Review and survival guide for "10.11" survivors

Written by: Route 2 FI

Compiled by Saoirse, Foresight News

Editor's note: When the cryptocurrency market experienced a cliff-like crash on "10.11" and altcoins plummeted by an average of 62%, the author reviewed the survival logic from the perspective of an eyewitness: from the unexpected survival of Delta's neutral strategy to in-depth reflection on leverage use and market speculation. The article not only reveals the stress test of DeFi and perpetual contract platforms, but also throws out the core proposition of "loving and driving industry survivors". The following is the full translation:

I've been reflecting on my life choices lately - I've been almost fully committed to the crypto space for the past four years, and the "wholeheartedness" here is no exaggeration: I have almost no other pastime, and most of my waking time revolves directly or indirectly around crypto: researching transactions, testing new protocols, communicating with people, posting content on X, reading other people's opinions, browsing industry newsletters, and reading podcast articles (I prefer text, Because reading is 5 times faster than watching a video or listening to audio).

I really love the process of hard work, and I can even say that I am a little obsessed. This doesn't mean I only have one interest, but it's really my core focus at the moment. Maybe one day I will get bored and spend weeks or months thinking about the direction of life and finally finding a new goal. But looking back, my obsession with numbers and speculation is indeed evident.

The crash of "10.11" was shocking, but I was almost unscathed. Over the weekend, I used a delta-neutral strategy on the Lighter platform, and my short positions were not automatically closed like on platforms like Hyperliquid. In terms of long positions, I only hold spot assets. At that time, I didn't have any perpetual contract positions on the Bybit platform, and the day before the crash, I closed a large DOGE/BTC pair transaction - I just wanted to spend the weekend with peace of mind, but now that I think about it, if I hadn't closed this trade at that time, I would have lost a lot of money. So it is indeed a bit of luck to survive this time.

I usually use low leverage of 2-3x on a daily basis to reduce the margin required on a centralized exchange (CEX) or decentralized exchange (DEX). But the crash still shocked me: altcoins fell by an average of 62%, and some coins even plummeted by 85%-99% - which means that all leveraged traders who went long were "liquidated". Over the past few years, many radical traders (known as "degens" in the circle) have poured into the cryptocurrency trading market, first "fighting" in the Solana space and then dabbling in perpetual contracts. Nowadays, leveraged trading has become the norm in the industry, and I myself use leverage every day. Some people may accuse these traders of a lack of risk management awareness, but in my opinion, 2-3x leverage is actually quite conservative. And to be honest, I don't think people will give up leverage because of this crash – within 1-2 weeks those aggressive traders will return to the market as if nothing had happened.

Imagine how you hedge against an average altcoin decline of 63% (and that's just an average, most coins fall much higher). It's just crazy.

So, who will stay in this cycle to continue "fighting" after this crash?

The answer is those who are "stubborn and cautious": they mainly hold spot assets and will observe new coins or projects for a long time before they dare to buy them. They don't blindly follow the trend of "stud", so they usually can't get ultra-high returns, but at the same time, their portfolios can achieve steady compound interest growth year over year.

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hardest hit are perpetual contract traders; Ironically, many "altcoin diehards" (such as traders in the Solana space) are in a relatively better position - because they mostly trade without leverage. Of course, some of them have also set foot in the perpetual contract market, and if this is the case, they will most likely have lost a lot of money. However, most people still stick to the "spot position", and even if they lose money, they will not lose everything.

For perpetual contract decentralized exchanges (Perp DEX), the impact of this crash is noteworthy: short positions on the Hyperliquid platform were automatically closed, making its platform token HLP profitable; While the short positions of the Lighter platform were not closed, resulting in a loss in its platform token, LLP. Currently, no one can predict the future of perpetual contract decentralized exchanges, but the "stress test" of "10.11" has left many lessons and directions for improvement for the industry. For example, does the buyback model of HYPE tokens need to be adjusted? Is 100% buyback sustainable?

Will I stop using leverage? The answer is no. I know that I am responsible for all my transactions and decisions, and there is always risk – if there is no risk, it means there is no profit.

For the DeFi space, I expect a wave of position closures in the future. Despite DeFi's impressive performance in the 10.11 crash, panic has spread in the market, and many people may prefer to store their assets in their wallets rather than entrusting them to a third party. Fortunately, USDe has been stable during this event. In my opinion, Ethena is the "backbone" of the DeFi space - it supports the entire DeFi ecosystem, and if something goes wrong with Ethena, it will trigger a chain reaction (e.g., Pendle relies on Ethena for 70% of its total value locked (TVL).

Looking ahead, I've been thinking about which altcoins are worth buying. At the moment, I prefer MNT and those long-standing "old tokens". In addition, I think the "altcoin speculation boom" will cool down in the future, so PUMP and Fartcoin will not be my main investment targets. Currently, I mainly hold stablecoins and plan to adopt a "pure news/narrative-driven" trading model - this model may not bring the highest returns, but at least it will protect my account funds well in the short term.

Finally, I would like to say:

most people cannot achieve their dream wealth goals because they do not have the characteristics of successful people.

You are dealing with competitors who are "made for this field": they don't care about working hours and don't back down when they get tough. They don't slack off in good times, they don't give up in bad times – all this has long become their rhythm of life.

Wealth may be their superficial goal, but what really drives them is the "process of chasing", "the joy of growth", "polishing skills", and the silent improvement of professional ability when no one is paying attention.

They are not obsessed with the "finish line", but deeply love the "scenery along the way".

That's why when others choose to burn out or quit, they continue to "win" – not because they "have to win," but because they can't imagine leaving the "game" they love.