perceive trading, if im disciplined in one facet of life, its more likely im controlled in another. trading discipline begins with life discipline. this is my personal anecdote to a problem ive been facing for almost four years now in which i feel many are going through the same. perhaps typing this tweet and posting it to the world in a way actualizes and validates my thoughts. this is by no means an end all be all for every trader out there, but hopefully may serve as a guiding light to a few that read this. if there is anything i want anyone reading this to get out of this tweet its that discipline starts when you wake up. it matters that you wake up early, it matters that you stick to a routine, it matters that you hold yourself accountable, it matters that you have integrity, it matters that you treat everyone kindly and it matters that you treat yourself with love. approach life with discipline and respect, and you'll finally be a high enough level to apply your plentiful knowledge bank to practical use.

been tracking wallets extensively for a while now but my latest best trades weren’t a product of tailing wallets at all, just from pure intuition. realized that, for me, the borrowed conviction from following wallets does more damage than it helps. you could argue that it adds confluence to an already established thesis but again it just adds an external factor that may cause you to question your own ideas. wise trader once told me that tracking wallets is the worst thing a new trader can do because it allows for an environment in which the trader is making decisions based on another person’s choices.

i hate ppl who post pnl screenshots, i hate alpha groups posting scans and claiming clout, i hate people posting 0.001 pump fun buys and claiming clout like u did not have a thesis for that trade u are just a gambling addict, i hate people post charts without tickers, i hate people who act like every play is obvious, i hate bears, i hate engagement farmers, i hate people who say study this cuz they sound condescending as fuck i hate accounts who post like they are plato, i hate most of ct so i cannot stress this enough, curate your fucking timeline and navigating the noise will be so much easier

i’m down 80% from port aths but up 100000% from start of year. i ascended the levels too fast without levelling up my character enough. got deranked in the most visceral way

space is brutal right now in that there are an overwhelming amount of opportunities. all time spent doing real life shit just feels like a waste and if you don’t hit the runner when you’re full focus you feel even worse. juggling a myriad of thoughts and feelings rn between gratefulness for the opportunities and frustration because of perceived underperformance. there’s a genuine skill in staying grounded when everything is flying up in the air and i hope to sharpen that skill

best thing ive learned over the last few weeks is to always do everything at 100%. i lost money trading all summer because i thought i could enjoy time at the beach, with friends etc. and be immensely profitable simultaneously. once i started dedicating my days to trenching i began to see results. more time at pc = better understanding of trench's heartbeat = intuitions aligned with meta. presence is everything. the more time im here, the more likely i hit a runner. the more time im here the more patient i become because i acknowledge that ill be there for the next play. everyone always flexes about making money while doing another activity, i want to make money when im focused on it. i realize that making money while im driving, while cool, is not easily replicated. i need a process, a formula, that i can execute time and time again and be successful. i need be present. if you plan to trade on a day, then spend most of the day doing it. conversely, if you have a designated day to relax, then do just that. dont dabble in both throughout the day, headspace matters. commit to one thing or dont commit at all.

at the point where i've been slight positive/breakeven over the last 6 or so months and its making me question my entire skillset. been spending a lot of time trying to redefine my process as a lot of my recent performance has made me question whether i had a good one at all. i no longer believe i know anything and while its definitely weighing on my mind, there's a side to it that's refreshing. feels like a fresh start. one thing that has really helped me carve my way through the thicket was thiccy's tweet the other day. he mentioned that many people define themselves on things that are unsustainable (pnl, talent etc.) when they should be defining themselves based on the sustainable (process). i think taking pride in how i conduct myself as opposed to how much money i make is key to my growth. another thing that has helped me tremendously with taking profits is focusing on IRR as opposed to ROI (s/o it4i) considering time as a key element in understanding a trade's value e.g. a 2x in one day is better than a 10x in a year.

reprogram your brain to buy off meta coins when a new meta takes the stage. tik tok meta is an entry into ai coins, ai meta is entry into animal coins etc.

next time you make that 6 figs play, take some money out and buy your mom a gift. when you’re in the trenches you begin to lose perspective of reality and the true value of the money you play with. think about how happy you can make your friends with 10 sol

playing fresh deploys when volume is low and sentiment is unstable (i.e. elections, bleak pa from majors) is like trying to squeeze water out of a stone. conversely, camping new pairs when volume is high and sentiment is positive (rallying markets, novel metas) is as easy as squeezing lemon juice out of a fresh lemon. its helped me much in my trading journey to visualize trading as a sword dance, every attack having its counter, every movement, its response. an experienced fighter doesn't incessantly wave their sword, they strike when their opponent shows weakness. half the battle is playing defence.

nah it’s because u and ansem’s shills have more power in chop cuz there is a ton of sidelined capital in wallets of people with no confidence waiting for an influencer to tell them what to do

most still fading hyperliquid eco. notable price action differences from solana: a) god candles aren’t pvpd down in 5 minutes b) accumulation of coins is more methodical and takes a bit longer c) generally less volatile capital inflow still majority smart money (i presume) positioning themselves before an inevitable hyperliquid onchain season, leaving the less sophisticated traders pvping on solana. smart capital inflows + less toxic rotation-eager capital = pve

if you missed, think about the wealth effect this coin creates. can’t go back in time to change the past but you can prepare yourself for the abundant opportunities in the future

im already seeing attention fragmenting on streamer coins. super weird meta to trade to me because it can get saturated so fast + attention can shift even quicker. you can be the star of the show one day, then the next you're nothing i.e ham. not that i dont see some of these projects having longevity but its very very hard to figure out which will. how can leaders be established if a new contender enters the arena everyday? unless defined by pf twap.

fighting the urge to revenge trade new pairs w size everyday because i fumbled arc and ufd both w good size and entries

ai coin craze feels eerily similar to nft bubble of 2021-2022, a very strong speculation trade that convinces battle-scarred participants to believe again. not calling the top on ai coins just yet, the nft comparison is just a pre-cursor to how crazy things may get for ai crypto projects. i also draw parallels to vcs farming the space with dreamy promises and dismal execution i.e kevin rose

trenches are just the same 10 alpha groups passing around the same sol

becoming a better trader is so much about discovering who you are. reason why i think its very empowering to refine your trading strategy to suit your strengths and weaknesses, preferences and dislikes. there's this culture surrounding onchain that valorizes 16 hour days, insane work ethic, and the necessary sacrifice of mind, body, soul. i find that i personally struggle with this strategy, as i find that my performance greatly hinges on clarity of mind, of which i achieve by having a healthy balance in life. point is, if something works for someone, do not assume it will work for you, and do not feel bad when it doesn't. trading is such a personal journey that encroaches on and is applicable to so many other facets of life, so remember to take it at your own pace

keep your head up. don’t unwind. wait a few days before making any big decisions. don’t spread hate. don’t complain. don’t eternalize your frustration. let it out, just don’t let it effect one another. boat hasn’t sank as long as people are manning it. stay rational. be confident. be grateful. love yourself. love the game. everything will come after it.

u know a loss hits hard when u start unstaking your tia and selling your friend tech keys

i completely cut out buying beta plays because its a riskier bet on the exact same narrative. why dont i just size into the main coin instead of trying my luck at the eighteen betas that siphon liquidity from each other? + if the main runner fails, liquidity is faster to exit betas because nobody had conviction anyways. buying betas, to me, is a reflection of my process. if i didnt have the conviction, critical thinking, foresight, presence to catch the main runner, why do i deserve to ride a half-wave back to the beach?

this tweet marks the beginning of my trading/general thoughts journal, thank you everyone for the kind words. your positive comments/dms hold a special place in my heart. main goal for this journal is to be genuine and unfiltered. there will be longer posts, there will be short posts, the only thing i want to be consistent are the entries. i want to write something everyday. publicizing my journal was always something that scared me as the thought of others being able to judge my thoughts in writing was daunting but i think that in doing so, will keep me accountable and more privy to the actions i take everyday.

we’re at like post fortnite world cup/creative levels where everyone got to see how good pros could be on the world stage (tfue got cooked) and how young they were and now the skill ceiling is being pushed so rapidly and by so many that once was a fresh beautiful game has turned into this intense battleground of extremely efficient players fighting it out for limited resources. the game has evolved so much that playing a coin is like build fighting prime bugha when it used to be like build fighting prime tsm myth (pve)

Recently I've seen much discourse, nihilistic in nature, surrounding onchain and the destitute condition it has/will become. The pervading belief is that the market exists in two states: a "good" one where profits come easy, and a "bad" one where profits are slim, the latter, most believe, being where we currently stand. In fact, you don't have to scroll far on my profile to find tweets that contain this idea of a dualistic market. I'll be the first to admit that it is very, very easy to be sucked into this idea of environment and conditions, where the playing field defines the player and not the other way around. In part I think it's ego-driven, when results are positive, its easy to attribute to skill of the player, when results are undesirable, it is easier to blame externalities. Typically, when the game changes, the meta becomes outdated, playstyles that many have mastered or have become familiar with no longer possess the same effectiveness they held previously, leaving many players confused or agitated. What differentiates the upper echelon of traders from the others is how they respond to this change. What has helped me become a better trader is understanding that the market simply exists. The market isn't oscillating between states, nor does it have a predetermined definition at all. It is instead in the relationship with the player that the market attains its definition. The market is like a block of clay, intrinsically valuable, but it is through the artist's taste, experience and artisanal mastery that the clay reaches its true height of beauty. Thus, attributing poor trading performance solely to environmental factors is overly simplistic. If market conditions were determinative, then all traders operating under identical markets would perform equally. Yet we consistently observe divergent outcomes, some traders flourish in volatile conditions while others falter, and vice versa. This is not because the market favors another individual over the other, but because each trader interprets the same raw data through their own internal universe of perception, wisdom and discipline. The market is then the ultimate mirror, reflecting each player's unique approach to taming its ferocity.

Day 1 Decided to create a new thread for the second year to avoid clutter. Today I simply held my bags and did some research into potential additions. There seems to be a mini bonk resurgence going on which makes the opportunity plentiful on pump coins. Not that I am particularly bearish on bonk coins, but Alon and his team seem to be really stepping up their game in terms of pushing their ecosystem. Onchain looks to have more life once again, projects like flipr, tokabu, 67 holding very strong over the past few days. Avoiding aping into anything too hard though since its the weekend and there are plenty of important macro days this week that may cause some volatility. I will also admit that over the past few days I've missed a ton of opportunity. It sucks that I couldn't end my journaling year strong but I was just quite burnt out. Starting to get my mind back after taking it easy for a bit. I am very optimistic about the future.

all of this because you chase an ever-changing definition of "rich", like success under capitalism, an unattainable fiction that drives one mad in pursuit. big thing that i have found that makes me a more calm and patient trader is setting up a tangible way to define my little successes. trading is exceptionally hard because it is difficult to visualize one's own improvement. most traders analyze the effectiveness of their strategies through an outcome oriented lens believing that they are only growing as a trader if their port grows as well. money is tangible and its numerical convenience making for an extremely easy way to denominate one's own success. my port grows = i grow. ive found that recording the coins i ended up AVOIDING or things i did not do in my trading journal has helped my conceptualize the impact my patience really has on my portfolio. for example, if majors are dropping, i tend to avoid trading the whole day as most people will be in a seller's mindset making onchain super pvp. most of the time, i would not record such a thought process in my journal, citing it as a day without trades. currently, i write extensively on why i made the choice as well as the benefits that i reap from doing so. this goes for specific coins too. if i manage to keep myself from topblasting a coin being spammed in all my gcs and it ends up rugging or giving buyers a big dip, instead of just shrugging this event off, ill once again record my hypothesis as well as anything that i had learned or gained from it. i personally find that tying success to one's portfolio size or any sort of numerical denomination is damaging to a trader's psyche. i want to get to my portfolio goal, and in doing so i tie my mission to an arbitrary number that may or may not hold any significance to a richer or future me. instead, focus on making good decisions not on numbers and make sure to celebrate them. if you guys have any thoughts i would love to discuss/argue because i know many of you know much more than i do when it comes to this.

its weird because my biggest inspirations in life are anons online that i share groupchats with. i cant quite put my finger on it but it makes me kinda emotional when i see people care about the game as much as i do. we may be in different chapters of our stories but being able to share that passion is something that cant be quantified. i think its because im comforted by the fact that im not alone in this journey but nevertheless shoutout to my online friends they know who they are

“yo so when you guys deploying? ill post the thesis like 20-30 mins after so its believable”

im going to dedicate the rest of the month purely to wallet tracking. my first 6 figs was achieved with very minimal wallet tracking so i thought i didn’t need it but another lesson learned is to just curate your wallet tracker because it just gives added conviction. if anyone has any advanced tips lmk ty

down markets are the ideal time to perfect your process. there's this commonly held belief that the market exists in two states, one in which you must be aggressive, and one in which you must be passive. to me, the market solely exists in a singular state, one in which you can improve in. i dont necessarily denounce taking a break when things are slower but i do question the validity of fully tapping out when the money printer cools off. success is forged from the flames of failure and adversity. there's no better practice ground than a ruthless market. make trades, be punished, feel sad, figure out why you feel sad, fix it, repeat. this process can only really be surgically optimized when things move slowly. ive personally benefitted the most during slow markets because it gives me time to slow down and refine my process. markets are all about getting ahead of your counter-party. everyone is present when opportunities are plentiful, the truly successful are engaged even when they are sparse. regardless of the "state" the market is in, i try to get better. what you do on off days are crucial in distinguishing good from great, unprofitable from profitable, performance from outperformance. you cannot cheat experience so even when opportunities are few and far in between, take advantage of the time slow markets give you time to really dissect what makes your process tick. at its most basic, slow markets are a practice of patience, pain tolerance and mental fortitude. none of this is tested in a raging bull, so you must build these skills when ever you have the chance.

funniest part about days like these is im at a cafe right and everyone here is just hanging out. they are just milling about, lisa is complaining about how her cappuccino has gone up by 25 cents, three dudes in the dark far corner of the cafe furthest from the window are discussing the validity of their 9 leg parlay. they have no idea that the us financial system was at the brink of falling apart. they have no idea that the bond market imploded last night. they have no idea that i just chucked the downpayment of their two story vancouver special into fartcoin because trump delayed tariffs for 90 days.

Day 365 One year! And coincidentally, 2 years to the day since I created this account. I started this journal with the original intent to document trades, outline theses, and go through any mistakes I encountered in both. The idea was that if I had a detailed chronicle of the past year, I would be able to look back on the many things I did during that time span, good and bad, and perhaps those insights could aid me in the future. While many of my entries did consists of trade ideas and the such, I felt that it began to stray from its original essence. About half-way through, this journal became more of a a form of meditation to me, a mental check-in where I could deliberate over the happenings of the day. It became a place where I could remind myself to be grateful, to remember to be optimistic and most importantly, actualize the thoughts running around my head. As a generally cynical person, it proved invaluable. It was like returning home for a warm home cooked meal every night. Another big part of the journal to me was transparency. I wanted to put out content that would show both sides of trading. It was my own small rebellion against the PNL posting I so much hated. I don't hate the people that post PNLs, I hate the culture that promotes this behavior. It's misleading and trivializes something that is extremely difficult, but I digress. I wanted this journal to be something that offered a more realistic perception of trading. It's not always big wins and constant portfolio highs. Further, this journal connected me with many other people. I've been tagged in many journals and messaged many times by people who took inspiration from my journal and started their own. There isn't a single feeling in the world that can be likened to that of knowing that you inspired someone to make progressive change. That to me, is the most rewarding feeling of all. Perhaps its knowing that my little journal having a positive effect on the world, no matter how small, was enough to keep me inspired myself. While it ultimately ended up serving a different purpose than intended, this journal couldn't have been more positively influential on my growth as a trader, and more importantly, as a human. In a way, the journal grew with me, beginning as a simple place to reflect on trades and evolving into something much more complex and personal. I've always treasured any outlet I could get my hands on and so I want to thank anyone who has read any of my journal posts over the past year. The idea that even one person is reading what I write is enough to inspire me to keep going. If there is one lesson to take out of this 365th journal entry, its that optimism is your greatest weapon. In a space so cynical, it is hard to not let doom permeate into your very being. The only way to stay afloat is clasp onto hope. Even if it means writing down the same affirmations to the Twitter void every single day. It is not futile.

the shitcoin trenches are interesting because the amount of participants has been vastly reduced. at this stage in the game, every narrative is forced, participants are more sophisticated and market sentiment is almost entirely manufactured by its very participants. individuals with enough influence can essentially generate consensus through alpha calls or tweets which further perpetuates the markets propensity to be a snowball of self-fulfilling prophecy. one example of this was “bsc season” earlier this week or inj, sei, canto etc seasons that people claim to be the next biggest thing every new moon. these seasons end up only lasting a very short time span and eventually fade out as hype declines leaving many late investors destroyed. in a way, these seasons are ponzi schemes as the more people who are monetarily and emotionally invested in the coins the more they shill the narrative, weave a story, and the more people buy in. so how do you play these narratives? avoid them. the risk to these is simply not worth it. by playing narratives like these before they are truly established you essentially bet on the twisted, short-attention span minds of ct to pay attention to something new for longer than 2 days. the only way to make money from these narratives is to be super early which most are not, majority better off staying put.

there are thousands of traders who made 6-8 figs on trump who will turn to the trenches chasing todays high for the next two months

5/6 figure hell does not exist, you must be grateful for the opportunities presented to you and not be so forward looking. everyone stuck in this transitory stage of pre-rich like that type of mindset isn’t damaging. you constantly reach out to an arbitrary number because it’s easy to visualize but in the process you forget that the most important things are what you do right now. too many valorize the future and dismissing the importance of the present

stay grateful and patient. it’s so easy to bleed money in markets like this despite conditions being “good”. the truth is, it’s the player that makes the market good. you won’t make money if you chase everything. you’ll make money if you’re grateful and patient. there’s so much opportunity and if you try to catch them all you’ll catch none.

Video games are exceptionally fun because the process of improvement within the confines of their universe’s is enjoyable. The concept of “success” within video games is not limited simply to winning or getting a kill, it is rooted in the pursuit of attaining it.  If most people were to approach trading in the way that they approach their favorite game, they would be much more successful than they are now. You do not simply start playing counter strike with the goal of achieving an 1.5 k/d, neither should you start trading with the goal of attaining 100k.  Most newcomers however, frame their investment journey through the pursuit of an arbitrary numerical goal that they wish to attain. This is because trading is a fiscal concept, following logic, it would make sense that one should attack improvement through numbers.  I use video games as the analogy because their playability and gamification of simple tasks are the perfect trojan horse for a process-oriented mindset. It is rare for a player to be good at Counter Strike instantaneously, as it is for them to kill The Dancer in Dark Souls III on their first try, yet these games are still fun. This is because good gameplay instills within the player process-orientation. How can you focus on your k/d when every exchange with an enemy is as beautiful as it is thrilling?  You see, like trading, every game requires its own degree of trial and tribulation but games mask their high skill ceilings and frustrating progression through immersion, satisfying feedback etc. In this way, games shoehorn setbacks by ensuring they are digestible. Conversely, trading isn’t enjoyable for most (there are no trojan horses) so an individual’s slow improvement is tedious and raw. There are no levels where you can trade against traders of your level, nor are there beautiful environments to get lost in.  Trading is visceral, cruel and unrelenting, but it almost embodies pure gaming more than video games themselves. Video games are fun because it is rewarding to improve, not necessarily just to kill. trading should be fun because it should be rewarding to improve, not necessarily just to profit.  So, lastly, my tip to anyone struggling: Be the meaningful progression, satisfying feedback, and engaging storyworld you need in your trading environment.  Let goals drive you to an extent, but never let them be the end all be all. Celebrate yourself often, and mark down every good decision you make, try to find the little things that make trading enjoyable, whether it be the people you meet or just the love of the grind and magnify them because the happier you are trading, the easier it is for you to focus on the present and not be swayed by the future.

i keep a private journal for every single trade i take in this market because it helps me be ultra-selective. one should not be firing at the hip but aiming with precision when markets are stagnant, which makes for the perfect environment to train a steady hand. sometimes its hard, even detrimental, to keep track of every decision you make when coins are running every 15 minutes, so i try to build these good habits when things are slower. spend your day writing as opposed to taking trades.

didn’t u call for 33k at the bottom?

i’m a chronic worrier so i’ve had to really take a step back from the screens recently and re-analyze my trading strategy. few days away from most trading and i’ve realized that in order to mitigate the negative effects my worrying may cause my trading i must change why and how i enter/exit positions. a big part of why i fomo so much is because im worried that im not wealthy enough or i haven’t gotten to a place where im happy. im out here aping into anything to make it to where i want to be. this results in me being in positions that i dont have much conviction in or that i have a bad entry in which causes me to worry even more. think the first step to becoming better is understanding where ive come from and where i am and being grateful and proud of me. this way i wont be so stressed about becoming something i am not and ultimately will take my time when approaching new investments. if anyone has any tips on staying grounded and being grateful let me know, think this is the last demon i must conquer

let me guess his wallet is public and he calls his plays to the 40000 ppl in his tg

its like seeing mj in his prime retire for two years man, you could be so special but u decided to gamble on the wrong shit 💔💔💔💔

Day 10 Pullback on CCM coins. This was inevitable. The ceiling on these coins were always quite low. Now is an important time for the meta. How will most of these coins perform? Will there be a bounce? If so, how strong? My main belief is that the streaming meta only sees a bounce if Alon crimes it up. This is because I do not think there is enough appetite for washed up streamer coins. There are some promising projects like Gman and Kind, but for the most part, these streamers are here to extract. I've generally been avoiding buying any one-off streamer attention grab coins like quest and streamercoin as they have zero longevity in my eyes. My main horse in this meta is Kind simply because it has an already existing fanbase, is a clip machine and has a wholesome mission. If the meta is to come back and have longevity, there needs to be a leader that garners positive attention. Bagwork is cool, but it doesn't appeal to an audience outside of young men with gambling addictions. Nobody in the real world cares about drake leaks and vandalism. The spectacle of bagwork not only exclusively appeals to a small demographic, but it also gets old fast, and in a market filled with dopamine addicted traders, it diminished even faster. Nevertheless, I am very optimistic about the future and will continue to take it one day at a time. Blessed to have so many opportunities.

patience is an edge in a market rife with low attention span traders

there's a certain serenity to doing nothing, asking for nothing, wanting nothing. respite is something that that often gets lost in the billowing winds of hustle. when striving for something that one has not attained, it is difficult to remember to stop, listen and observe. i often struggle with giving myself ample time at the bonfire, typically opting to forge past checkpoints, as idleness, to me, feels like laziness. rest, instead, should be deemed a time for insight, a time in which one can apply the skill points they have attained from their many battles. by neglecting intermission, traders fail to apply the skill points they have earned along their journey, resulting in an abundance of experience that has not been turned into meaningful knowledge. it takes time to dissect how and why a certain trade may be applied to one's process and it takes even longer to put that into practice. rest is an active skill, not a passive state, its not a mere surrender to exhaustion, but a deliberate choice to preserve one's resources. just as a coin's narrative may not be fully fledged out until hours after its deployment, a painting's brilliance is not comprehensible until one steps away from its frame. in the pursuit of self-improvement, to rest is to evolve, to take a step back is to leap forward, to be still is to truly move.

trick now is to not chase but spend time thinking about which narratives ran hot earlier this year that are currently being neglected. it pays to take time away from the flashing lights of your screen and just think.

didn’t want to doom post since most of what i’ve wanted to say has been said already so i’ll say this: just as quickly as yzy reminded traders how hollow the space really is, a good runner will remind traders what this space can really be. as bleak as it may seem, sentiment can switch on a dime and the more extraction events we get through the closer we are to swinging the pendulum back.

there’s a ton of value onchain right now for those who are patient. it’s honestly pretty surprising how under-valued some of these projects are. of course value is subjective and oscillating but it feels like a really good time to plant some seeds that you want to harvest in the next few months.

you’re early again when a coin breaks through the 100m mc resistance convincingly

i remember typing up a whole essay on the saturation of markets, particularly onchain, and how capital eventually locks itself up as the space begins to run out of ideas, around august last year when wolf and dorae had their runs. i thought it was super interesting to see that the only coins that felt "pve" were ones that were ~80% bundled, something that was once a red flag. despite putting numerous hours into writing this piece, i ultimately decided against posting it. a few weeks after, truth terminal's goat spawned, an event that eventually spurred its entirely own meta and unlocked a ton of apprehensive capital. what i am trying to get at here is that the doomposting onchain is nothing but a necessary feature of the onchain cycle. we innovate, we invest, we get bored, we doompost, we innovate. somewhere in that cycle sentiment resets and looks forward, doomposting facilitates much of that. there is no better casino and if you think that its over then we are likely on the brink of the beginning.

pasternak building in the open makes for a great play because most coins pump off their mystique and promises yet ben is candid, perhaps revealing too much. nevertheless i think it’s presents asymmetric opportunity. i also think the early stages of project decoupling in launch are very very good signs. people like the products so in due time they will like the launchpad

hype weakness is short lived. don’t see it bleeding against aster for much longer. initial reaction to a new entrant is always pre drastic so i don’t doubt hype will find its footing very soon. ALSO the team has proved time and time again that they’re very prepared and in tune with their userbase so i’d expect a response from them soon. also for the aster trade, ive found it very beneficial to log off twitter and let the thesis play out. so much noise on ct and frankly ive been trading better since i started using it less. i stick to my guns more often when i’m not reading hundreds of contrasting opinions everyday. it’s as simple as cz perp dex and the jelly jelly situation.

2024 The power of arbitrary numbers brings us all back together once again to celebrate and reflect upon the last 365 (366) days. Eerily similar to how numbers on a screen have been the hand that has forged the many bonds I've made in this space this year, it's poetic really. Did a lot of growing mental-wise, experience-wise and port-wise in 2025. At the end of 2023, I had just over 3 figures to my name and was graduating with very little certainty about what I was going to do. I had a master's lined up in a faculty that I couldn't care less about, in a school that I had had enough of, for a job that I never really wanted in the first place. I felt trapped. The next 40 years of my life were staring me directly in the eye and they looked oh so bleak. I decided that I wanted more from life than just a job until I was 60 and I postponed my master's degree to the next year to pursue crypto, a dream I have had for years. I was on my Raskolnikov-esque tirade and nothing could stop me, I yearned to dare, at the behest of everyone I knew of course. Fast forward to year end and old me would be so very proud. I've vastly outperformed any goal I had set out for myself at the beginning of the year and have grown spiritually more than I could imagine. There's a past me that is so elated I decided to take the risk for once in my life. A journey, of course, is not without its ups and downs. Did a lot of soul-searching when I hit rock bottom late August 2024 and had to reprogram a lot of things I had eternalized over a lifetime, my self-confidence, cynicism etc. If you approach life with cynicism, onchain grants you a single try; if you approach life humbly and with grace, the game gives you immortality. That's something that I've tried to meld into my consciousness for the last 4 months. But enough about me, my victories were never possible without the ones I fought alongside. I treasure the many conversations I have with these people and genuinely wish all a bountiful 2025. I want to shout out @VersusFNF and @0xUmbreon who gave me my first chance. It is here where I built a strong foundation of fundamental knowledge and connections and I wouldn't be where I am today without the people in that group, so thank you. I also want to shout out @CryptoCaptic who invited me to his group and made me feel at home right from day one. So thankful for everyone in his group chat and I hope they are all doing well (they are). His DM and my eventual introduction to many people I consider my close friends is why I open up my DMs in the first place nowadays to anyone who wants my advice or wants to connect with me. Many thanks to @Impose_eth for always responding to my DMs asking stupid questions and also DMing me with things he thinks may help me out. Always can rely on him to provide insightful advice. Thank you to @0xLawliette and all of test as well. Learned much from our VCs. Also @manimcold, @rainsrevenge, @0xTojo, and @TyrogueD who all DMed me invites to their groups when I was at rock bottom. Last but not least, @tervoooo and @kelxyz_ whose prose inspired me to write more.

tom’s tweet about his purchase of ani was explicit, and succinct. the message is clear: we will be propping up medium caps in our ecosystem. i generally interpreted this as bearish as it appears that actions taken to retain volume on bonk are becoming more drastic of nature as time goes on. this is all natural of course, the market is fast, so teams have to move faster to keep players playing the game. i have immense respect for the bonk team but i do think we're at the point where capital starts to swing to other places. whether that place is zora, jup, perhaps even pump, im not sure, but what i do know is that with every day, the bonk trade ages, and we all know that trades have an expiration date. not to say that the bonk trade is over, but i do think that we're at a point where people are yearning for something fresh. i think the shills get more direct and the buybacks become bigger and more frequent as time goes on until shills or posts about buybacks have a limited effect. of course, i hate speaking in absolutes and so i open this post for conversation, i would love to hear the opinions of others, my mind is always ready to be changed.

Things that also happened during this time: - Ben starts dating Evelyn Ha - Ben goes for a cruise on a yacht in Thailand - Ben makes a showing at a Ha sister meet - I singlehandedly invested more money into Believe ecosystem than Ben did

curating your echo chamber: helping some of my friends (who are new to the crypto) navigate their way around the space made me realize how important it is to follow the right people from the get go a beginner's first taste of crypto twitter consists primarily of a diet of influenzas like trader1sz, bitlord, Bitboy and the like. see anything wrong? this is like having your first dish of asian cuisine be from houston airport panda express. yes, it is technically asian food, but it an unhealthy and disgraceful representation of asian cuisine that fails to even sniff the intricacies and delicate nuances of traditional asian food. this is why so many people get lost. they get a little taste of the food, realize its horrible, and then never eat it again because why would they? following these big accounts is the literal definition of getting a bad taste in your mouth. the pillars in which represent this space are frankly embarrassing and resemble more-so a gauntlet of obstacles than a gateway. to find pure and genuine people you have to sift through an immense heap of trash before stumbling upon that family-owned hole-in-a-wall traditional chinese restaurant that you always return to because the food is unlike any mainstream franchise. thats why i always will encourage following people with less followers. i got my (third) "start" in this space by following the right people, real trench grinders, real people who are hungry and dont have a large following to dump on. start with a good base and you'll find that exploring the space is so much more fun. like wallet tracking, always remember to constantly prune your following, removing the noise and keeping anyone who is kind and genuine id like to shoutout a few accounts that i followed right away after creating this alt that helped me understand the true heart-beat of this space. these accounts are a real taste of what makes this space amazing. most have no idea how much they helped me since it was mostly indirect but shoutout yall fr @0xjune_ @warren_muppets @degendevv @ZKpdgSmith62D9 @0xfhd_ @BussyFiller69 @Impose_eth @0xyandere @ieaturfoods @altsycrypto @evfiend @thoughtfultrade @MisakaTrades and many more

this most recent drawdown hurts the most (ive roundtripped multi 6 figs several times) because i made that money from my own convictions. all winning trades were more or less my own as were my losses, when in previous cycles, those plays were made on the whim of another individual's research. there is a silver lining to this all though which has manifested in my life as a lesson. what i learned from this entire journey so far is the importance of that first large drawdown. everyone has massive streaks of making a ton of money but it is how they cope with that first sizeable loss that separates the good traders from the bad. i attribute much of this (death)spiral that i had been drowning the past few months to my first big loss. i was transfixed on this port ath number and would constantly make irrational decisions in an attempt to get back to that number after i had lost a chunk of it instead of being happy with how much i had made.

trading onchain is like hunting, only ever hunt when the conditions are ideal otherwise you’re just wasting your time

first dynamic spl on solana? imagine the marketing opportunities when it hits 1 billion. imagine a coin that could morph to fit any meta

market is going to rebalance newfound money from trump held in the hands of amateur traders into the hands of more experienced ones. a lot of chasing happening, chasing of profits and exhilaration, apparent from the massive runs of barron and vine. anything that gets volume gets piled on by newly rich participants with little discipline, call it a skill issue but market is too erratic to trade in for me. i have 0 edge.

no desire to buy any coin on solana except bonk eco stuff. genuinely shocking stuff im seeing onchain right now. wouldn’t be surprised to see capital coalesce in bonk stuff since it seems like they’re the only team that cares about its users and the culture on their platform.

anyone who has been reset/lost most of their capital these last few months, just know that growing as a trader/player in this game doesn’t come free. every loss you gain an experience point, it is up to you to apply it to your growth. for anyone that is struggling with external pressures monetary or psychologically, it’s okay if others see you fail, just don’t let them see you surrender

be nice to yourself, you deserve more than you think if you’ve made it this far

when people start looking for betas, momentum of the main coin stalls because marginal buyers are allocating their capital elsewhere instead of piling into the leading asset.

didn’t get filled for pump (i hate kraken) but a wise trader once told me that success anywhere in crypto is contagious. people like to see things do well, it breeds innovation, experimentation and of course, less risk aversion. i am pretty mad i didnt get in but theres a ton of money on the floor right now thats just waiting to be picked up.

$nub testing my conviction like crazy i need therapy after this one

did i hold most of my $nub stack past 200m and all the way down to 27m? yes i did. will i continue to hold until 500m? yes i will

fomo app scares me because it gamifies trading like no other. it’s so colourful and sleek and easy to buy anything that i’ll ape so much more trash than usual + the buy notifications are so fomo-inducing that i’d think they’re more of a negative than a positive. ease of access to cross chain makes it easier to chase shit. happy to discuss tho

the human mind is wicked cuz i would’ve killed someone earlier this year for what i have now.

is there any interest in me publicizing my personal journal? got a bunch of dms pertaining to some of my older tweets that alluded to me starting a journal. if there is even a tiny bit of demand for it then id be happy to post on twitter or tg instead of keeping them private.

biggest thing i’ve learned recently is that you have to learn a lesson twice. the first time happens when you are made aware of it and the second time happens when you finally practice it. so often i expect to ingrain something into my process simply by knowing it. this is a mental trap because you’ll never get it the first time, so when you inevitably fail, it hurts. be okay with failing and not getting things right away. it’s not a judgement of your intelligence or character, it’s a testament of it.

super interesting phenomenon that i and a lot of other traders have a hard time navigating is the monetary value of trading. on one side you must be indifferent to the dollar amount of certain swings to hold good coins long enough to realize their true potential. and on the flip side you gotta be wary of the real value of your profits to realize them. i find it hard to strike a balance between these. for example, when i size into a coin the dollar amount is enough to spoil my family for a month, that if i were to endure even a small amount of loss, being privy to how much i am losing will cause me to cut my bag super early. this is also a bad thing because typically, you must hold through down swings, sometimes 60-90% down swings in order to truly make money. so in this case i should stop thinking about the dollar value and hold. the problem with detaching oneself from the monetary value of your investment is that it’s harder to take profits. i was faced with life changing gains earlier this year and ended up round tripping a bit of it. weirdly, it was my detachment from dollar value that allowed me to hold through the first 100x but was ultimately my downfall as it stopped me from taking a lot of my profits.

sustained pre big losses past few days after winning like crazy start of month. whenever i win a lot i just lose discipline. probably my worst attribute as a trader. my hunger goes away when i start to eat. wish i knew how to stay desperate all the time

a lot of people asking for advice in my dms so i thought i’d make a comprehensive list and post it publicly just to streamline the whole process 1. post pnl screenshots of every good trade and never post losses. this is crucial in establishing yourself as a good trader on ct. 2. constantly scan new contracts. that way, if one of them takes off, you can claim that you called it at a super low market cap. this strategy is an extremely important part of marketing on crypto twitter, many “alpha” groups and automation tools utilizing this strategy to lure customers in and generate an aura of mystique. 3. don’t give any context for why you take trades. that way, if the token tanks, you can say it was a degen bet, and if it moons, you can make fun of ppl for fading you 4. in regards to building a name for yourself on ct; tweet in a very poetic and philosopher like style. public image is very important in the average participant’s perception of a good trader, and by using many metaphors,big words, and allusions, you will have successfully made yourself intelligent and experienced. bonus points if you include any gcr-like images such as a dragon or wizard in your tweet. 5. never tell anyone your real net worth. if someone asks, exaggerate as the more money you have, the smarter you seem

the best bids make you uncomfortable

lowkey i hate on posting pnl but last time i did hella cool people dmd me and ive made some pretty good friends because of it. i still think the way most people post their big wins is damaging (claiming it was super easy) but framing it in a way that is possibly educational might be a good way to contribute to the space and flex at the same time

was pretty wrong about this as trenches dried up extremely fast. some odd runners but market showed no real direction. perhaps we can blame melania but i just think market is much more mature than it was post-bome for example, where the wealth effect of that trickled down almost immediately. market much smarter now + participant psyche damaged from last 12 months makes it difficult to achieve the conviviality that we had last march. kinda alludes to the fact that most capital onchain is the same capital that was onchain early last year, no naivety, no gusto, just burnt out toxic money rotating as quick as possible. timeline is sort of like a aa group where everyone who's been through trauma can vent their struggles to people who have been through the same thing except really it just ends up amplifying our cynicism.

called what? lmao

noteable lack of euphoria in markets seems like majors need to give participants a reason to get greedy again before crashing back down. i thought that last drop to 49k would be enough to cleanse the palette but as soon as we got a tiny flame it was snuffed out by icebagz, size chad and the rest of the circus. it pains me much to know that so many ppl lost money on rtr but when will we learn to not listen to these scammers? we are in an interesting spot right now because so many people have lost confidence in their own skills that nobody believes in things anymore unless a kol tells them too. what i mean by this is that $fwog was always a great coin but bled until web3quant called it. it paid to be patient with $fwog but it also paid to rotate early. feels like the only reason it was worth letting my thesis play out on $fwog is not because the market slowly realized it had something good going for it but because someone with influence told them it was. did i really out trade the market then by investing in pockets of goodness that i deemed undervalued? or did i get lucky because web3quant liked the coin and decided to call it? not a great time to trade for the average person. insiders eat in any market but in this one it feels like it’s more lopsided than ever

Day 258 I continue to buy ICM coins. Probably my highest conviction play in a long time. I still truly believe launchcoin is destined to flip Zerebro's ath. Things will be so obvious in hindsight and I cannot wait. There is also a ton of skepticism surrounding the whole narrative which makes me even more bullish. I think a lot of people are undecided because of fees and lack of actual good tech but none of that matters when we are speculators. We bet on what something could be not what it currently is. s/o @real_y22 for that quote.

how im playing hyperliquid spot: 1. only buying leaders, think hype, purr, hfun 2. not selling until next year

i think it’ll just pay being optimistic. pumpfun is one of the fastest growing businesses of all time, don’t overcomplicate it

i’m stuck between believing in something and taking profits quickly. think it’s more dependent on portfolio size i.e. when you are low-port you should be aggressive and when you accumulate capital you should be in high-conviction plays that you hold for awhile. problem with growing or shrinking a port quickly is that your transition was so rapid you get trapped in your previous mindset. for example you continue to trade with the same size despite losing 50% of your net worth, or, you take profits too aggressively when you have sized into a high-conviction play. when people say the quicker the money comes the quicker it goes its because you don’t get a period in which you can adjust to your surroundings. different sized ports require different strategies. i had trouble accepting that after losing a bunch but think it’s the only real way to climb back to the level you once were at.

i want to speak more in absolutes. if i feel it then just say it. im always talking about "this could happen" or "maybe im wrong though" dont like this aspect of myself feel like it subconsciously makes me less confident in my thoughts. cant be afraid to be wrong because being wrong off your own volition is how you learn

timeline isn’t even toxic anymore ppl just accepting it. i like that

Day 123 Pullback on a ton of coins. Holding steady. Took a break today and cleaned my house up. Felt amazing to declutter as it helped my headspace a lot. Want to start meditating again religiously.

looking at the stables in my wallet with genuine hate and anger