What attracted you to trading?

At first, I just saw it as the only way to grow my BTC stack. DCA was not an option because I had $100 in my bank account, so I tried trading. I remember my first trade, I made like 2€, and I thought, "is this legal? I mean, I can make money without working?" If I can make $2, then I can make $20.

I was used to working 12h for 80€, so that 2€ made from my screen struck me hard. That was the impulse that drew me in. After that, I became obsessed. During the first few weeks, I read more information than I could fit in my head, and I used to dream with charts and candles.

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If I can make $2, then I can make $20.

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‍How long have you been trading, and what markets have you traded over your career?

I have been trading since mid-2018 and have only traded crypto.

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How long did it take you to become profitable?

In the first 1-2 years, I made some big profits but also took substantial losses. It was very frustrating because I felt I could make money from time to time, but I ended up losing it all. It took me over three years to get consistent. When that happened, my profits were smaller, but they were more constant. This was the result of always risking a fixed amount and not my entire trading account. Everything changed when I really accepted the risk. If you risk an amount that makes you uncomfortable losing, you will never move forward. As a friend of mine says "redefine your trading in such a way that you truly accept the risk" (Jonzi).

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What does a typical day look like for you?

Pretty simple. I wake up at 12 a.m. I know it's late, but I’ve always hated getting up early. After lunch, I read messages, look at the charts and draw some trading plans, some plans trigger, and some don't. The next few hours are based on doing something while waiting for a trigger or while the trade is open. I usually read, advance some project or just go out on my dirtbike.

After dinner, I disconnect from the charts. I spend time with family, hang out with friends or watch Netflix. Then, from 12 p.m. to 6 a.m., while everyone is sleeping, I do the work that requires more creativity or energy, long-term trading plans, trade/data analysis, writing (for some reason my head is more agile at those hours, in fact right now it's 3:45).

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Then, from 12 p.m. to 6 a.m., while everyone is sleeping, I do the work that requires more creativity or energy

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Who did you look up to when you first started trading?

CryptoHornHairs and RektProof have inspired me so much over the last 2-4 years that if I am here today, it is because of them. I also really appreciate everyone who was in CT in 2018. All of them have been my teachers.

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Tell us about your most memorable trade?

ATOM in the Summer of 2021. I was with my friends on vacation, and about 5 minutes before going down to the beach, I opened a v fat long and left my phone in the house. While we were on the beach, I couldn't look at the chart, and I was thinking “fuck, I’m sure I’m liquidated”, but when we got back, about 2 hours later, I looked at the chart, I was about 17k up. I closed the trade and didn't trade again during the vacation.

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What’s the best trading advice you’ve been given?

I think none. I never had mentors; I like to just observe, learn and try again.

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What drives you to keep trading?

1. The intellectual challenge. It is the ultimate “You against you”. There are no limits. Trading allows me to improve without needing anyone else and requires me to keep adapting and learning continuously. I don't think I would be able to have a job where I can’t learn new things and limit myself to always doing the same thing.

2. The freedom it gives me. I always hated schedules and men who tell you what to do. Trading takes me away from all that and gives me total ownership of 24 hours of my day. That's the most valuable thing for me.

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Would you say you’ve ‘made it’? If not, what does ‘making it’ look like to you?

I think I have "made it" in some aspects of life. It may seem simple, but I don’t dream of expensive things. I’m free to spend my time as I want and don’t look at the price when I buy something.

I come from a humble family and humble neighbourhood. I failed in school, and throughout my life, I've seen everyone go to a job they don't like for their whole life, and I don't want that for myself. I just want to be free and exploit my potential.

But the real "making it" is retiring my parents from work. Somehow, I managed to escape the wheel, but I won't rest until I get my parents out of there too.

On the other hand, I believe that I never "make it" in trading. There is no final level, so the learning process is unlimited. No matter how much size I trade, I will forever be a student of the market, just a trader like any other. Just a market participant.

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Trading:

What's the most important quality in a trader and why?

I think the ability to accept that the market always has the last word and that the only thing a trader can do is to put the odds in their favor.

You are not here to win a battle against bulls/bears. You are only here to make your system as good as possible to make more money than you lose.

A trader who accepts that being wrong and losing is part of the game and focuses on improving his system will likely be better than average.

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How would you describe the way you trade?

I have become more and more patient over time; I take my time to shoot and make it count. Some weeks I’m a day trader, and some weeks, I don’t even trade.

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Has the way you trade changed over time?

A lot. If I saw my 2019 self, I would not be able to explain in a conversation the mental processes I have gone through to trade like this; it is something that only hours of screen time and practice give you.

The way I trade has changed, and trading has changed me. I understood that to be a better trader, I had to change things that had nothing to do with trading.

When I started trading, I was very impatient and hated it. I think that my job as a waiter made me like that, you had to do everything fast, and in that job, it worked, but not in trading.

I smoked, and I realized that I used it as a quick escape. I took that behavior into trading. When I made a bad trade, I ran away from it; I did not face the loss or learn from the mistake.

Trading made me confront all my habits and beliefs and evaluate which were good for trading and which were not. That path of unlearning and relearning shaped my character.

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Why do you think you have success trading?

I do not know. I guess I never gave up.

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What's the worst thing about trading and why?

Uncertainty. If you know that your system is consistent, you are not afraid of losing streaks, but at the end of the day, there is nothing to assure you that you will still make money tomorrow. Also, it’s a bit lonely.

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What's something you've learned in the last 6 months that has made you a better trader?

A better understanding of cycles and momentum.

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What's the mistake you find hardest to avoid when trading?

Set unrealistic take profits on trades. I know it feels good to raise the TP to make it fit how much you would like to earn, but don't do that, be realistic with where the price can go.

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If you could give someone starting trading tomorrow one piece of advice what would it be and why?

You will lose money, we all pay our tuition to the market, so don't act like it won't happen.

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You will lose money, we all pay our tuition to the market, so don't act like it won't happen.

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‍What goals do you set for your trading?

None, I'm just trying to improve day by day.

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Fill in the blanks

• Most traders would be better off risking less.

• What separates the pros from the rest is being willing to start again.

• A good trader should never think he is smarter than others.

• The biggest misconception about trading is you will have a Ferrari.

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