Every cycle promises a “once-in-a-lifetime” trade. Mine came about six years ago on Binance Smart Chain, where token farms flashed triple-digit APRs, and I convinced myself risk was just part of the game. Some positions did great, until they didn’t. Rug pulls erased gains in minutes. The real damage wasn’t only financial, it was mental. Hype trains steal your focus, push you into reaction mode, and crowd out any disciplined process you thought you had.
In hindsight, those APRs weren’t rewards, they were bait. I was underwriting unknown teams, unaudited contracts, and reflexive tokenomics while pretending the risk was “manageable.” It wasn’t. That painful stretch was my reset. I stopped chasing and started building an investing rhythm I could live with through any market.
Here’s the shift that worked for me:
1) Fundamentals first, narratives second. Teams that ship, cash runway, real users, credible roadmaps, governance that isn’t theater. If I can’t explain the value path in plain English, I pass.
2) Process beats adrenaline. Position sizing, staggered entries, and a pre-written sell plan remove the casino feeling. I don’t need to catch the exact top, just participate with defined risk.
3) Community as due diligence. Not the loudest Telegram, but the healthiest: dev updates, pushback allowed, thoughtful docs. Echo chambers are a red flag.
4) Incentives > promises. Emissions schedules, vesting cliffs, market maker arrangements, follow who actually gets paid and when. Incentives predict behavior.
5) Time as a filter. If a project can’t survive a few quarters of boredom, it won’t survive a bear market. Patience amplifies edge, impatience taxes it.
The hidden cost of chasing the “next big thing” isn’t just losing money, it’s losing compounding. Every detour into a shiny farm delayed gains I could have stacked by dollar-cost averaging into higher-conviction holdings and reinvesting yield. Since adopting a more disciplined approach, my portfolio feels calmer, my decisions clearer, and my results less binary.
If you’ve been riding hype cycles, consider a pivot: one page of criteria, one watchlist, one routine review each week. You’ll miss a few rockets, and you’ll also sidestep the craters. In the long run, that’s how capital (and confidence) compound. What’s the one filter you’ll add before your next buy?
Sending ecency curation vote.
Thank you 🙏