Lately, my private inbox has been blowing up again.

Everyone is asking the same thing: "How do you really make money in the crypto world?"

Every time I see this question, I think of that guy I met last year—his account balance went from green to red, a living textbook of the process.

We first met in August last year. His account had $12,000 lying around, and his phone notes were filled with various technical indicators. Our chat was full of professional terms like "sector rotation" and "narrative-driven." But when I checked his trading record, I was stunned: hardly any activity for nearly half a year.

It's not that he couldn't pick the right coins; his mindset had already collapsed.

A 5% increase? Sell quickly! Afraid of a pullback eating into profits. A 2% drop? Cut immediately! Claiming it's strict stop-loss. When the real main rally comes? He had already sold out in earlier small oscillations and run away, only able to watch others share their gains in the group.

Even more incredible, he always chickens out at critical moments: afraid to enter on rebounds, afraid to add to positions during surges, fearing to be the bagholder. He dawdled back and forth for half a year, but didn't make any money; he was about to give up.

I didn't bother with those fancy indicator systems at the time. I simply asked him: "Are you trying to play heartbeat, or do you want to steadily make profits?"

He was stunned for a moment: "Of course, who doesn't want to earn steadily?"

That made me see the key clearly: in the crypto space, timing the rhythm correctly is way more valuable than just picking the right direction.