Last summer, I met a friend who, after three consecutive margin calls, was left with only 4200U. He said that if he lost more, he would have to sell his car to cover the costs. Seeing him like that, I was reminded of my own early days—lessons learned after seven margin calls.

I didn't talk to him about Bollinger Bands or Fibonacci; I only shared my three core rules. He followed them. Four months later, his account broke even, then surged to 25,000. He didn't say much to thank me, only sent a message: "Turns out, you really can avoid margin calls in crypto."

**Rule 1: Money Must Be Divided into Three Parts**

I told him to strictly split the 4200U into three portions—one for short-term rebounds, one for waiting for major trends, and a reserve fund that must never be touched.

I explained: In crypto, you can make mistakes nine times, as long as your emergency fund remains. There will always be a chance to bounce back. Later, he added a strict rule himself—every time he earns 1,000U, he moves the principal into his wallet. He said he finally understood: the numbers in the account are just figures; only the money in the wallet is real.

**Rule 2: Only Follow Clear Major Trends**

I banned him from looking at 15-minute charts, only allowing daily and weekly charts. I also set a strict rule: no trading if moving averages aren’t in a bullish alignment, volume isn’t increasing, or key levels aren’t broken. If any of these conditions aren’t met, he must stay out of the market.

For nearly a month, he didn’t place any trades. When he felt restless, he would just close the trading app and go for a run. When the real trend arrived, he only took the most certain part—no guessing the top, no bottom fishing. He later said that he used to always want to buy at the lowest point, but ended up getting stuck halfway up the mountain. Now, he finally feels at ease.

**Rule 3: Write Rules in Stone, Execute Mechanically**

Before each trade, he had to write down clearly on paper: why he was entering, where his stop-loss was, and what his target was.

Stop-loss was fixed at 5%; when hit, he would cut. No hesitation, no fantasies. When profits exceeded 10%, he would move the stop-loss to break-even, letting the profits run freely. Gradually, he stopped staying up late to watch the charts, stopped anxiously refreshing market data, and even set timed lockups for his account. This is what it looks like to live after escaping the hell of margin calls.