Playing with leverage to go long on PEPE has been an exhilarating experience—these past two days have truly been a roller coaster.

Two days ago, I invested $10,000 of principal, went all-in with 10x leverage to aggressively long, and the market gave me an opportunity. My account skyrocketed to nearly $1 million. At this point, discussions in the crypto community were buzzing, and I felt like I was becoming a "legend."

But the turn of events came too quickly—market conditions didn't continue to favor me. A sharp correction exposed the true risks of leverage. When I checked my account this morning, I was shocked—within just a few hours, it had retraced 85%. The $1 million suddenly shrank to $150,000, and my account equity dropped to $173,000.

Here's the current position:

An ETH long position with 25x leverage, with a nominal value of $170 million, but an unrealized loss of $8,700, a 66% decline. This position is bleeding.

A PEPE long position with 10x leverage, with a nominal value of $130 million, currently with an unrealized profit of $62,000, a 47% increase. This is the only position still in positive territory and barely holding on.

This is a textbook example of leveraged trading—when prices rise, profits shoot up like a rocket; when they fall, it’s like sliding down a slide, with every correction cutting into your position. No matter how much you’ve earned before, a systemic market reversal can wipe it all out.

The deepest lesson I’ve learned is: leveraging to go long is indeed exciting, but the risks are enormous. Just one adverse market move can lead to a double loss—losing your principal and crushing your mental state. The importance of taking profits in stages cannot be overstated; waiting until the next time is a mistake.

To sum up, the old adage still holds: those who make quick gains often lose even faster. Being steady is the long-term strategy.