8 Years in Crypto: The Mistakes That Almost Took Me Out (Part 2)

If you read Part 1, you already know — this game doesn’t play fair.

It will use your hope, trust, and emotion against you.
It will reward you just enough to keep you around…
Right before it bleeds you out.

But pain isn’t a prison — it’s a teacher.

And if you survive long enough?
You get clarity most traders will never touch.

Here’s the rest of the painful mistakes I had to live through — so you don’t have to.

Let’s finish this.

7. Bear Markets Build Brands

After one of the many crashes, I hit rock bottom.

My portfolio was down 80%.
My confidence was gone.
I didn’t want to look at another chart.

So I started writing.

Threads.
Breakdowns.
Mistakes I made.

No pretending. No faking. Just transparency.

And something crazy happened:

People started listening.

Lesson?

Brand is leverage.
It doesn’t decay.
And it will outlast every token in your wallet.

8. Chasing the Meta Is a Losing Game

In the next cycle, I got slick.

Started farming memecoin LPs.
Volume was good.
Yields decent.
Slow but consistent.

Until it wasn’t.

Volume dried up.
Slippage got nasty.
Liquidity evaporated overnight.

Small profits got wiped in days.

Don’t cling to a strategy just because it worked last month.

In crypto, edge decays fast.

Adapt or get outplayed.

9. Narratives Are Fuel — Until They Aren’t

I caught the AI trend early.

Bought right before it hit Twitter.

Sold when CT picked it up. Thought I was smart.

Then it ran another 10x.

And I sat there in disbelief.

Know the difference between overhyped and over.

And don’t sell just because it’s trending.
Let momentum confirm the end.

10. Diversification Only Works Across Worlds

Back in 2021, I felt so "hedged."

Held:

• $ETH

• $SOL

• $AVAX

• JPEGs

• Gaming tokens

• Governance tokens

• Stablecoins

Twelve bags.

Felt like a fund manager.

And then?

All of them dumped in sync.
Down 90%+ together.

Real diversification is across:

• Fiat

• Real estate

• Business income

• Cash flow

• Non-correlated markets

If your entire net worth bleeds when BTC bleeds?

You’re not diversified.

You’re exposed.

11. Emotion Is the Market’s Oldest Trap

I’ve lost more money trading from rage and revenge than any bad setup.

After a six-figure loss, I rage quit.

Sold everything.
Sold my company.
Held stables.
Did nothing for months.

And that pause?

I stopped acting like a gambler.
Started building like a professional.

That was the pivot that saved me.

12. There Is No Final Form

Even now — 8 years in — I still misread stops.
I still size too big sometimes.
I still fall for stories.

But I catch it faster.
I recover quicker.
And I know how to move smaller and sharper.

This game doesn’t require gods.

Just survivors with systems.

Final Thoughts

You won’t win this game with perfect timing.
You win it by stacking lessons faster than you lose capital.
Because I built this 9-5 Traders community for people who want to stop bleeding and start winning with clarity.

I’ve made the mistakes.
I’ve been broke.
I’ve been stupid.
And I’ve also clawed my way back into a position most traders only dream about.

You don’t have to do this the hard way.

You just have to stop pretending it’s easy.

— Victor

P.S.
You can choose to be a spectator, chasing calls from anonymous Twitter faces…

Or you can learn from someone who’s survived multiple cycles, made multiple exits, and now teaches real edge.

Choice is yours.

We’re just getting warmed up.