A Day in the Life of a Crypto Day Trader: Wins, Losses, and $7K Lessons
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to day trade crypto—like actually sit through the madness of red and green candles, live trades, and emotional ups and downs—then buckle in. This one’s for you.
In this trading session, I decided to record every single step of my live day trading process: from my exact indicators to the strategy I use, and even the cold, hard PnL numbers (yup, including losses). This is about as real as it gets.
Let’s dive in.
🛠️ Prepping the Battlefield (aka My Trading Desk)
Before the market opens, it’s game time for setup. I’ve got my charts open on TradingView, exchange ready (Blowfin or ByBit—you do you), and my trading journal prepped. I always check the news first. This time, it was Fed rate decision day. That’s huge—like, “market could rip your face off” huge.
Then I get my daily bias. I want to know if the big dogs are leaning bullish or bearish. That gives me a framework to work within. Today? Bias leaned bullish. But as you’ll see… it didn’t make it easy.
🔍 Indicators I Use
If you’ve been in my community for a while, you know I use a few key tools:
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Foundation Indicator: Marks the stock market open (important even when trading crypto).
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Fair Value Gap Indicator: Helps identify likely reversal zones.
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Novatrade Pro+: Shows potential oversold/overbought areas.
Oh—and I only trade a few key pairs I know well: $SOL, $ETH, and $ATOM. These coins have smooth price action, and I’m familiar with their behavior. Treat them like your friends. You don’t need to party with the whole altcoin zoo.
📉 The Rough Start – Two Quick Losses
Yikes. Trade #1 was a long that got clobbered. Lost $634 due to slippage—more than the planned $500 risk.
Trade #2? Another loss, this time on a short. Down $1,223 total for the day at this point.
And you know what? That’s fine. I’ve been doing this for 8 years. Losses are part of the game. My win rate is around 37%, so I don’t sweat it. It’s about managing risk and finding quality setups.
⚔️ Comeback Time – The Power of the Process
I took a step back, went for a walk, cleared my head.
Trade #3: Finally, a winner. A clean setup, proper bias, and solid risk management. Locked in nearly $1,000. Not amazing, but hey, it’s a step in the right direction.
Trade #4? Absolute heater. $SOL started moving in my favor, and I let it ride with a trailing stop. Boom — $5,000 in profit. That’s a 10R trade. When those happen, they erase the pain of earlier losses like magic.
Now we’re cooking.
📈 Fed Decision = Wild Volatility
Around 2 PM, Jerome Powell did his thing. Markets went nuts. I had reduced my risk to break-even, so I stayed in the trade with zero stress.
And it paid off. Trade #5 locked in $3,200 right at resistance. My biggest day so far using this strategy.
At this point, I was up $7,600 on the day.
🧠 Lessons, Logs, and Late-Night Trades
After logging everything (yes, journaling matters!), I reviewed what went right:
✅ Trusted my process
✅ Followed risk management
✅ Took profit at key levels
✅ Stayed patient
And what I could improve:
⚠️ A few trades were slightly rushed
⚠️ Missed one killer entry because I hesitated
⚠️ Late-day setups were iffy—note to self: don’t chase
💡 Final Thoughts from a Trader to a Trader
This session is why I love trading. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about discipline, resilience, and letting your edge play out over time.
If you’re new to trading: don’t expect every day to be like this. Some days you’ll bleed. Others, you’ll fly. The key is showing up, learning from each trade, and being okay with the grind.
🎯 Day Summary
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Trades: 7
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Win Rate: 50%
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PnL: +$7,599
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Risk/Trade: $500
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Emotions Managed: Yes 😅
If you got value from this, drop a like, subscribe, and stick around. More live sessions coming soon.
Until next time—stay sharp, stay humble, and remember: let the market come to you.
– A fellow crypto trader ✌️
