then, in 2020 defi summer came around. after seeing uniswap and sushiswap and CRV mooning i decided to give it another try. again took a loan from a friend over 20k and re-entered markets in october 2020. the goal was to make enough money to clear the tax debt and maybe a small piece for myself. fast forward 6 months later i had turned that 20k into 400k and was hooked on the game. did nothing else than engaging all day. reading, talking with people, learning, trading. i decided to maximize on this, so i had to leave country to go to a more favorable tax destination. had not much to leave behind in the motherland anyway, as i was not a productive member of society, besides my parents and my girlfriend. asked her to join me in my conquest but she declined. which was understandable as she only spoke the native tongue and was deeply rooted in society. broke my heart but i had to leave her behind. had to burn the boats. had to sacrifice all i could for the dream of becoming rich.
left the country with 400k in summer 21, tax debt still unreported and unpaid. the bull market lasted another 6 months and i ran that 400k up to 1.1m. bear market started again and i sat on my hands for a while. then tax law in my country of residence was changing so i knew i had to move again. again going into another foreign country where i don't speak the language and didn't know a single soul. also the climate in this second tax haven was much harsher than in the country i was residing before which had tons of sun and beaches. but, the boats had to be burned again, so i left. upon arriving on new shores i reported my tax debt and paid a total of 450k (incl. interest that accumulated over the years, penalties to avoid prison time and lawyer costs). this was draining a lot off my energy because every single tx had to be reconstructed and reported. i knew if i underreport for only a single EUR i would go to prison. this took a lot of time and a big mental toll. but it had to be done. with this out of the way i was left with 500k + money to cover living costs for a couple years of modest living. it was end of 2022, bear market. i rented an apartment, bought a desk for my computer and a mattress. slept on the floor, dreaming of becoming a millionaire. i took small trades here and there, but mostly sat on my hands. then Bonk was launched and we had the first real meme szn. i made some money. then came 2023, i hit some good plays (pepe, harrypottersonicobama coin, unibot). my 500k had grown to 900k. then came 2024. the same thing as of recently happened. i got caught up in greed and formed an echo bubble amongst me and some friends. oversized into a single trade and lost most of my portfolio. the asset was $mother (you can read about that trade when you scroll down my twitter timeline).
so, the dream was dead (again). i was left with 340k and had to rebuild. luckily my good friend tecton (who was a very profitable trader back then already and had the mental game on lock) came to help and taught me some very valuable lessons and showed me the way how to improve my game. i soaked all his advice up and started reflecting on every decision i ever made in this market. every mistake, every decision was mentally re-visited, my whole trading history was rolled back up and analyzed. this way i really got to know myself, my individual strengths and weaknesses and was able to build a process around that. additionally i was very lucky that i already had a network of experienced shooters that i could ask for advice. had access to some big players like RiffRaff and jcalhoun who were willing to help me and answer questions. forever grateful for that.
once this process was built i got back on the horse and started the 100k to 1m challenge (also tectons idea), which i completed roughly 3.5 months later. the way from there is described in the post above and now we are here.
jobs not finished. the journey continues.
left the country with 400k in summer 21, tax debt still unreported and unpaid. the bull market lasted another 6 months and i ran that 400k up to 1.1m. bear market started again and i sat on my hands for a while. then tax law in my country of residence was changing so i knew i had to move again. again going into another foreign country where i don't speak the language and didn't know a single soul. also the climate in this second tax haven was much harsher than in the country i was residing before which had tons of sun and beaches. but, the boats had to be burned again, so i left. upon arriving on new shores i reported my tax debt and paid a total of 450k (incl. interest that accumulated over the years, penalties to avoid prison time and lawyer costs). this was draining a lot off my energy because every single tx had to be reconstructed and reported. i knew if i underreport for only a single EUR i would go to prison. this took a lot of time and a big mental toll. but it had to be done. with this out of the way i was left with 500k + money to cover living costs for a couple years of modest living. it was end of 2022, bear market. i rented an apartment, bought a desk for my computer and a mattress. slept on the floor, dreaming of becoming a millionaire. i took small trades here and there, but mostly sat on my hands. then Bonk was launched and we had the first real meme szn. i made some money. then came 2023, i hit some good plays (pepe, harrypottersonicobama coin, unibot). my 500k had grown to 900k. then came 2024. the same thing as of recently happened. i got caught up in greed and formed an echo bubble amongst me and some friends. oversized into a single trade and lost most of my portfolio. the asset was $mother (you can read about that trade when you scroll down my twitter timeline).
so, the dream was dead (again). i was left with 340k and had to rebuild. luckily my good friend tecton (who was a very profitable trader back then already and had the mental game on lock) came to help and taught me some very valuable lessons and showed me the way how to improve my game. i soaked all his advice up and started reflecting on every decision i ever made in this market. every mistake, every decision was mentally re-visited, my whole trading history was rolled back up and analyzed. this way i really got to know myself, my individual strengths and weaknesses and was able to build a process around that. additionally i was very lucky that i already had a network of experienced shooters that i could ask for advice. had access to some big players like RiffRaff and jcalhoun who were willing to help me and answer questions. forever grateful for that.
once this process was built i got back on the horse and started the 100k to 1m challenge (also tectons idea), which i completed roughly 3.5 months later. the way from there is described in the post above and now we are here.
jobs not finished. the journey continues.
biggest learnings i took from all that:
- the only real lasting edges are execution and ability to adapt
- successful trading is a highly individual thing. strategy needs to be tailored to individual character (pessimist optimist, risk tolerance, time horizons, individual strengths and weaknesses etc.)
- experience is the teacher of all things. there is a big difference between knowing what the right thing to do is and being able to execute on that. therefore its better to try stuff and reflect upon own mistakes than reading books
- reflection is hugely important. mistake + reflection = progress
- being process-oriented rather than being results-oriented. this means the goal should be to make the best possible decisions in given situations rather than thinking in numbers
- one needs to build a process because your NW will always regress to the base level of your process. if you make money by excessive risk taking you will lose money by the same thing. the process is your base level and NW will always mean-revert to it. thats also the reason why most lottery millionaires end up broke after 5 years
- your individual process can only be built upon reflection
- understand that the quality of a decision cannot be judged by its immediate outcome. very powerful concept that only few use in daily life
- see yourself as perpetual student. do net let yourself lose courage because the same mistakes happen multiple times. learning from mistakes is not linear
- check yourself at all times and do not fall into hubris. god's sharpest arrows are reserved for the arrogant
- constantly work on mastering the control of your emotions. your job as a trader is to control your own emotions and take advantage of those who cannot
- the only real lasting edges are execution and ability to adapt
- successful trading is a highly individual thing. strategy needs to be tailored to individual character (pessimist optimist, risk tolerance, time horizons, individual strengths and weaknesses etc.)
- experience is the teacher of all things. there is a big difference between knowing what the right thing to do is and being able to execute on that. therefore its better to try stuff and reflect upon own mistakes than reading books
- reflection is hugely important. mistake + reflection = progress
- being process-oriented rather than being results-oriented. this means the goal should be to make the best possible decisions in given situations rather than thinking in numbers
- one needs to build a process because your NW will always regress to the base level of your process. if you make money by excessive risk taking you will lose money by the same thing. the process is your base level and NW will always mean-revert to it. thats also the reason why most lottery millionaires end up broke after 5 years
- your individual process can only be built upon reflection
- understand that the quality of a decision cannot be judged by its immediate outcome. very powerful concept that only few use in daily life
- see yourself as perpetual student. do net let yourself lose courage because the same mistakes happen multiple times. learning from mistakes is not linear
- check yourself at all times and do not fall into hubris. god's sharpest arrows are reserved for the arrogant
- constantly work on mastering the control of your emotions. your job as a trader is to control your own emotions and take advantage of those who cannot
Not often I post these extremely long messages, but y22's story is worth reading.
It is in 3 parts. See above.
One quote that stood out for me is this:
"with this out of the way i was left with 500k + money to cover living costs for a couple years of modest living. it was end of 2022, bear market. i rented an apartment, bought a desk for my computer and a mattress. slept on the floor, dreaming of becoming a millionaire."
It just shows how bad he wanted it. Sleeping on the floor with $500k to his name. Most ppl with 500k would splurge it on a nice car, mortgage for a good apartment and just go into debt.
Anyway, read it in full above 👆
It is in 3 parts. See above.
One quote that stood out for me is this:
"with this out of the way i was left with 500k + money to cover living costs for a couple years of modest living. it was end of 2022, bear market. i rented an apartment, bought a desk for my computer and a mattress. slept on the floor, dreaming of becoming a millionaire."
It just shows how bad he wanted it. Sleeping on the floor with $500k to his name. Most ppl with 500k would splurge it on a nice car, mortgage for a good apartment and just go into debt.
Anyway, read it in full above 👆
perhaps a new strategy from projects
1) get CEX to list pre-market
2) have it go down -60% during pre-market
3) on TGE a spot chart of the project looks really good & sell-off has already happened
no longer short MON (for now)
1) get CEX to list pre-market
2) have it go down -60% during pre-market
3) on TGE a spot chart of the project looks really good & sell-off has already happened
no longer short MON (for now)