Find a group of people who do the same thing as you, preferably those who are smarter than you.

Written by: Rhys

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News

As the title suggests, I tried perpetual contract trading for a month. As someone who has been involved in cryptocurrency for five years but has never touched perpetual contracts, I want to share this experience in this article.

I hope that both novice traders and industry veterans can gain some fresh perspectives from my story. You might laugh at my recklessness, feel embarrassed by my actions, or resonate with some of my experiences.

Why did I start?

To be honest, half of it was out of boredom, and half was to ride the current trend.

Like many people now, I wanted to jump on the "decentralized perpetual contract exchange trend," which simply means trading on specific platforms to accumulate points. At the beginning, there were mainly four platforms to choose from: Hyperliquid, Lighter, Aster, and Apex.

Looking back now, I probably should have chosen Lighter, as it still hasn't issued tokens, and the points activity is still ongoing. But I ultimately chose Hyperliquid because it seemed like the safest option.

A Lucky Start

My initial trades were all focused on the XPL token, and I only took long positions. This quickly became my fixed trading pattern.

The first trade doubled my account instantly; for those five minutes, I truly felt like a genius, even though it was purely luck. I opened a long position with maximum leverage, went to sleep without setting a stop loss, and woke up to find my account doubled. It was beginner's luck, or perhaps just a foolish move that happened to work out.

After that, I continued trading XPL the same way: watching the 5-minute candlestick chart, short-term operations, full leverage, and no stop loss. I do not recommend this method; it is the fastest way to lose all your money.

But my beginner's luck continued, and my account kept growing.

A little background: in the community I often visit, my nickname ends with "Caroline Ellison Arc"—a tribute to her famous quote, which roughly means "I don't think stop losses are a good risk management tool." Looking back, using her as a trading strategy role model was probably not a wise choice.

Finding My "Winning Formula"

The next key turning point was when I discovered the Hyperliquid liquidation alert bot on Telegram. At that time, I didn't realize that this bot basically defined my entire "trading strategy."

From then on, my Telegram became a mix of news bots and liquidation alerts. I naively thought that as long as I knew the reasons for liquidations, I could trade smarter (spoiler: it was completely useless).

My strategy was simple: if the bot continuously popped up a bunch of alerts, I would open the candlestick chart and go long like crazy.

Surprisingly, this tactic actually worked. Most of the time, I could make a profit as soon as I entered the market; if I didn't make a profit, I would quickly cut my losses and wait for the next wave of alerts. This wasn't a smart trading method, but it was enough to get me hooked.

The Temptation of Position Size

Later, I started trading tokens other than XPL, mainly because Hyperliquid offered ridiculously high leverage on mainstream coins. I realized that theoretically, I could open positions worth millions of dollars. Tempting, right?

It was indeed very tempting.

But I also knew how quickly those numbers could ruin me. After a few tries, I found that the position size was growing too fast. Reducing my position size was the wisest decision I made that week.

A Bad Day

Then, I experienced my first real loss.

By that time, I was already addicted: I would wake up and immediately check the candlestick chart, desperately searching for non-existent trading opportunities, chasing every candlestick as if they owed me money.

The result was predictable; I lost a third of my account in one day.

That feeling was terrible. I closed all my positions, canceled all my pending orders, and decided to take a break. Although my account was still overall profitable, the thrill of making money had vanished. I realized that I wasn't trading; I was gambling.

October 10: A Wake-Up Call

Guess when this loss happened? That's right, on October 10—the day the entire market crashed.

But I didn't lose money during the crash; I had already taken a hit earlier that day.

That night, my liquidation bot suddenly went crazy with alerts, so many that I thought someone was spamming me on Telegram. The alerts were endless, hundreds or even thousands, sounding like a machine gun firing.

Then it suddenly went quiet—Telegram automatically deleted the bot due to too much spam.

At that point, I had already reopened the candlestick chart and used all my remaining funds to go long. Somehow, I managed to catch a few perfect entry points and actually made back the third of my account I had lost earlier.

That day was complete chaos; it was a massacre. Some of the best traders were completely liquidated. This was the loudest wake-up call I had since I started trading perpetual contracts, reminding me that the market doesn't care who you are; it will eventually swallow everyone.

Reflections After October 10

After that, I significantly slowed down my trading pace. Perhaps it was due to the shock, or perhaps I was just relieved that I hadn't lost everything.

To be honest, being able to make back the third of my account I had lost and still be alive to share this experience, I was already very satisfied. Without the Telegram bot, I felt like a beginner without training wheels.

I started using strict stop losses and tried time-weighted average price orders.

So, what did I actually learn?

This month helped me clarify my trading style: I am a short-term trader. The chaos of October 10, along with the constant reminder to "take the money and run," shaped who I am now.

Jim Talbot's segment about "taking profits" still plays repeatedly in my mind, so much that I don't even want to admit how many times.

I no longer desperately search for trading opportunities. Now, I might go several days or even a week without trading.

Final Thoughts

If I had to give everyone one piece of advice, it would be: find a group of people who do the same thing as you, preferably those who are smarter than you. Those who are genuinely trading, not just posting candlestick charts for attention; those who will call you out when you act recklessly and remind you to take profits when greed clouds your judgment.

Having such people around makes it easier to get through slow market days, and the joy of making money feels even stronger. Being with knowledgeable people helps you stay grounded. Trading alone can easily lead to a narrow perspective, and that's when you start desperately searching for non-existent trading opportunities.

My account is indeed profitable, but that's not the point; the real victory is not losing all my money. I learned when to stop, when to reduce my position, and when to turn off the candlestick chart before the market drags me down.

I am still persisting, still learning, still clicking the "buy" button, and still here sharing my story.

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