The Wave Report #23 - The 10 mistakes that made me a better investor

Reading time: 3 minutes

The truth behind every portfolio

At the top of the bull market, every influencer with a huge following screamed that we were just getting started.
And I believed them.

Then the dip came and it never stopped.
I watched my portfolio bleed day after day,
until all those unrealized gains turned into dust.

That’s when I learned the most expensive lesson of all:
Charts teach timing, but pain teaches discipline.

People say you need one cycle to make mistakes and learn,
and one cycle to finally become profitable.
I can confirm that’s 100% true.

Crypto humbles everyone eventually.
The question is: do you learn from it, or repeat it?

I made a lot of mistakes - painful ones -
but they shaped everything about how I trade today.

Here are the 10 biggest, and how I handle them now 👇

1. FOMO entries

I chased every breakout I saw.
By the time I got in, the move was over.

Now:
I wait for the retest.
If I missed it, I move on.
There’s always another setup.

Patience is my new alpha.

2. Buying coins influencers mentioned

I bought hype instead of conviction.
What looked like “alpha” was often someone else’s exit liquidity.

Now:
I don’t care who’s talking, I only buy what the chart confirms.
Momentum + structure > social media noise.

3. Too many small caps

I thought diversification meant safety.
In reality, it just diluted conviction and created chaos.

Now:
I run a simple structure:
→ 80% in majors
→ 20% in high-quality small caps with real narratives and volume.

4. Investing in small caps at the wrong time

I jumped into low caps when liquidity was dead.
They looked cheap, until they got cheaper.

Now:
Timing is everything.
Small caps only make sense when BTC is stable,
dominance is falling,
and liquidity returns to risk-on assets.

5. Not taking out my initial after a double

When profits go up fast, you feel untouchable.
But the market always takes back what you don’t secure.

Now:
Once a position 2x’s, I pull my initial investment.
The rest can ride without emotion.

6. Not taking profits

I used to think selling meant missing out.
But watching a 10x turn into a 2x hurts more than missing a 20x.

Now:
I scale out systematically using my exit strategy.
I sell partials at key Fibonacci levels or major resistances.
Profit-taking isn’t fear. It’s respect for the game.

7. Falling in love with altcoins

I held coins through brutal drawdowns just because I believed.
Belief doesn’t protect your capital, risk management does.

Now:
Every altcoin is a trade, not a relationship.
I set invalidation levels before I enter.
If they’re hit, I’m out. No hesitation.

8. Emotional decisions

I let emotions override logic.
Cutting winners too early or holding losers too long.

Now:
If I feel emotion creeping in, I reduce size or close the screen.
Discipline is what’s left when excitement fades.

9. No cash left to buy the dip

During every crash, I was “all in.”
When the best setups appeared, I had no capital left.

Now:
I always keep 10–20% in cash.
Not for safety, but for opportunity.

10. Too little Bitcoin

I used to think alts would outperform forever.
Then Bitcoin reminded me who leads every cycle.

Now:
BTC is the foundation. Most of the cycle I’m 50% in BTC.
It’s the benchmark everything else revolves around.

The truth behind all of this

Every mistake came down to emotion:
fear, greed, impatience, overconfidence.

The market doesn’t punish you.
It exposes how you react under pressure.

And right now, that pressure is high.
Altcoins are bleeding. Confidence is gone.
But this is exactly when structure matters most.

The next rotation will come.
Liquidity will flow back into altcoins.

The question is will you be ready when it does?

I didn’t build the Exit Mastery Blueprint just for this phase.
I built it to help you secure profits when the next wave begins
and protect those gains when the cycle ends.

It’s a complete framework:
→ A system for scaling out with logic and confidence
→ A checklist for exiting safely when euphoria peaks
→ A structure that keeps emotion out of your decisions

Because real mastery isn’t about calling the top.
It’s about not giving back what you’ve already earned.

Next week, I’m releasing the Exit Mastery Blueprint.
The exact framework I designed for myself after years of painful mistakes.

The market won’t reward your feelings.
It rewards your preparation.

The next wave will come.
Be ready to ride it and know when to step off.

— CrypFlow