A Clear Head Through Every Cycle — How I've Traded Since the 2021 NFT Season

GMGN User Stories · Episode 09 · A series where we listen to the people on the other side of the screen talk about how they actually trade.

We got Thaliv — a trader who’s kept a clear head through every cycle since the 2021 NFT season — to open up his entire playbook: how he scans, sizes in, and walks away. Because as he puts it, the number never tells the real story — the work behind it does.

Neither the number nor the percentage tells the real story — the real story is the work behind it.

“You can hate the result. You can’t erase the work it took to get here.”

— Thaliv @thaliv

From NFTs to P2E to the trenches

I’ve been around since the 2021 NFT season, but my real gains actually came from P2E. I got deep into play-to-earn games during that wave, and that’s where I first started making consistent money on-chain. From there, the jump into the trenches felt natural: the same instinct for finding the next opportunity before everyone else, just faster, more technical, and a lot less forgiving.

P2E taught me patience and how to grind an ecosystem for value; the trenches taught me speed, discipline, and how to lose without losing my head.

Why I ended up on GMGN

I actually started out with other platforms, but ended up migrating to GMGN because it’s simply the fastest — and it’s always first to integrate new chains and features, which matters a lot when you’re trying to stay ahead.

The feature I use most is the X Tracker. I know a lot of traders lean on other tools for that, but I still prefer GMGN’s version — it just fits my workflow better.

On the bias in this space

If I’m being harsh — one thing I’ve noticed a lot in this space is how much bias still exists around where a trader is from.

I’ve been in situations where a coin had solid fundamentals, a strong narrative, and I was early — but people simply didn’t want to buy because I wasn’t from the “right” country or the “right” community.

It’s frustrating to be underestimated for something that has nothing to do with skill or timing.

But what I’ve learned is that the narrative usually wins in the end anyway. If the play is genuinely good, the market eventually recognizes it regardless of where it came from — and that’s what keeps me trading without letting the bias get in my head.

Show the work: my daily routine

My routine revolves around constantly scanning: new launches, wallet behavior, and whatever narrative is heating up across socials at the moment.

I don’t chase every green candle. I look for a few signals lining up together:

• Real volume
• Holder behavior that looks organic
• A story with actual legs — not just hype

I size in when those things align. And I walk away the moment the story stops making sense, or the risk starts outweighing the potential reward.

I’d much rather eat a small loss early than convince myself to hold something that’s already telling me it’s over.

How I survived multiple cycles

Surviving multiple cycles came down to one thing — separating who I am from my PNL.

There were brutal stretches where the market humbled me completely. Wiped confidence and capital both.

What kept me coming back was treating every loss as information instead of failure.

That mindset wasn’t built overnight. It came cycle after cycle, each one forcing me to clean up a habit that was costing me before.

The closest I came to walking away

2024. I lost $30K to a fake-website drain.

A token I was holding started dropping fast. I panicked. Instead of slowing down, I grabbed the first link I saw on Google to try to sell quickly. Turned out to be a phishing site. Drained my wallet in seconds.

That one hurt in a way pure trading losses never did — because it wasn’t the market beating me, it was my own emotion and impatience.

What brought me back was accepting that the lesson was mine to own. Now I never touch a link I haven’t verified myself, no matter how urgent the moment feels.

That discipline came directly from that $30K mistake.

My playbook

Everyone has their own way of making money in this space, and I’ve stopped trying to copy anyone else’s exact process.

What works for me is reading narratives fast and paying close attention to the community forming around a token — how people are talking about it, how organic the energy feels, whether it’s real conviction or just noise.

Charts and volume matter. But the community is usually what tells you if a play has actual legs.

Combine that with fast execution tools like GMGN, and you can act on what you’re seeing before it becomes obvious to everyone else.

Risk note: This article is for information and product explanation only and does not constitute investment advice. Memecoin trading is extremely high-risk and can lead to the total loss of your capital. Do your own research and make your own decision before trading. GMGN does not promise, guarantee, or predict any profit or return. Any user gains or case studies mentioned are individual, exceptional, and not representative of typical outcomes or of future performance.