Before joining Hash Hedge, Alexander traded on several cryptocurrency exchanges, but his first experience ended quickly. He deposited $100 and opened a long position almost exactly at the market top when Bitcoin reached $13,700. The position was liquidated.

"I somehow managed to open a long position at the exact top. I got liquidated almost immediately. After that I said trading wasn't for me and walked away."

Alexander eventually returned to trading after watching market analysis videos from a crypto blogger. He deposited another $100 and started opening small $10 positions. Then came the trade that completely changed the way he viewed the market. During a sharp market drop, he accidentally pressed the wrong button and opened a position using the maximum available leverage – 20x.

"At one point I was up $800 on a $100 account. I started thinking I was an amazing trader. About a week later, the market proved me completely wrong."

Everything he had earned disappeared shortly afterward.

After that experience, Alexander set a strict rule for himself: He would allocate no more than $100 per month to trading, and his goal would no longer be to make money. His only objective was to stay in the market without blowing his account.

"I assumed I'd probably lose this account too. My only goal was to stay in the market and avoid getting wiped out."

He kept losing money for roughly seven months. Then something changed. His balance stopped falling and slowly started growing. Eventually he turned that original $100 account into 10x its size. Later, just before the COVID-19 market crash, he lost the entire account trading oil – a market he had never traded before. One emotional decision after another eventually wiped out the account.

This was when Alexander first learned about prop trading. To understand how Challenges and Funded Accounts worked, he even asked ChatGPT to explain the model. After studying different prop firms, their rules, and risk limits, he decided to give it a try. He compared several companies and ultimately chose Hash Hedge. That marked the beginning of his prop trading journey.

Alexander started with the smallest Hash Hedge Challenge – $5,000, which cost $49. He successfully passed both evaluation stages and received his first Funded Account. By then he already had a well-developed trading strategy. Back in September he concluded that the market rally was nearing its end, so he focused primarily on short positions. His portfolio eventually contained around 40 trades, mostly in altcoins. One long position in UNI also remained highly profitable for a long period. Several times his floating profit became substantial, but he chose not to take profits early and instead followed his original trading plan.

"I found the discipline to stop, close everything, take the money, and flip my position to short."

His first payouts were modest: 24.08 USDT, 411.20 USDT, and 1,216.09 USDT.

Eventually Alexander lost his $5K Funded Account after one unsuccessful trade. Instead of giving up, he moved to a larger account and purchased a $100,000 Challenge. Once again he passed both evaluation stages on his first attempt and received a new Funded Account. During his very first payout cycle he withdrew 8,011.48 USDT.

While this interview was being prepared, Alexander received another payout of $6,212.95. He commented: "That was the reward for closing my short position at exactly the right time." Across both Challenges, his total payouts have now exceeded $15,000.

Throughout his time trading with Hash Hedge, Alexander intentionally closed trades at a loss only twice. Looking back, both decisions turned out to be exactly right.

The first case involved DOT, where the chart appeared to form a classic diamond pattern. At that moment he was asked whether he wanted to lock in approximately $25,000 in profit.

"Looking at that diamond pattern, I thought, 'Are you kidding? There's no way I'm taking $25,000 now.' I expected the market to go much higher. It didn't, and I eventually closed the trade at a loss."

Later he realized that the diamond pattern had failed because it was overridden by a larger chart structure. Even so, closing the trade at a loss turned out to be the correct decision.

The second example was a TON long position that started falling aggressively.

"According to my trading rules, I knew I couldn't keep holding it, so I closed the trade at a loss. If I'd refused to exit, that account would've been completely wiped out, and none of this story would exist."

Later he re-entered another TON long position, held through the pullback, and eventually closed it with approximately $3,000 in profit. He admits it was frustrating knowing that waiting just three more days would have produced an even better result.

Alexander believes it's impossible to follow the entire crypto market. Instead, he focuses on approximately 20 carefully selected altcoins, updating the list every year or two before a new market cycle begins.

"Some traders only trade Bitcoin or Bitcoin and Ethereum. I trade about 20 altcoins and regularly update my watchlist. I prepare for the next altseason by placing deep limit orders. If price reaches them – great. If not, I simply move on."

One of the most interesting parts of the interview was Alexander's philosophy about market behavior. He suggests a mental exercise. Imagine you own the largest Bitcoin and USDT holdings in the world. You can't buy or sell using market orders. You can only place limit orders and move the market wherever you want.

"Once you think about the market that way, a lot suddenly starts making sense. You begin asking yourself: 'Where do I need to move the price so that people either sell to me or buy from me?'"

According to Alexander, large market participants can also see where liquidity sits and where stop-loss orders are likely concentrated. He also mentions reading about an experiment that simulated an imaginary ice cream market containing both small traders and large whales. Interestingly, familiar chart patterns and support/resistance levels formed naturally—even without intentional manipulation.

"I have a saying that's proven itself countless times: traders move first, news follows later."

Alexander advises newcomers not to focus on making money immediately. Instead, they should first understand the basics:

Then start making market predictions using only $50–100 per month, with the goal of staying in the market rather than maximizing profits.

"Make predictions, write them down, and review them later. At first you'll probably be right about half the time. Over time, your accuracy improves as your experience grows."

He also refuses to waste time thinking about what could have happened if he'd made different decisions. According to him, that mindset damages traders and distracts them from making good decisions today.