Crypto Daytrading $10k Account

I've been daytrading full-time for more than 2 years now. I've made money in some periods, but i always ended up giving it ALL BACK due to over-trading and poor risk management.

Now i've decided to commit seriously to consistency and rigid risk management. I started off with a horrible mindset and it was only natural that i lost everything i had. It for sure is a character building experience.

I trade the price action. Over time I've collected a fair amount of setups&concepts that provide consistent returns. I have a decent system that makes money, but admittedly, for me it's still a struggle to execute properly. There is a BIG gap between my theoretical profits based on my system and actual results. BUT i am getting better and better every day, trying to close the gap!

My main focus will be on

1. Risk management
2. Always in control, always trading. Stay away from hopes and wishes
3. Trade only setups with edge. Focus on those low risk, high reward trades. Make sure to cash in on the winners and minimize the losses
4. Go with what is, adapt to the situation
5. Minimizing mistakes, learning from them, not repeating them again

I will start with a 10k$ account. I will likely trade mostly futures, but also spot cryptocurrency.

Risk management rules(max loss):
Setups on less than 1H timeframes: 50$-65$
1H setups: 100$
4H+ setups: 200$

Max daily draw down(300$)

I will try to update daily. I won't be posting actual trades, but i might reflect a bit on the day and post daily PNL. If not, then i will do it at the end of every week(depending on how busy the market will be!).
Just because i am daytrading does not mean i will take trades every day. I will only enter when i have a setup with edge according to my system.

Day 1:
Started out poorly already. Did not get in on a breakout long on ETH and Bitcoin, so no profits there(even though i should have according to my system), but i did not act on it(probably due to all the chop that had been happening prior)

DAILY PNL:
+70$

Up on an altcoin trade, not a good trade either. The risk was 50$, should've risked 200$, would be 280$ profits, AND ALSO.. The RR on the trade was not good. Perhaps i took profits too early.

If i catch a trend, i might hold the trade for a swing.

If i had just followed the system without thought, i would've been up roughly $1700 for the day, with the risk management that i mentioned in the post.

Day 2:
I didn't do anything. There were a few trades that i should've taken and would bring me atleast 500, but i hesitated, didn't want to act. Atleast i didn't do anything stupid.... Until the evening. I lost my focus, i was really tired and i impulsively bought into a narrative and did a stupid trade that immedietly costed me 43$ and then another mistake that costed me 31.7$. THOSE WERE NOT TRADES WITH EDGE.

DAILY PNL:
-74.7$

Anyways we are onto day 3 now... I have some longs, let's see how they play out..

Day 3:
The long from day 1 ended up materializing, BUT GUESS WHAT... I was not tracking the stupid ticker anymore. Would've been quick and painless trade, 200 risk, 600 return in half a day. Coulda shoulda woulda.

DAILY PNL:
+461$

Anyways had 2 longs... I decided to realize one of them at 461$ profits(risk was a 100, thus 4.6R return). The other one has roughly 75$ risk and i will let it run. I was not watching the screens, if i had, i could've exited earlier for probably roughly 150-200$ extra profits.

Also i think i should let the trade i realized run because it has a higher timeframe momentum, BUT i HAVE TO realize some of the profits in case the other trade goes south... Don't want to be left empty handed, it's happened SO MANY TIMES. But feels like market conditions have changed now(it was miserable chop before, kinda seems like a trend now)

Day 4:
F**K!!!

I trailed the 75$ long yesterday(should've just let it run with original stop loss), and i ended up being stopped at the bottom of the wick in breakeven. Had i left it run with original stop loss, would be up 300$ on it and would close the trade here.

Took another long yesterday in the evening prior to sleep, but risked only 65$ because i was *unsure*, while i should've risked 200. Also i closed it immedietly for 38$(for some random reason... guess i was tired??)... Anyways the trade worked out nicely, would've been up around 350 right now.

I woke up 3 times in the middle of the night(not to mention... there was no use of it at all)... and today in the morning i was really tired. Wasn't in proper psyche. Didn't pull off the usual routine(meditation, etc...)

And then a friend told me the market will likely go down. I guess just from the fatigue&& being tired, i was caught off-guard. My mind was VERY quick to buy into the narrative. I usually don't buy into such bullsh*t, but when i am not fully focused, it can happen very quickly. I deviated from trading the charts, into the narrative. Charts were telling me the truth, but my mind bought into some bullsh*t!!!

I had opened another long in the morning, 200 risk, but later inthe afternoon after hearing from a friend, I immedietly closed the position. Would close the trade now, up 1.85R or +370. Instead iclosed the position at 14$ loss.

I randomly put on 2 shorts, costing me 35$ and 12$ respectively. Atleast i've cut the losses relatively quick.
I was chasing on lower timeframes some stupid long trade too and cut it at 18.6$ loss. I was risking 50, so lucky because there was NO setup and i would've end getting stopped out...i was too impulsive to act on the trade.

Daily PNL:
-77$


TLDR: Not being in proper mental state, doing stupid shit, cuck*ng myself.

Day 5:
Bitcoin went up like crazy and i have nothing to show for. Shame. It was in a clear trend, but i was reluctant to FOMO in, while the conditions were appropriate!!! I was hesitating to jump in. WHEN A TREND IS THERE, YOU HAVE TO GO WITH THE FLOW AND FOMO IN, smash that buy button!

Anyways, i've made one trade yesterday evening - a long on altcoin and the target worked out perfectly and it materialized by the time i woke up, there were 2 problems with the trade though.
1.) I only risked 60$ instead of 100$ on a 1H setup
2.) I spotted the opportunity, but didn't set limit orders in advance, i hesitated. Doing so would increase my returns to 3R and risking 100, it would be 300 profits... i had to jump in later on with a worse risk to reward....

Daily PNL:
+130

Week 2:
Day 6:
Daily PNL
+180

I had some nice trades, i didn't manage one properly(didn't watch)... missed out on roughly 400$ of profits AND I ACTUALLY ENDED UP LOSING 110$ there, WAS VERY FRUSTRATED... And then i had a nice long on bitcoin but i trailed stop too tight, was stopped breakeven, and if i hadn't trailed it would've worked PERFECTLY and bring me nice 900 profits.

So proud of myself i still found a trade, BUT I WAS LATE and risk to reward was NOT GOOD... so i only banked 330 risking 100 on the trade.

Should be making 1k$+/daily, but i just don't seem to be there yet. I fall short by a small mistake, or lack of focus and persistence and the actual result is far off from what it should be.

I am happy to end the day positively, because i was 150$ in the hole, but luckily managed to get out. The trailing of SL was very expensive, cuz i really really should be up 750 today if it weren't for a stupid mistake.

But previously when i would fuGG up, it would really frustrate me and i oculd quickly draw down the account. So now i am being aware of that, i will try to continue focus on trading and MANAGING THE RISK. Can't let the guard down for a second or YOU GET FU*KED immedietly.

Day 7:
Ugh.

Haven't taken any trades really.

I took one random trade that had no edge, i managed to get out at 3.5$ profit, but it was stupid.

There were 2 trades that i should've taken, but i didn't.... The reason for one was after i woke up it was already slightly too late and RR wasn't best..could stil squeeze out around 150$ with 50$ risk, and hten there was another one where i hesitated.
The first setup was really clear, the second was discretionary so... It is what it is.

Not to mention i had a really strong FOMO on bitcoin, believed we were about to break out and then it dumped... Knew there was no edge to chase, but oddly enough i really wanted to do it lol. I resisted the urge.

Daily PNL:
+3.5$

Day 8:
What the F##K am i doing.

One of the most frustrating days EVER.

DAily PNL:
Down around -200$, maybe even more, will post the exact stats tomorrow.

Really frustrated, but i don't want to let this affect me. It was just a bad day, let's focus on doing the right things, taking trades with edge, managing risk,..

Need those 3-5R trades and that's all i need.

ALSO did a big mistake today. I was literally betting direction, what i thought would happen INSTEAD of just playing my trades with edge.Took an enormous mental toll.

Day 9:
Didn't report for yesterday, that's because i took 2 trades but haven't closed any of them.

I could've bagged 280$ of profit and rebought with a bigger position though. But i was biased by the higher timeframes and did not want to act!!!

DAILY PNL:
+-0$


Have 2 trades going for me right now, i am long cryptos. I just want larger and larger position but i am already risking like 350$ combined there. I want to add more because i have high confidence in the trade, but i don't want to oversize. I probably should, but i have to respect the risks and thus i will not add to position.

Day 10:
Didn't take any trades, but i should've been. Rode a long from yesterday and realized it for 240$ profits. REALLY REALLY FRUSTRATED. I made a mistake, i don't know how and i did not take profits at the designated area, where i should've. It really should've been +450$, which would be VERY NICE. It's really pissing me off, am mad about it, but have to reset and let go. Small detail and big difference in pnl.

I do best as a short term momentum scalper. Trade management - getting in and out of trades, having good entries... That's my edge. And when i am trying to swing, it's really frustrating seeing all the missed profits.

I still have another trade going, it is actually up 300$ in UPNL. The risk was 200. I've trailed the stop loss now to probably around 50$ risk. It looks good so i will let it run. If it goes down, i will regret lol... But higher timeframes look like it should go up, looking really nice tbh...

I need bigger daily gains. Especially with such high risk... And if i am having 200$ down-days, i need to have 600$ up-days.


Daily PNL:
+240

Day 11:
Great day for crypto, horrible day for me.

I thought the market looked murky, had an altcoin long, thought btc was going to dip so i closed the long at 330$ profit, but then i re-entered, with an original stop loss(STUPID!!), there was no reason to re-enter, but i entered on LTF and it actually bounced, but then i went on to have launch..... And then the market dipped, but the specific altcoin that i had, WICKED down for a milisecond and stopped me out at -380$ and slipped me. Would've been break-even on the trade at my stop, but slippage put me into loss of -60$.
After that my TP hit perfectly and it would be 950$ of profits.

The wick only happened on futures and not on spot pairs, but it still stopped me out, it su*ks, but it is what it is.

Then i did a few impulsive trades and brought in another 83$ of loss

Daily PNL:
-143


Feel disappointed, but there's nothing i can do. Just have to keep focus on risk management and making good trades.

Day 12:
Massive dump happened overnight while i was sleeping. So i totally missed out on it. It would've been realistic to make 1k$-3k$ there with my risk management. But i was asleep. Actually woke up in the midst of the night, but when i checked the market was not yet ready, went back to sleep and it happened an hour later.

Took few scalps, no bread and butter trades.

Missed 2 setups.

Daily PNL:
+66.5

Keeping it short today. Been kinda getting chopped.

Daily pnl:
-30$

Had a nice trade and had 350$ in profits, but i said " I AM HOLDING FOR A BIGGER MOVE "... and baam. Just like that, the profits disappear.. I really have to be more active with the trade management... Because that's my biggest edge,yet i am not taking advantage of it.

The trade from yesterday ended up getting me stopped(after being up 350$+) out for 250$ while i was sleeping. Could've trailed SL to like 50$ risk or even taken profits...but no. Really stupid.

I re-entered again, AND AGAIN went 350$ in profit, i knew it was at support, there was a counter-trade setup, but i HOPED and i WANTED it to run lower.... it bounced on me, so i finally closed at a mild profit.

Daily PNL:
$-190

I've been doing too much stupid shit, not sticking with the strategy, not putting focus on setups with edge, but just trying to make that one big trade out of nowhere, trying to force my will onto the market and buying into narratives. Really stupid. That's how i lost most of my money.
Basically not trading the charts, but trading my beliefs about the market.

It's kinda frustrating, because i have 400$+ winners and they are turning into breakeven and even losers. This has happened several times over the last few days.
It must be for a good reason. It's because i am doing something wrong.

Market is just going from one level to another, but i just *want* it to do something else. I missed the big move and now i just *want* something to happen out of the blue.

I have those $1500+ trades in my head and they distract me from the process and executing the edge.
Notice the distration, bring the focus back to the process. Need to focus on winning. On my setups with edge and only do that.

There were several setups with edge and i could've made good money yesterday, but i was caught in a bias. VERY DANGEROUS.!!!

Need to take a more laid back approach and just let it unfold. Too much drama going in my head. Need to step away from it all, chill, and just go with what is. I'm putting in too much effort. Good trades are always effortless, but trying to force something..... never works.

Day 15:
-46.6

Problem is the best trades in the last days came over-night. Entries are my edge. I need to enter as close as possible for highest RR.

Today again, i missed the entry and by the time i woke up, everything had already been done and there was nothing i could've done the whole day. Today i missed the trade that would net 500$...


I am not doing well past few days. I was actually winning, my trades were printing $ and making money, but i never realized anything, instead of having multiple hundred $ winners, i turned them into losers. And then i missed the best setups while i was sleeping.

All the small details make all the difference. I hope to fine-tune my execution during the next 6months and try to become more consistent.

Day 16:
Was slightly above breakeven and then done a bad trade and fugged myself. I also had a nice trade going for me that would put me back to breakeven, but for some reason i cut it and then baam it materialized straight lol.

Had one winner that would net 150$, but it just took too long and i got tired and cut it, only to see it go my way.

I've been overtrading A LOT..and problem with that is, that when i lose, I AM VERY QUICK to be down 30, 40, 70$... BUT WHEN I WIN... i often barely breakeven or make a few dollars only. I've had a few very nice trades and i was winning like 25$, really not good.

I need to put more focus on the good trades and actually making money on my winners. Loses will always be there, but just look at that 461$ days.. winners like that compensate for a lot of bad ones.

I must have taken 10 trades... And when i won i basically broke even after fees, or made something like 25$. Shame.

I AM REALLY OUT OF SYNC with the market... completely out of rhytm. Need to be more patient, wait for the better setups with edge until they come and actually make money when right. Because right now i have no edge.

Daily PNL:
-88.4

Day 17:

Daily pnl:
+50

Had some very very nice opportunities. Crypto market dunked hard. I jumped in on a short but such poor execution. Should be up 500$ on that trade, but only made 70$ and then i did some random trade with no edge and insta -20$.

If i followed the system i would be up more than 1k$ today. But i am not going to dwell over it. It's a profession that requires a tremendous amount of focus and long time to learn. So i will take those "failures" as learning opportunities to grow from.

I could get pretty good at this, and i will.

Even though i've been doing this for about 2.5years now.... I still need to fine-tune. My skills and system is pretty good, but execution and focus, that's where i need to improve big time to start getting results.

Haven't updated in a while, but there goes.



Not satisfied with how i am doing... There's a few trades that save my 2 months... But in reality I should be having many of those... Man, how many good trades i had but my problem is i always fail to capitalize on them. I have a lot of trading with no edge. I am getting small wins and then big losses, cutting winners for the sake of it etc etc... I need more full-size losses and then more actual multiple R winning trades. Not putting enough emphasis on that..

I will probably start posting here again to keep myself accountable and consistent with the review process.

I am doing so poorly right now i just want to cry lol.

I "got" the market moves so right lately, but i didn't tkae those trades and i took some others, when i was right i made so little but i just keep losing.

Everything i do is wrong, even if i am right i do it wrongly.

Down like 70 yesterday and 200 today. Feel worse than a piece of shit right now.

Realistically should've been up around 700 yesterday. I actually had the trade planned and had orders set, but then cancled them for some reason.

I should be winning nicely, but am fugging up execution badly and instead am losing.

Depressing mood.

Anyways resolution going forward is that i will not trade anything under 15MIN chart for the next week. Lately i've been looking even at 10second charts, maybe that's what distracts me from the good trades that happen on higher timeframes.
I will also risk maximum 50 per trade and maximum daily loss limit will be 150$.
I will try to focus and be more selective to pick only the best trades, so that if i am right, i actually make a return on my investment. So i am targeting for 3 setups per day.