That voice message at two in the morning, I still remember it—voice trembling, with the sound of keyboard clacking in the background. "I'm wiped out..." Four words that contain all the despair.

A principal of 10,000 yuan, fully leveraged to open a 10x Bitcoin long position. The result was just a trivial 3% pullback, and the account was gone. I looked at his trading record: entered at 9,500 yuan, no stop-loss set.

Stories like this have become commonplace in the crypto market of 2025. Do you remember the crash in mid-October? Bitcoin plummeted from $122,000 to $103,000 in a straight line, with 1.64 million traders liquidated worldwide within 24 hours, totaling $19.2 billion. That early morning, how many people's balances went from five figures to zero.

**Why is leverage so deadly?**

Most beginners have a fatal misconception: "Full position is a safety net, it can withstand drops." Wrong by a mile.

In full position mode, every penny in your account becomes shared collateral for all your holdings. When one position starts losing, the system automatically uses all your funds to maintain it. On the surface, it sounds safe—actually, it’s digging your own grave.

The core issue isn’t the multiplier, but the size of the position.

Suppose your account has 1,000 yuan: using 900 yuan to open a 10x position, a 5% price reversal will directly liquidate you; conversely, using only 100 yuan to open a 10x position requires a 50% move to get liquidated. This Dongguan friend put 95% of his principal into the trade, and the result was naturally instant zero.

**How ridiculous is the logic "Full position = minimal risk"?**

Full position is like betting all your funds on a single chip; any tremor can send you to zero. The big swings in the crypto world over the past year or two have already proven—nothing is "absolutely safe."

Bitcoin once dropped over 15% in a day and rose over 20%; Ethereum is a frequent flyer. Under such volatility, full leverage is dancing on the edge of death. Even if you get the direction right, a sudden black swan event can wipe out your account within minutes.

**The key is how to survive**

Risk management awareness determines life or death. True experts never chase doubles; they live long enough. What does that mean?

First, always leave an escape route. Your account should be divided into three layers: a conservative part (no leverage), a tradable part (small positions + low leverage), and an experimental part (high-risk attempts but with controlled amounts). Not all your money needs to go into the battlefield.

Second, stop-loss is not optional; it’s a strict rule. Entering at 9,500 yuan full position without setting a stop-loss? That’s not gambler’s thinking, that’s seeking death. The psychological barrier to setting a stop-loss is actually a refusal to admit mistakes—but in the market, admitting mistakes costs far less than liquidation.

Third, don’t believe in "this time it will definitely go up." The market has no inevitability, only probabilities. Even with an 80% win rate, you can’t guarantee every trade wins. Leverage amplifies not only gains but also the cost of errors.

**A warning behind the data**

The total liquidation of $19.2 billion is backed by 1.64 million personal stories. Some lost their life savings, some incurred huge debts, some even took extreme actions. It’s not just numbers; it’s real human lives at stake.

What happened to that Dongguan friend later? He found a job and started saving little by little. He told me that after that voice message, he completely changed. No more full positions, no more stop-lossless trading, every trade he first calculates whether he can bear the worst possible outcome.

Opportunities in the crypto market always exist, but your principal must always be preserved. Living is the greatest winning strategy.