6 Years in Crypto: From Million-Dollar Losses to Inner Peace

The journey of life may seem to have countless paths, but each person walks only one. We all cross our own narrow bridge. Looking back, entering the cryptocurrency world wasn’t necessarily the best path — but I don’t regret it. I fell in love with the feeling of hope it brought.

First Steps Into the Crypto World

In May 2017, I was working in Nanjing. My college friend Xiao, who worked in Hangzhou, came to visit during the Labor Day holiday. We both graduated from average universities with degrees in automation, entered factory jobs after graduation in 2015, then attended a four-month Android development bootcamp. At that point, we’d only been working in tech for a few months.

Our conversations revolved around coding — who landed an 18K salary job, who oversold themselves and got fired. Then Xiao mentioned Ethereum’s price jumping from 600 to 1,000 yuan in days. He said he’d put in 5,000 yuan and made 20,000. He’d gone all-in on Ethereum Classic (ETC), which he called “Little Ethereum,” priced around 40–50 yuan. “This is the real Ethereum,” he claimed.

After he left, I bought 3,000 yuan worth of ETC on BitTVC. I’d first heard of Bitcoin in 2013 on a financial TV show but ignored it. I heard about it again in 2016 when someone mentioned it had surged — but from distant acquaintances.

This time, it was someone close. Within days, I was hooked.

I jumped onto platforms like Bitfinex, Jubi, and ZB. I traded everything — BitShares (BTS), Futurecoin, Red Shell, Mermaid Coin, Xuecun Gushu, ETP (the precursor to today’s metaverse concept). In just days, my 3,000 yuan turned into 25,000. Every time I opened the app, prices were rising. I started believing crypto could only go up.

I didn’t yet understand that ETC and BTS were rising because they’d been listed on new exchanges — or that Jubi’s coins were inflating without reason.

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Learning the Hard Way

I began following crypto influencers on Weibo and heard about a promising Chinese project called “Xiaoyi” (later Neo). It was trading at just 5–6 yuan on Jubi. My funds were tied up in BTS on another exchange. I sold my BTS, withdrew to my bank account (back then, I didn’t know about blockchain transfers), and waited overnight for the funds to arrive.

By the time I transferred to Jubi, Xiaoyi had hit 10+ yuan. I hesitated. By evening, it was at 20. “This is insane,” I thought. “Why code when you can make money like this?”

But reality soon hit.

I chased volatility on Jubi and Yuanbao. Once, Red Shell tripled in three days — yet I lost 30%. I’d learned to trade candlestick patterns and spent nights until 3 or 4 AM trying to time the market. Exhausting — and unprofitable.

After months of ups and downs, I still had around 30,000 yuan. Then Xiao called again: “ICOs are huge now.” He’d swapped 3,000 yuan worth of ETP for Chendao tokens and multiplied his returns. He told me about “ICOCoin” on Bijiu — fundraising was over, but you could buy via push. It had only tripled; he expected it to go 10x or more.

I dumped my 30,000 yuan savings and combined it with my existing crypto funds — 60,000 total — all into ICOCoin.

When it listed on China Bitcoin Exchange, it didn’t surge — it dropped. I panicked. But the founder, Yang Linken, reassured investors. He wasn’t the smartest or most capable, but he was sincere — a real contrast to another figure I knew: Zhu Rong (a.k.a. “Pork Rong”), also from Wenzhou.

ICOCoin kept falling. I borrowed 100,000 yuan from a programmer friend, Zhang, who charged it to his credit card. I doubled down. At one point, I was down 50,000 yuan on paper. With Zhang’s card payments looming, we even lined up coding jobs in the Philippines — higher pay, easier debt repayment.

Then the market turned. I sold all my ICOCoin at 10 yuan each. My total: about 400,000 yuan. No need for the Philippines anymore.

The 9/4 Crackdown and Aftermath

After repaying Zhang, I followed Weibo influencers again — making gains on BNB and HSR ICOs, though I didn’t hold long enough to maximize profits.

Then came September 4, 2017 — China’s ICO ban. I lost from 1 million to 600,000 yuan and cashed out completely — except for some leftover Red Shell tokens. Xiao bought darknet-related coins (which later soared).

Surprisingly, the market rebounded fast. “Blockchain is forever,” I thought. The 9/4 event didn’t crush me because I’d already shifted some funds to stocks after hearing constant warnings from influencers.

The Peak: Chasing ICO Mania

Seeing the market outperform even pre-9/4 levels turned me into a die-hard believer. ICOs became my obsession — no need for complex trading; profits came fast.

I joined ICOs for DeepBrain Chain, Ink Protocol, Medical Chain, INS, Leek Coin, Super Payment Chain — too many to list.

Some were insane: Leek Coin raised funds in a WeChat group one day and tripled the next. When INS listed on Binance, I jumped in immediately — sold at 30x (it stabilized at 8x fifteen minutes later). CMT opened with a thousand-fold surge. Binance’s early ICOs? Getting in meant instant multipliers.

In 2018, I invested 1.5 million yuan each in OKB and HT during their ICOs — but sold too early. Then EOS exploded; I doubled my money.

By May 2018, my net worth peaked at 9.75 million yuan.

No house. No car (no driver’s license either). Just a 10,000-yuan pair of glasses.

I told myself: One more month. If I can make another 5 million, I’ll walk away.

The Fall: When Luck Runs Out

As ICOs began failing to launch or immediately crashed post-listing, losses piled up.

From 2018 to 2019, losses came easily: Hero Chain, Space Chain — down hundreds of thousands. Countless others bled me dry.

I sought new strategies and followed Zhu Rong into futures trading. He seemed successful, but his hyper-short-term style — aiming for $400 gains per trade — didn’t suit me. It set the stage for disaster.

Through Zhu Rong, I met AK — rumored to be a genius trader. I paid 100,000 yuan/month to join his group and lost five BTC within weeks. I quit.

Then came the hype around obscure exchange tokens: ZG, ZB, TD. Zhu Rong launched TDEX — promoted as a BitMEX killer (at a time when only OKX offered reliable futures in China). Given his background as founder of 796 Exchange, I invested 1.5 million yuan and convinced classmates to invest another million.

That investment officially went to zero by late 2021.

ZG and ZB tokens halved repeatedly. Without Zhu Rong’s guidance, I followed a WeChat group “team leader” — lost more.

By end of 2019, only 3 million yuan remained.

Rock Bottom and Recovery

By March 12, 2020, I’d largely stopped active trading — sticking to BTC and ETH spot positions.

But on “Black Thursday,” I couldn’t resist — went 2x long on EOS at the bottom… and got liquidated.

Lost over 2 million yuan in minutes.

Balance: 750,000 yuan.

Locked down at home during the pandemic, I didn’t sleep for a week — consumed by pain, regret, and self-doubt.

I used 700,000 yuan as a down payment on an apartment and returned to coding full-time (I’d quit in late 2018).

I read Deng Xiaoping’s biography. Listened to his quotes: “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white…”
“What matters will remain; everything else will pass.”

I reminded myself: Keep moving forward.

For months, I stayed away from crypto entirely — focused on work.

But by late 2020, colleagues started talking about Bitcoin again. I stayed silent — pretending not to care.

In December, as BTC climbed steadily, I finally dipped back in — this time with salary money only.

My mindset had changed.

I explored ZEN, OKT, DeFi projects — dabbled in trends like GameFi and NFTs.

Today? My portfolio is around 2 million yuan again.

But now — losses don’t devastate me; gains don’t euphorize me.

Crypto is no longer my life’s center — just a part of it.

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Finding Balance: The New Philosophy

I once dreamed of becoming a millionaire overnight.

Now? I accept that wealth freedom may not be my destiny — at least not yet.

But as long as I’m still in the game… there’s hope.

Whether there’s a bull run or not — I’ll stay.

Because being here means possibility.

And that’s enough.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How did you recover emotionally after such massive losses?
A: Time and perspective helped most. Reading about historical figures who overcame failure reminded me that setbacks are temporary. Returning to stable work also restored my sense of control.

Q: What’s your current investment strategy?
A: Conservative diversification. I allocate small portions to high-potential projects but keep most funds in major assets like BTC and ETH. No leverage unless thoroughly tested in simulation first.

Q: Do you still follow influencers or trading groups?
A: Rarely. Past experiences taught me that blind trust leads to loss. Now I research independently and make decisions based on personal risk tolerance.

Q: What advice would you give new crypto investors?
A: Start small. Never invest what you can’t afford to lose. Avoid FOMO-driven decisions. And remember: surviving the market long-term beats chasing quick wins.

Q: Why do you continue trading despite past failures?
A: Because crypto represents innovation and opportunity. The journey itself has value — not just financial returns but personal growth through resilience and learning.

Q: How has your relationship with money changed?
A: Money used to equal success and validation. Now it’s a tool — not a measure of self-worth. Peace of mind matters more than portfolio size.