Gamblers on the left, traders on the right: Revelations of gains and losses in a hellish bull market
Even star traders can lose everything. What strategies should we have in response?Author: Jiahua, ChainCatcher
The bull market of 2025 feels like a hellish trial. On one side, the crypto market rebounded after evaporating $1.3 trillion over three months, accompanied by extreme volatility and countless liquidation tragedies. On the other side, Bitcoin soared from a low of $40,000 at the beginning of 2024 to over $120,000, continuously breaking new highs.
In terms of market sentiment, traders are primarily driven by greed (46.85%), mixed with significant fear and neutrality, facing a trading environment of extreme volatility and strong FOMO emotions.
As X user Shapolang said: This bull market is of hellish difficulty, and only true believers can reap the fruits of victory!
This article will focus on star traders in the crypto market, revealing the brutal veil of the market through their trading gains and losses, as well as our coping strategies.
Can Star Traders Also Lose Everything?
The hellish bull market is not only a trial for ordinary investors but also for star traders. They are often known for their high-risk, high-reward style, but their experiences also highlight the brutality of the market. Below are a few well-known star traders; some excel in long positions, some in short-term trading, some started with small capital, and some are extremely sensitive to macro information, but their final outcomes are all the same: zero or even losses.
James Wynn
● Trading Style: Bold and aggressive, primarily focusing on long positions in PEPE and BTC. Skilled at capturing early opportunities in high-potential tokens, often increasing positions during price fluctuations. Frequently shares positions on social media to attract attention but has also been targeted by whales, rebounding multiple times after falling to stop-loss prices.
● Peak Performance: Achieved over 10,000 times returns early on through PEPE, holding 1.23 billion BTC long positions; turned $0 to $87 million in 70 days.
● Loss Situation: Multiple liquidations led to a complete loss of profits and a loss of $23 million.
Insider Bro qwatio
● Trading Style: Sensitive to macro events, skilled in short-term operations, with a high win rate. Has often opened positions like an "insider trader" before key moments.
● Peak Performance: Grew from $3 million in capital to $26 million; made $2.15 million in profit within 40 minutes by capturing macro fluctuations in BTC and ETH for rapid doubling.
● Loss Situation: Account ultimately went to zero; lost $25.8 million in leveraged short liquidation within 3 hours; total losses exceeded $28 million.
AguilaTrades
● Trading Style: Enthusiastic about high leverage and rolling operations, prefers BTC and ETH. Win rate depends on market trends but neglects position diversification and emotional management, often returning to heavy positions immediately after losses.
● Peak Performance: Grew from $300,000 in capital to $41.7 million.
● Loss Situation: Lost $37.6 million, leaving only $30,000 in the account.
Additionally, there are star traders like jasonleo who went from a floating profit of $700 million to zero, suffering heavy losses in this hellish bull market.
Insights on Gains and Losses: Restraint and Rationality, the Ultimate Rule for Survival in a Bull Market
Under the baptism of the hellish bull market, the trading situations of star traders serve as a mirror, reflecting the brutal reality of the crypto market, and alerting us further: only by restraining greed and maintaining rational strategies can we survive in the market. X user Web3 philosopher commented: Many people are actually gambling but mistakenly believe they are trading. Many are gamblers but claim to be traders.
Gamblers are on the left, traders on the right; the two seem to be separated by a fine line, but in fact, they are worlds apart.
The former often relies on luck and emotional drives, buying in fully at market peaks and panic selling at lows, neglecting timing and position control. The latter views the market as a battlefield, formulating rigorous strategies: using technical analysis, fundamental research, and stop-loss mechanisms, diversifying portfolios, and maintaining emotional neutrality.
The three star traders introduced above once stood on a pedestal but ultimately experienced a dramatic turn from peak to zero due to "getting blinded by greed."
In a bull market, timely locking in profits is a key strategy to avoid wealth evaporation. The market is highly volatile; while prices can soar from lows, corrections can often wipe out all profits. Timely locking in capital provides a layer of insurance for your positions, allowing profits to be used for operations, ensuring long-term survival in the market.
At the same time, we should strengthen emotional management. Here, emotions refer not only to maintaining composure and restraint during significant losses, analyzing where strategies went wrong, and then adjusting to start over; but also to not flaunting large position orders, staying low-key, trading smartly, and protecting your funds from whale attacks.
In this hellish bull market, glory and traps coexist. The crypto space is never short of opportunities to make money; what is lacking are investors who master restraint and rationality. Only they can survive the tide of greed and laugh until the end.
Risk warning
