Why is it that the money earned in a bull market often gets paid back double during a bear market? After spending enough time in the crypto space, I’ve noticed a harsh reality: it’s not that people haven’t made money, but that after making money, they mistakenly believe they’ve mastered the market. In a bull market, $BTC goes up, altcoins rotate, and you can make money just by randomly picking a few coins. When the market is good and your portfolio grows, you start thinking you’ve nailed the narrative, figured out the capital flow, and mastered the cycles. So, you increase your positions, leverage higher, and even throw all your previous profits into the next gamble. I used to do the same. The easiest mistake to make is treating the market’s gifts as your own skill. You make money in a bull market and think a pullback is just another opportunity; you’re not afraid of drops because you’ve got profits to cushion you. But when the market truly turns bearish, liquidity dries up, and altcoins keep bleeding, you realize those earlier profits weren’t a shield—they were just the reason you dared to take on bigger risks. What’s even more ironic is that when your account goes from profit to loss, people often refuse to face reality. Because what’s lost isn’t just money—it’s also confidence in your own judgment. So, the more you lose, the more you want to recover, and in the end, even your principal gets wiped out. After going through several cycles, I’ve come to believe more and more: the real dividing line in trading isn’t how much you make in a bull market, but whether you can still clearly recognize how much of your earnings came from luck when the market is at its best. Remember: the bull market determines how much you can earn, but risk management determines how much you can ultimately keep. Don’t treat the profits gifted by the cycle as proof that you’re always right.