What attracted you to trading?

It wasn't that I was necessarily attracted to trading until I was already balls deep in crypto, but I think what made me stay was the systematic nature of price movement. Having quite a lot of career experience in statistical analysis and scientific research, I loved that I could relay my knowledge of the Scientific Method and basic mathematics and stats to facilitate the creation of a systematic approach to making money in the markets. 

How long have you been trading?

I started mid-2017, so I'm coming up on five years full-time. Before that, it was mainly punting silly amounts of risk on random crypto coins, haha. 

How long did it take you to become profitable?

I spent about a year spinning my wheels, but it wasn't until I lost a decent amount of my trading capital on the 2017 highs that I decided to take this shit seriously. As of 2018, I'm proud to say I've never been liquidated and have been profitable each month since. 

Looking back, what was the biggest thing that held you back before your breakthrough?

I would honestly say it was my failure to look at the market from a bi-directional standpoint. The 'up only' mentality is toxic and leads to many cognitive biases that can wreck a trading account. 

Once I realised that I was better at trading to the downside, I started seeing capital appreciation regardless of the overall market direction. After all, it's about making money, isn't it?

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The 'up only' mentality is toxic and leads to many cognitive biases that can wreck a trading account. 

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Do you have a daily routine you'd be willing to share?

My daily routine is like groundhog day, which is how it should be for a systematic trader, in my opinion.

I always start my day with a clean chart. I'm an intraday trader, so I want clean levels marked and only those relevant to that trading session. My system focuses on aggregation, which essentially is the buy and sell flows within a given market, so I want to find where price is reaching for, and where it's coming from, so I can get a risk profile matching the move. 

From there, it's mainly just setting alerts and waiting. Most of my day, even nearly five years in, is spent testing and refining my system. As I've said before, I trust the numbers, so I need to continue adding to the numbers I'm collecting and quantifying. It's boring and monotonous, but it's how you stay in the game. Like anything in life, we have to adapt to thrive. 

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Like anything in life, we have to adapt to thrive. 

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What's the worst thing about trading?

It may come as a surprise, but it's the lack of freedom. I am a slave to a chart if I'm trading actively, and thus I feel I'm almost trapped inside for the whole trading day. 

I have created a schedule so that trading feels much more like a job. But I've got to say, regardless of the lack of freedom, it's still hands down the best job in the world.

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I feel I'm almost trapped inside for the whole trading day. 

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Would you share with us your most memorable trade?

I had the hardest time with this question, as I don't care about individual trades. My entire system is based on long-term projections of capital appreciation, so each trade is just that, a trade. 

I've never been the type of trader to risk heavily, and I usually stay away from the so-called 'moonshots', but if I had to choose, it would have to be the ETHBTC long from the bottom to 0.06. 

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The funny thing is, as soon as I closed this, I opened up a fresh long on ETH, and it was the only thing I held throughout the 'bull market'.

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

I don't like taking advice from others (I'm a control freak), and in an industry where there are more scammers than legit traders, I tend to stick to myself. I trust myself and trust the work I'm doing in terms of the longer-term picture of capital gain. If I were to give myself any advice that would have helped me the most at the start, it would be to TRUST THE CHART, as it will answer any questions you have about where we're going if you do the requisite work behind the scenes. 

Trading:

What's the most important quality in a trader?

The ability to trust yourself and trust your analysis. If you've put the work in, there should be no doubt. 

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Why do you think you have success trading?

Hands down, my ability to use data to make critical decisions and my ability to take my own emotions entirely out of the equation.

Do you look at fundamentals when considering a trade?

Not at all. I am a technical trader, and thus, using the technical parameters of market aggregation (or my knowledge of those) to create a mechanical approach that eliminates any external bias or possible conflict.

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

Dynamic risk profiles work far better in a fast market like crypto. It's all about capital preservation. I have a system that can produce a pretty good hit rate, so when I'm in periods of drawdown, I adjust my risk parameters to save me from larger than normal drawdowns.

I'm very risk averse and am not looking for the next 100x move. I'm looking to take a piece of what I can, and my risk model aims to increase gains exponentially while minimising the downside. Yes, the gains are a little slower, but I'm in this for the long haul.

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I'm very risk averse and am not looking for the next 100x move.

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

Wearing myself too thin with too many pairs. With Twitter popping off every 10 minutes with a new coin or project going nuts, it's crucial to stick to your plan and create a watchlist that you will trade. Everything else is irrelevant. Cut the noise out and focus on your plan. 

How many markets do you monitor?

I now only focus on BTC as I know the market inside and out. Although I believe every chart can be traded the same way, I prefer to concentrate on a single pair to ensure I know exactly what I need to do.

Managing large portfolios is for investors, and I do not classify myself as one. I'm a trader at the end of the day, so I trade! 

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

Don't do it haha. But seriously, the only advice for new traders would be to learn the theory behind price movement and how to apply it to a live market. Understanding HOW price moves (not why) is the most critical facet of trading that most ignore. 

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You recently took a break from social media - was that trading related? 

I have always been a very solitary creature. Although there are some great pieces of trading content online and on social media, I prefer using an approach I've built myself, ignoring any external influences.

I have to say that I don't think social media is a positive thing for most traders, especially newer traders to the market. I feel social media outlets rely on engagement as their primary driver, which doesn't help a trading career, in my honest opinion. We must learn to fish for ourselves, not be handed the fish daily.

Fill in the blanks

• Most traders would be better off accumulating spot

• What separates the pros from the rest is emotion

• A good trader should never get complacent

• The biggest misconception about trading is that it is difficult

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