The Chinese Patience I Learned at Home
I lived in China for almost ten years, including with my very traditional in-laws. My mother-in-law grew up doing exhausting factory work. My father-in-law tried entrepreneurship and still wakes up early every day to go to the market and buy vegetables, making small savings. One day my mother-in-law proudly told me she had kept the whole month's expenses under 200 dollars, about 180 euros.
That frugality and patience are cultural. They shape how many Chinese people see risk and the future. My father-in-law initially refused to hear about crypto. He said: if you cannot really see it or touch it, it is not reliable. Chinese people love gold. I bought gold in China. But crypto? Not reliable, full of scams, and the government is very limiting there.
Everything changed when I bought real estate in China, paid cash, and told him it represented less than 1 percent of my crypto. He started listening and asked me to buy him a little spot Bitcoin and put it aside. The funny part: he never checks the price. When I asked if he stressed about market fluctuations, he shrugged and said: why? He sees it as an inheritance for me and the grandchildren. He said: I did not buy this to resell, I bought it because you believe strongly, because I believe, because it makes sense. It goes up and down, but it changes nothing in my life. That is the holder mindset: buy it, put it away, forget it, and think five, ten, even generations ahead.
SBF and CZ: Two Mindsets in One Industry
Sam Bankman-Fried and Changpeng Zhao illustrate this clash. CZ is always calm and accessible. SBF was sharp and intense, the type who says show me the numbers, let's discuss, I'm taking action. In public CZ stays composed. Even when regulators pressured him, he did not get angry. He paid fines calmly and kept his long-term vision. His style is that of a Chinese entrepreneur: focused on relationships, guanxi, prudent with words, almost pedagogical on X, with a strong interest in education.
SBF was the pure product of American tech. Powerful narratives, hype, quick action, media manipulation like a chess game. FTX chased quick wins, pumped the FTT token, manipulated prices, and used cross-trading with Alameda. CZ built Binance slowly but surely, moved toward regulation step by step, and built a money machine designed to last. One is now seen as the wise man of crypto, the other went from crypto king to nothing.
I am not saying one mindset is better. SBF did some impressive things. The goal is to understand both and know when to use each. That is where my principle comes from: trade like an American, hold like a Chinese.
What Holding Like a Chinese Really Means
Holding is not just waiting around. A real holder believes, understands the project, has done the research, and is convinced by the technology. That way, when everyone panics and sells on emotion, you stay calm. You hold, and you can even use the opportunity to add to your position. If you only chase speed and do not control your emotions or understand fundamentals, you will get eaten by the market.
Chinese investors often have extreme patience and strong mental resistance to market emotions. Not everyone, of course; I have Chinese friends who struggle too. But that patience is a key to surviving the cycle. Over time, solid assets tend to rise, just like the S&P 500 has done over the long run. You need conviction to let time work for you.
Trading Like an American Without Burning Out
Western trading means being rigorous and rational. Use technical analysis and quantitative indicators to read the market, spot trends, and choose better entry and exit points. Learn to recognize your mistakes quickly. The market is always right. If you enter a project and it goes wrong, your stop loss triggers, or the fundamentals change, do not stand there hoping. Cut your position, protect your capital, and live to play the next hand. This is especially true with futures or leverage.
This style is perfect for catching short-term movements, and it also helps you filter which projects deserve to be held long term. But pure trading without understanding value leads to chasing pump and dumps and scams, and eventually burnout. I tried daily trading and it killed me. You need balance.
My Portfolio Split: 60 to 70 Percent Core, Mostly Bitcoin
The practical answer is to combine both approaches. Divide your capital into blocks: one for long-term holdings, one for trading, and one for testing and learning. Your core block should be 60 to 70 percent of your portfolio, with a majority in Bitcoin. Use your trading gains to strengthen your long-term positions. If a solid project becomes undervalued during a panic dump, add to it with trading profits or available cash. When the market is in a bubble, for example late in a bull run, reduce some positions, take profits, and move into stablecoins to keep cash available.
Nobody sells at the exact top. Take profits in stages. Taking profit is never a bad idea. When a flash pump happens and you know it will retrace, take a little profit. Managing a portfolio this way means you are always juggling the two worldviews.
- Split your capital into long-term, trading, and experimental blocks.
- Keep 60 to 70 percent in a core position, with Bitcoin as the majority.
- Use Western technical analysis for entries and exits.
- Reinforce long-term holds during panic dumps, reduce during euphoria.
- Take profits in steps instead of trying to time the top.
A Friend's Plan: Cash Cushion, Monthly Buying, No All In
A friend of mine earns a good living and had a clear plan: accumulate crypto before the alt season starts. But he had zero cash reserve. We decided to first set aside six months of living expenses in cash, just in case. Then we set up a monthly crypto investment, so he stays exposed without being all in. He also has an apartment and rental income, so there is no rush. His focus now is simple: increase his monthly income, maybe add ETFs later once the cash reserve is solid.
The idea is not to choose between prudence and conviction, but to dose both. Keep a long-term vision while staying ready for whatever life throws at you.
The Real Alpha Is Time and Space
The smartest move is to mix Western rigor for entries and exits with Eastern patience for holding quality assets over time. If you only trade, you chase short-term noise. If you only hold without risk management, you miss opportunities and can get stuck. I use serious Western analysis to choose projects and spot opportunities, then put most of my energy into my core positions and keep them with Chinese-style conviction, letting time do the rest.
Today's choices, if made well, affect the future. Choose good projects, then hold them with real belief. Use fast American analysis to catch opportunities and Chinese patience to secure your long-term position. That combination is the true alpha.