Losing It All Was the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me

I didn’t grow up around money. I didn’t have a tech job, a startup resume, or any friends with crypto connections. 

What I did have was a secondhand laptop, an internet connection that cut out whenever it rained, and an absolutely irrational amount of belief that crypto was my golden ticket out.

In early 2021, I was barely scraping by. My day job paid me just enough to survive, and my side hustle made sure I didn’t go under. 

I was constantly tired, constantly broke, and constantly scrolling through Telegram chats and Discord servers like they held the secret to escaping poverty. And one day, it felt like they did.

I found this obscure Telegram group where a developer was launching new tokens every hour. No slick marketing. No fancy landing pages. Just chaos. I had no bot, no edge, just the ability to click fast and pray. 

The first few plays were misses, but then something clicked. One coin pumped. Then another. Then a few more. My $500 snowballed into $10K, then $150K, and eventually crossed seven figures. I thought I had found the cheat code to life.

Overnight, I went from eating dollar-store ramen to sipping overpriced cocktails in a penthouse I never dreamed I’d afford. I bought my family gifts, paid off their debts, and posted like I was auditioning for a Netflix special called “How to Make It in Crypto.” It was intoxicating. I felt invincible.

Turns out, I was just incredibly lucky and painfully naive.

I didn’t track my trades. I didn’t take profits. I reinvested into every hyped project my friends mentioned over brunch. 

I threw money at people with “founder” in their bio and trusted the same influencers who’d disappear when things got ugly. It didn’t take long before the market turned, and when it did, it turned fast.

ETH dropped. Tokens I held got rugged. The Telegram group went silent. Suddenly, I was staring at my portfolio and wondering how my million-dollar empire had become a digital garage sale. 

But the worst part wasn’t the money, it was how quickly people vanished. The same folks who once celebrated my wins now left my messages on “seen.”

I was stuck in a foreign country, dead broke, and drowning in regret. I kept replaying every bad trade, every ignored red flag, every moment I chose hype over discipline. I felt like a complete fraud.

Then something shifted. One night, while scrolling aimlessly through Telegram, I joined a small group of quiet grinders. 

No paid calls, no meme spam, just people sharing honest plays, testnet tips, and hard-earned lessons. They weren’t chasing glory. They were building discipline.

I started from scratch. No shortcuts, no moonshots. I signed up for testnets, filled out endless forms, and clicked through buggy dApps that might, just might lead to an airdrop. I tracked every trade, took profits early, and stopped trying to impress anyone.

Slowly, my wallet started growing again. But more importantly, so did my mindset.

Today, I don’t chase green candles. I don’t “ape” anything. I focus on staying in the game. And for the first time, I’m not just here for the money, I’m here to last.

If you’re in crypto, here’s the truth no one tells you: It’s not about catching the top. It’s about avoiding the bottom. You don’t need to win big. You just need to survive long enough to win smart.

I learned that the hard way. Hopefully, you won’t have to.