My Journey · 2011 → 2026
Fifteen years.
Every crash. Every comeback.
I’ve watched this market from the inside since 2011. Not from headlines, but from the charts, with real money on the line. This is that story, era by era.
Saddam Malik is an Indian crypto trader (active since 2011), blockchain, Web3 and AI agent developer, and crypto KOL. He builds crypto products and runs KOL marketing, exchange growth campaigns and brand partnerships for projects worldwide.
Scroll to begin ↓- 012011Genesis
- 022014Winter
- 032017Mania
- 042022Collapse
- 052026Now
Fifteen years, in numbers
Narratives I watched rise and fall
01 2011 · The beginning
I found Bitcoin when it was almost nothing.
Bitcoin ran from under $1 to about $31 in June 2011, then crashed to around $2 by November after the first Mt. Gox hack. Most people had never heard the word.
What I feltI didn’t understand all of it. I just knew I couldn’t look away. That first crash taught me the market owes nobody anything.
02 2012–13 · First halving
The first halving, and the first $1,000.
In November 2012 the block reward halved from 50 to 25 BTC. A year later, Bitcoin crossed $1,000 for the first time.
What I feltI learned what supply really means. And I learned how fast greed fills a room when the price goes vertical.
03 2014 · Mt. Gox
The day the biggest exchange vanished.
Mt. Gox, once handling most of the world’s Bitcoin trading, halted withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy in February 2014. Around 850,000 BTC were reported missing.
What I felt“Not your keys, not your coins” stopped being a slogan for me. I learned to trust systems less and verify everything more.
04 2015–16 · Ethereum
Code became money.
Ethereum went live in July 2015. In 2016 The DAO hack split the chain into ETH and ETC, and the second halving cut the reward to 12.5 BTC.
What I feltThis is where I stopped being only a trader. Smart contracts made me want to build, not just bet.
05 2017 · ICO mania
Everyone was a genius. Until they weren’t.
ICOs raised billions of dollars in a single year, often with little more than a whitepaper. Bitcoin touched nearly $20,000 in December 2017.
What I feltI watched people go all in on promises. I chose research over hype, and promised myself I would never sell anyone a dream I didn’t believe in.
06 2018–19 · Crypto winter
The long, quiet winter.
Bitcoin fell more than 80%, to around $3,200 by December 2018. Most ICO tokens never came back. In India, the RBI’s April 2018 banking restriction made even buying crypto hard.
What I feltThis was the hardest chapter. Losses hurt, and the silence hurts more. Winter taught me risk management, position sizing, and how to stay when everyone leaves.
07 2020 · Crash & DeFi summer
From Black Thursday to DeFi summer.
On 12 March 2020, COVID panic cut Bitcoin roughly in half in about a day. Then the third halving landed in May, India’s Supreme Court lifted the RBI restriction, and DeFi grew from about $1B to over $10B locked.
What I feltPanic is where patterns pay. I kept my head, followed my plan, and learned that discipline is a trade too.
08 2021 · The mania
NFTs, memes and a $3 trillion market.
Bitcoin hit about $69,000 in November 2021, the total crypto market passed $3 trillion, NFTs went mainstream and memecoins ran wild.
What I feltThe bull run felt like a festival. I took profits, I made mistakes too, and I learned that nobody rings a bell at the top.
09 2022 · The collapse year
The year trust broke.
Terra-LUNA collapsed in May, wiping out tens of billions. Celsius and Three Arrows Capital fell that summer. In November, FTX collapsed in days. India brought in a 30% tax on crypto gains and 1% TDS.
Cardano Summit · Delhi 2022 What I feltIn the middle of all that fear, I organised and hosted the Cardano Summit 2022 community event in Delhi. Bringing people together while the market was broken is one of my proudest moments.
10 2023 · Rebuild
Rebuilding, quietly.
Bitcoin more than doubled through 2023. Builders shipped layer-2 networks, Ordinals arrived, and the largest exchange paid a record US settlement as its founder stepped down.
What I feltBear markets are for building. I focused on my community, my products and my craft while the noise was low.
11 2024 · Wall Street
Wall Street walked in.
In January 2024 the US SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. The fourth halving cut the reward to 3.125 BTC in April, and Bitcoin crossed $100,000 in December.
What I feltThe thing people laughed at in 2011 became a Wall Street product. I didn’t feel proud. I felt patient.
12 2025–26 · Now
New highs, new narratives, same lessons.
Bitcoin set new all-time highs above $120,000 in 2025, the US passed its first stablecoin law, AI agents and real-world assets became the new narratives, and October 2025 brought the largest liquidation day on record.
What I feltFifteen years in, the tools changed but people didn’t. Fear and greed still move everything. My job is to stay calm, stay honest, and help others do the same.
Lessons
What fifteen years taught me.
- 01
Protect your capital first. Profit comes second.
- 02
Every cycle feels like the last one. It never is.
- 03
Hype fades. Builders stay.
- 04
Your community is your real portfolio.
- 05
Say no to what you do not believe in.
- 06
Learn in public. Admit mistakes faster.
Still here.
Fifteen years, four halvings, every crash and every comeback. I’m still here: still learning, still building. If you’re building something real, let’s talk.
Market figures are approximate and based on public reporting. Charts are illustrative, not price data. Nothing here is financial advice.