The most common mistake small investors make when entering the market is getting itchy hands. I have seen too many people go all-in immediately, only to be washed out by the market in three or five days. To be honest, the key to turning around small funds is not to gamble recklessly, but to survive long enough.

**First: Diversify to cut losses, use the "Turtle Sleep Method" to endure the first week**

I started with 3000U myself. The first principle is straightforward—learn to take hits first, then you can learn to fight back.

My diversification plan is as follows: 2000U in spot trading, only choosing the top 20 mainstream coins by market cap, but I avoid projects with questionable fundamentals, heavy marketing buzz but hollow technology, and contracts are strictly off-limits. The beauty of spot trading is that time is your ally; even if a black swan event occurs, as long as the project is still alive, there’s always a chance to turn things around.

The remaining 800U is used for arbitrage—exploiting price differences between exchanges and loopholes in funding rates. 200U is kept as emergency funds, not involved in any trades, only used to add margin or enter trades during extreme market conditions. This is the real life-saving ammunition.

To put it simply, small funds are most afraid not of slow gains, but of quick death. Diversification’s essence is to leave yourself a way out—market opportunities are always there, but if your principal is gone, no matter how good the opportunity, it’s irrelevant.

**Second: Be the "Transporter" of arbitrage, not a gambler**

Arbitrage is the only activity where retail investors can steadily benefit from "information gap dividends." This month, I made 8 arbitrage trades, with the biggest earning 4273U, all by closely monitoring two signals:

First, when the price difference exceeds 1.5%, for example, a coin is $100 cheaper on Exchange A but more expensive on Exchange B, I buy on A and sell on B immediately to profit from the spread.

Second, when the perpetual funding rate is below -0.02% continuously for 12 hours, it indicates that shorts are paying longs to compensate. Opening a long position at this time is essentially earning interest for free.

The beauty of this strategy is that you’re not betting on the coin’s price movement, but harvesting structural misalignments in the market. It’s much more reliable than gambling.