What attracted you to trading?

My dad traded stocks and commodities for as long as I can remember. As a young girl, I was already fascinated with the numbers and charts on his screen. The real ‘attraction’ to crypto though was his first 10x on XRP (of all things) in early 2018. 

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How long have you been trading and what markets have you traded over your career?

I was experimenting a bit with Forex back then, but I absolutely sucked at it. The crowd and energy of that environment didn’t excite me at all. After my dad did that 10x, I started doing some research about crypto myself. Summer of 2018 I joined CT. 

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What was it about the ‘energy’ that you liked about crypto? How was cryptotrading different to FX?

I honestly immediately felt at home on Crypto Twitter. The people are quite extraordinary, to say the least, but that’s how I’ve always liked my friends. I think the opportunity for growth attracts a certain type of risk taker that I personally resonate with. Also, I feel like there is an insane amount of smart people on CT, and anyone can learn a lot if you follow the right people. 

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I honestly immediately felt at home on Crypto Twitter

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How long did it take you to become profitable? What were the major milestones?

Consistently profitable? A long time. After a few (clueless) months on Crypto Twitter, I met @damskotrades - Milestone 1 - who quickly became my mentor and helped me navigate my way into the principles of price action. 

‘Growing up’ as a trader in a bear market had its pros and cons. For a long time, I was just flipping BTC pairs for quick 10-20% profits. I had absolutely zero notion of market cycles and what a bull market actually felt like. This was good for my development as a trader, since the focus was on PA only with little distraction. On the other hand, this kept me tunnel-visioned for quite some time as I simply did not understand the importance of fundamentals back then. 

This changed for me when Uniswap came around - Milestone 2 - and the significance of fundamentals quickly surfaced, as well as my inner degen. Up until that point, I strictly cared about price action and had never put any effort into understanding how and why projects actually work. The opportunity to 10x shitcoins in a few days sparked my interest. This was the beginning of a new era.

I rode that wave for a long time - a little too long actually. Milestone 3 was the shift of momentum for me, the transition from bull into bear. This has given my trading more depth and perspective about trading the trend both ways. It brought me back to my ‘roots’, trading price action but now with a better understanding of macro and cycles. 

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The opportunity to 10x shitcoins in a few days sparked my interest.

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What does a typical day look like for you?

I like to wake up and read. I’m very careful with what energy and information enter my brain right after I wake up and right before I go to bed. Peace first and last, action in the middle.  I then check my charts with breakfast & coffee. Map out my levels, scroll some Twitter. Gym after that and the rest of the day I either trade or I don’t, depending on the state of the market. My life revolves around food so I spend a lot of time cooking and eating out with friends, family or my boyfriend. 

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What genre of books do you read?

I have a morning book and an evening book at all times. Morning book = brain on, evening book = brain off. So a good mix of educational books (including trading) and escapism, I'd say.

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Morning book = brain on, evening book = brain off

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Tell us about your most memorable trade.

I remember having my eye on a shitcoin on Uniswap. It was illiquid as fuck, so I decided to make my buy right before the 4H close. That buy made the chart break the diagonal that kept holding the price down up until then, and it went 15x from there rapidly. It felt kinda cool being so early and seeing my action on the charts. 

Another one would be bidding $4K BTC during the COVID crash. 

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The 4k bid, was that TA driven or purely instinct? What role does your ‘gut’ play in your trading?

Purely TA driven. I put some bids at 3500, 3750, 4000, 4250. As that was the 2018 bottom area. The two lower ones didn’t get hit but the upper ones did. 

Regarding the gut; I actually feel like I trade better when I follow my systems, rather than my instinct. I respect people that have that ‘instinctual’ perfection, but that’s not me (yet). 

I am getting better at reading my own emotions and objectively acting upon them, for instance scaling out of positions when you’re getting too euphoric (often top sign in my case). But I wouldn’t say that’s a gut feeling regarding the market though, more an observation of the self. 

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I actually feel like I trade better when I follow my systems, rather than my instinct.

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What’s the best trading advice you’ve been given?

Learn to trade both ways. I would say I have only tapped into this skill pretty recently. 

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What drives you to keep trading?

I really love it. This is what I tell the normie friends in my bull market DM’s. Do you really want to TRADE or do you just want the money? You have to absolutely be in love with it, at least for the first few years. I wake up and I want to look at charts. It sounds weird but it makes me feel peaceful. All the information is displayed right there on the screen. 

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I wake up and I want to look at charts. It sounds weird but it makes me feel peaceful.

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‍Would you say you’ve ‘made it’? If not, what does that look like to you?

I don’t believe that ‘making it’ is something set in stone, I believe it’s dynamic rather than static. Our beliefs about ‘making it’ may shift over time. A few years ago I would have said that I have made it being in the position that I am now. But right now, I’m looking forward to using the knowledge and skills I have gathered over these years, in the next cycle.  To answer your question, from a strictly financial perspective I would say ‘making it’ is 8 figures liquid.  But to be honest, for me ‘making it’ has more to do with purpose than with finances. There are so many things I want to do in life, outside of trading, before ever considering I have ‘made it.’ 

Money isn’t everything. Use it as a vessel to get where you want to be in life, but don’t forget what’s really important.

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There are so many things I want to do in life, outside of trading, before ever considering I have ‘made it.’ 

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‍Do you set any goals for yourself either financial or other things in life?

Do you have a minute? Haha! Yes, I do set goals for myself as I like a challenge and it keeps me focused. These are actually pretty detailed and I write them down every year on December 31st.

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Trading:

What's the most important quality in a trader and why?

In no particular order; Resilience, confidence, consistency. 

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How would you describe the way you trade?

I’m an EMA based trader, the trend is everything to me. 

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Why do you think you have success trading?

Obsession. Simple as that. I enjoy putting in the work and staying on top of things, whether that’s by reading books or articles on trading / investing, talking with friends about the markets, backtesting new strategies, or developing my edge.

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What's the worst thing about trading and why?

Obsession as well. It’s easy to get carried away. This is why you hear a lot of full-time traders say they are excited for a bear market because during a bull market you can be fully consumed by the markets, day in and day out. 

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‍If you could give someone starting trading tomorrow one piece of advice what would it be and why?

Find your edge first. Then milk it until there is absolutely nothing left to squeeze. Once you do so, you’ll realise that 80% of your money is made in only 20% of your time. Wait, wait, wait .. then execute with conviction.

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What's something you've learned in the last 6 months that has made you a better trader?

Seeing the cycle shift has taught me a lot. You know in your head that bear transitions into bull and bull then transitions into bear again, but it’s not real until you actually go through it yourself. Experience is the best teacher. 

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You know in your head that bear transitions into bull and bull then transitions into bear again, but it’s not real until you actually go through it yourself. Experience is the best teacher. 

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‍Is there anything you hope to do differently or better next transition?

Spotting the shift earlier and adjusting my portfolio, trading strategy and risk profile upon it.

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What's the mistake you find hardest to avoid when trading? Any tips to avoid it?

Once again; not getting carried away. I’m a dopamine junkie, always have been. As a kid, I practised Judo at a high level and after university I worked in the electronic music industry, travelling the world, and throwing events. Getting a ‘kick’ out of things has always been part of my routine, but when it comes to trading you have to stay level-headed. This is work now. Took me a long time to get there. 

I once tweeted about balancing things out with the opposite and I think that’s the way to go when it comes to avoiding mistakes. In my case that would mean; making sure that I’m grounded. I do this by moving my body, meditating, going outside and cooking. 

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Getting a ‘kick’ out of things has always been part of my routine, but when it comes to trading you have to stay level-headed.

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Once you do so, you’ll realise that 80% of your money is made in only 20% of your time. Wait, wait, wait .. then execute with conviction.

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Is there a process to finding an edge, or is it trial and error?

I recently read this great tweet from @btc_charlie that said ‘’Everyone wants a magic system, so they keep searching. The only real magic is mastery of one system.‘’ I very much agree with that. 

I think the key is to do a ‘rough search’ of methods and find what works for you (so yes, trial and error), but once you define your rough method and edge, stick with it and try to perfect it by making mistakes WITHIN that area. This is the best way to learn in my opinion.  First you go wide, then you go deep. 

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Fill in the blanks

* Most traders would be better off  investing

* What separates the pros from the rest is finding your edge and acting upon it. 

* A good trader should never  get carried away

* The biggest misconception about trading is that everyone can do it.