My friend has finally come back to life—no longer staying up until 3 a.m. staring at K-line charts on his phone, no longer pulling his hair out and cursing over a big bearish candle, able to enjoy good food and deep sleep, and when we meet, he no longer keeps talking about “contracts,” “leverage,” or “bottom fishing.”

It took him a full six months to come out of it. At first, no matter who advised him, it didn’t help. The day he lost 40,000 down to a few hundred, he tearfully said, “If I can just scrape together some more money, I can turn it around,” then immediately borrowed online loans, only to be crushed again by the market. It wasn’t until collection calls came to his home, and his parents were crying in worry, that he suddenly woke up: this isn’t trading cryptocurrencies, this is gambling with his life.

Contracts, this thing, are really not for humans to play with. The thrill of turning 1,500 into 40,000 is like being injected with a powerful stimulant, making you feel like you’re chosen by the heavens, and that making money should be this easy. But you forget, leverage is a double-edged sword. The magnification effect of dozens of times can make you a god in two days, or wipe you out overnight. Stocks at least have a 10% limit on gains and losses, but in the crypto world, doubling in a day or zeroing out in a day is common. That heart-pounding excitement of watching the K-line jump wildly, once you get hooked, it’s hard to adapt to the calm of a nine-to-five life.

The first step he took to quit contracts was to uninstall all crypto trading apps, have his wife manage his phone password, and he himself had no login permissions. In the beginning, he was restless, constantly wanting to check the market, his hands itching to trade. To resist that urge, he started running, fishing, drinking tea with friends—filling those hours he used to spend glued to the screen with real life. He said, the hardest part wasn’t being broke, but the constant thought of “trying again.” At those moments, he had to give himself a good slap, recalling the pressure from online loan collections, the worried looks of his parents.

Later, he found a proper job, working nine to five. Although the salary wasn’t as quick as making money from trading, it was more solid. He started saving money, planning his expenses, taking his kids to the park on weekends, cooking with his wife at night. Gradually, he realized that days without being controlled by K-line charts could be so peaceful. He said, looking back now, that those 40,000 yuan felt like a dream. After waking up, he understood that the essence of life isn’t about chasing the thrill of overnight riches, but about steady, long-term stability.

Actually, for men trading cryptocurrencies who want to return to a normal life, the principle is simple: first, cut off the idea of “turning it around,” then refocus on reality. The thrill of contracts is false; only the people around you, a stable job, and peaceful days are real. Don’t always think you can win everything back by gambling—you’re not just gambling money, you’re gambling your life. Delete those apps from your phone, pay back the borrowed money, find a job that allows you to focus, and slowly you’ll realize that days without K-line charts can be so peaceful.