Most people meet crypto during a bull market.
Very few survive long enough to see it repeat.
I’ve lived through four crypto market cycles now.
Not reading about them.
Not trading one and disappearing.
Actually staying.
Each cycle felt completely different while it was happening.
Only later did the patterns become obvious.
This isn’t a guide on how to get rich fast.
It’s a story about how not to get wiped out.
Before Crypto, There Was Poker
Before Bitcoin, I was a professional poker player.
I traveled constantly.
Lived with other poker players.
Grinded edges wherever I could find them.
Looking back, it was the early version of today’s digital nomad life.
At the time, I was spending a few months in Italy with two friends.
Poker, strategy talks, late nights.
One of my roommates was coached by a top online poker player.
Real elite level.
During one call, I overheard the coach casually say:
“Buy Bitcoin.”
Price at the time was around $10.
My roommate bought.
I waited.
A few weeks later, Bitcoin was $44.
That’s when I FOMO’d in.
Getting Bitcoin Was Hard on Purpose
This wasn’t the era of apps and instant onboarding.
Mt. Gox was just getting traction.
Verification waitlists could take weeks.
I didn’t have patience.
I had maximum FOMO.
So I went to forums.
Bitcointalk.
TwoPlusTwo, the big poker forum back then.
I openly asked if anyone wanted to sell Bitcoin.
It sounds insane now.
But that was how crypto worked.
Cycle One: 2013 – Discovery and Chaos
The first crypto market cycle was pure experimentation.
I wasn’t just buying Bitcoin.
I was building my own miners.
Most altcoins were simple Bitcoin forks.
Once Bitcoin mining became too difficult, I pivoted.
Litecoin.
Dogecoin.
Feathercoin.
Peercoin.
If it could be mined at home, I tried it.
Somewhere along the way, I lost the password to one of my mining wallets.
That wallet still holds around 400,000 DOGE.
To this day, I’m still trying to brute-force my way in.
Over 8 billion passwords attempted so far.
That’s what 2013 crypto felt like.
Chaotic, experimental, and unforgiving.
From Chaos to Mania
As crypto matured, the chaos didn’t disappear.
It just got louder.
That’s how we arrived at the next cycle.
Cycle Two: 2017 – Greed and Noise
2017 was the cycle of ICOs and airdrops.
I actually discovered airdrops earlier, around 2015 and 2016.
Most required holding Bitcoin to qualify.
I told my Bitcoin friends.
Almost all of them were skeptical.
Until something funny happened.
They started sending me their Bitcoin.
Not to invest.
But to claim airdrops for them.
I’d receive the BTC, claim the airdrop, send everything back, and keep a 10% commission on the airdrop.
It was free money.
Not because it was risky.
But because people were afraid of messing it up.
That experience planted the seed for AirdropAlert.
People didn’t need better opportunities.
They needed education.
At the same time, I went deep into ICOs.
Especially near the peak.
After the top, I was holding around 50 altcoins.
Most dropped roughly 98%.
I didn’t sell in the bear market.
An obvious mistake in hindsight.
Portfolio-wise, I was about 80% Bitcoin and 20% altcoins.
It hurt.
But it didn’t wipe me out.
That mattered.
Bigger Money, Bigger Mistakes
By the time the next cycle arrived, crypto had changed again.
Cycle Three: 2021 – Scale and Sophistication
2021 felt more professional.
DeFi and NFTs took center stage.
Airdrops evolved into proper retroactive rewards.
Using protocols early actually paid.
Sometimes months later.
Sometimes years.
NFTs hit me on a personal level.
I grew up online.
Dial-up internet.
Forums.
Chatrooms.
Friendships built on screen names and avatars.
NFTs felt like owning digital identity on-chain.
So I went all in.
I built a portfolio meant to be held forever.
Animal PFPs.
Strong communities.
Good vibes.
Most of them ended exactly like ICOs in 2017.
Teams vanished.
Communities died.
Prices went to zero.
In the bear market, I turned into a flipper.
Did well bidding and flipping apes.
Today, I only hold a few Otherside NFTs.
Still hoping the metaverse thesis plays out.
I somewhat still believe in it.
But holding anything forever besides Bitcoin feels like a mistake.
This cycle looked like:
- 30% Bitcoin
- 30% NFTs
- 40% altcoins
I sold my altcoins in time, except ETH.
But I sold many NFTs far too late.
Still, I cut losses before total collapse.
Learning the Hard Lesson
After three crypto market cycles, one pattern was clear.
Holding blindly eventually burns you.
That realization shaped everything that followed.
Study this guide on how to rebuild after big losses.
Cycle Four: Now – Survival Over Glory
This cycle is not about hype.
It’s about survival.
I shifted toward trading and farming.
Short-term trades.
DEX volume strategies.
Nothing was meant to be held long-term.
Most positions lasted hours or days.
Trading became a core skill.
One that works in bull and bear markets.
Stocks.
Commodities.
Same principles.
Farming stays part of the plan.
Yield.
Future airdrops.
Being early and active in DeFi has proven to pay over time.
Right now, I’m over 50% in stables.
Soon, I’ll be fully stabled.
Survival comes first.
What Surviving Four Crypto Market Cycles Teaches You
Every dollar compounds.
Money you don’t lose can be multiplied in the next cycle.
Eventually, greed fades.
Defense takes over.
You protect capital.
Start farming quietly.
And stay active without forcing trades.
Later, you DCA back in.
Stay humble.
Stack sats.
Every dollar saved during the quiet years works harder in the next bull market.
Related: Is Bitcoin changing from a 4-year cycle into a 2-year cycle?
Personal Reflection
Crypto is my life.
I discovered it in 2013.
I went full-time in 2017.
This year, I literally bought my house with crypto.
Today, I use crypto every single day.
My days are spent in Discord, on X, and in the charts.
And honestly, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything else.
Crypto gave me freedom.
It gave me opportunity.
And it perfectly feeds the degen side of my personality.
But more than that, it gave me the chance to shape my life on my own terms.
I’m grateful for that.
I’ve also tried to give something back.
In the early days, I told friends and family to buy Bitcoin.
Unfortunately, not many listened.
In 2017, I started AirdropAlert to educate people about airdrops.
Not hype.
Not promises.
Just information and opportunity.
Today, I focus more on teaching farming strategies and trading.
Helping people stay active, stay disciplined, and survive long enough to benefit from the next cycle.
Crypto changed my life.
And I genuinely hope that, along the way, I’ve helped change a few other lives for the better too.
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Final Words
Crypto doesn’t reward brilliance.
It rewards endurance.
Every cycle removes people who thought they had it figured out.
Every cycle leaves space for those who stayed.
If you survive long enough, opportunities keep coming.
That’s the real edge.
If you enjoyed this blog, you may want to check our series of trading guides.
As always, don’t forget to claim your bonus below on Bybit. See you next time!
About the Author
Morten Christensen is a former professional poker player who later transitioned full-time into crypto.
Originally from the Netherlands, he has traveled to 75+ countries as a digital nomad before settling down as a husband and father of two.
He has been active in crypto since 2013 and full-time since 2017, focusing on trading, airdrops, and farming strategies.
You can learn more about his work and background on his personal website.