Bitget Dialogue with Frank: From Internet Product Manager to Cross-Market Investor, 2 Rules for a 13-Year Trend Investor to Navigate Cycles

U.S. stocks and cryptocurrencies are the two most closely watched asset classes by global investors today. However, not many have managed to establish mature trading systems in both markets.

Today, we have invited Frank @qinbafrank, a seasoned investor who entered the U.S. stock market in 2013. Starting as an internet product manager, he later transitioned into a VC partner. In 2017, he entered the cryptocurrency market, experiencing the ICO boom, the depths of a bear market, and multiple cycles of bull and bear phases, developing a unique cross-market investment framework spanning both U.S. stocks and crypto.

From Internet Product Manager to Investor: The First Pot of Gold in the Tech Circle

Frank's investment journey began in the internet industry. Around 2013, while working as a product manager at an internet company, his friends started discussing U.S. stocks—some had bought Qihoo 360 shares early, and others had heavily invested in Tesla when it went public in 2012, making significant profits. This atmosphere influenced him: "People working in the internet have a natural advantage when looking at tech stocks. Being in the industry, we have a feel for products and operations and can understand what a company is doing and how well it's performing. The environment among peers for investing in internet companies was also very strong."

Armed with this confidence, he bought his first stock—Facebook. His reasoning was clear: after acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, Facebook was the undisputed leader in the social media sector. Frank also invested in "NVIDIA when it cost $3," but exited after a 3x gain, a missed opportunity he still remembers vividly due to his "lack of vision."

Between 2013 and 2015, Frank accumulated his first pot of gold as an investor. However, he admits that phase was more about "riding the wave of the era"—internet professionals flocking to tech stocks, benefiting from favorable timing and circumstances. It wasn't until after 2015-2017 that he truly developed a systematic understanding of industry investing.

Encountering Crypto: Shedding Prejudice, Entering the Market, and the Deep Bear Market Baptism

Later, Frank transitioned from product manager to entrepreneur and primary market investor. His entrepreneurial partner introduced him to the world of Bitcoin, blockchain, and decentralization. Some friends were also working on crypto startup projects for decentralized social networks. This led him to seriously ponder a question: "Is the internet's dividend phase truly fading?"

In the second half of 2017, Frank shed his prejudice against cryptocurrencies and began entering the crypto industry, catching the tail end of the ICO boom and being captivated by the profit effect. He invested in some private placements and ICO projects, encouraged a few internet entrepreneur friends struggling with their ventures to join the crypto space, bought $10,000 worth of Bitcoin, and $1,000 worth of Ethereum.

However, 2018 brought the deep bear market. Frank frankly admits it "was utterly brutal," but due to his belief in the underlying technology—peer-to-peer payments and decentralization—he stayed, continuing to build wealth in the crypto industry.

Investment Rules Behind Accurate Predictions: Industry Fundamentals + Macro Analysis

What truly caused a qualitative shift in Frank's investment framework was the pandemic in 2020. The intense market volatility made him suddenly realize his prior ignorance of macroeconomics. Fiscal policy, monetary policy, interest rate cycles... these variables were largely outside his scope, yet their impact on pricing of stocks and cryptocurrencies ran far deeper than he imagined. "During the pandemic, I spent a tremendous amount of time reading books on fiscal science and monetary finance, gradually developing a more holistic sense of the macro environment."

With improved macro awareness combined with his earlier industry investment system, he formed his own U.S. stock investment framework: "For U.S. stocks, the primary factor is industry fundamentals; the second factor is the macro environment."

This prioritization directly dictates his operational logic: during minor corrections, he only trims positions in stocks with good narratives but weak fundamentals, leaving high-quality growth stocks untouched. He considers adjusting positions in high-quality growth stocks only when anticipating intermediate or major corrections. He also emphasizes a key difference between U.S. stocks and crypto: "The overall crypto market moves in tandem with Bitcoin, but individual stock logic in the U.S. market is very strong. Some fall earlier, some later. Some stocks hit bottom before the broader market. You can't operate individual stocks just by looking at the overall market index; you need to check the specific situation."

Regarding fundamental stock selection, his analytical framework has two layers. At the performance level, he focuses on tracking quarterly revenue, profit, EPS growth, and whether future guidance consistently beats expectations. At the business level, he places more importance on the company's position within its industry landscape. "Sometimes P/E isn't always valid. You need to look at business strategy and competitive dynamics—is this company in a core position or constrained by others? This determines its scarcity and whether it can command a high premium."

For example, in late 2024, he began publicly recommending Palantir (PLTR) on Twitter, buying in when its market cap was in the $30-40 billion range, describing it as "the Lockheed Martin of the AI era." This logic was a direct application of his framework: "PLTR has served the U.S. military for over a decade and is their sole big data provider, creating immense non-substitutability. Non-substitutability creates scarcity, and scarcity supports a high premium."

At the macro level, his method involves identifying the factors influencing the macro environment and their respective weights in each phase. "The macro framework isn't fixed; the main contradiction changes each stage. In 2025, the focus was on Trump's policies. In 2026, it's geopolitical conflicts like the Iran situation, along with government efficiency reforms and Fed actions."

Frank frequently emphasizes one point: "A sense of cyclicality isn't prediction; it's sensing the distribution of probabilities." His judgment on cycles is precisely an application of the macro framework above.

In January 2025, he predicted a U.S. stock market correction. He systematically reviewed the most critical macro variables at the time—uncertainty around Trump's policies, pressure from high valuations, and the Fed's stance. Trump's policies were the biggest factor. As events unfolded, due to the dual shocks from DeepSeek and tariffs, the U.S. stock market entered an intermediate correction starting in February, with NASDAQ experiencing a maximum 20% decline and the S&P 500 falling 18%.

In early 2026, he persistently warned about a "market shakeout event," again accurately predicting a 15% correction in the Nasdaq. His core logic was twofold: first, whether the massive capital expenditures by big tech companies would truly translate into profits; second, the escalating geopolitical risks from the Iran conflict.

Why Trade Both U.S. Stocks and Crypto on Bitget

When asked about his choice to trade U.S. stocks on Bitget, Frank's answer was direct.

"Since the second half of last year, I've written several tweets highlighting the clear trend towards securitized tokens in crypto. Bitget is the platform most actively embracing this securitized token trend."

For users active in both the crypto and U.S. stock markets, Bitget's stock trading feature offers a new alternative to traditional brokers. "Deposits are very fast, unlike brokerages where transferring funds in and out can take a day or even several days. For someone operating in both markets, capital efficiency is crucial."

He also observes a deeper trend: with the continuous influx of institutional capital and ETFs, the boundary between the crypto market and traditional financial markets is blurring, and the macro linkage between the two is strengthening. Being able to view both markets in the same place is inherently valuable.

Frank's Investment Q&A: Lessons Learned, Advice for Newcomers, and Future Opportunities

What were the most painful experiences in your investment career?

The most heart-wrenching was 2022. I predicted a grey rhino was approaching—if oil prices and inflation couldn't be controlled, U.S. stocks would have a small crash, and crypto would have a big crash. I saw the risk and started reducing positions but didn't liquidate. I should have cleared out completely, but I only partially reduced, and the remaining positions suffered severe drawdowns.

The reason is that I'm essentially a trend investor, not a trader. Traders have excellent discipline and risk control; they cut losses instantly when a risk signal appears. My approach is to buy slowly at the bottom and sell slowly at the top. The problem is that even though I saw the risk and built some hedges, the remaining positions still faced significant drawdowns.

Back in 2016, I also paid tuition fees in the U.S. stock market. I speculated on a Chinese AD company stock, thinking its performance was good. But then the company was exposed for unfair practices, and the stock dropped 40% within a day or two. Also, in 2019 and 2020, I invested in many primary projects in the crypto space, which resulted in heavy losses, and the funds were unrecoverable.

What advice do you have for newcomers who want to invest in both U.S. stocks and crypto?

First, strengthen your understanding of the macro environment. From the Bank of Japan's rate hike in 2024, to the tariff war in 2025, and the recent Iran situation, macro-driven market volatility is becoming more frequent and can even change the pricing mechanisms of certain assets.

Second, abandon the idea of making quick money. Opportunities for fast profits in crypto are diminishing. Meme coins have extremely short lifecycles, the altcoin season may not arrive, and many assets have very short survival spans. Look for sure assets with long-term potential; identify which assets can survive for three to five years. For U.S. stocks, find targets with solid fundamentals, sustainable earnings growth, robust business strategies, and scarcity.

Third, pay attention to position management and be cautious with leverage. Especially for newcomers who haven't formed their own trading system, using leverage carries significant risk.

Which U.S. stock sectors are worth watching this year?

First, the space economy. A SpaceX IPO could be the biggest in recent years. Both Elon Musk and Jensen Huang have discussed plans for building space data centers. Competition for space resources among nations is accelerating, giving this sector immense potential.

Second, emerging market index ETFs. In the currently hot memory chip sector, leaders like South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix are driving the Korean index upwards. Opportunities arising from such industry booms spilling over into specific markets are worth exploring in emerging market ETFs.

Third, the energy sector. With escalating geopolitical conflicts and intensifying competition for resources among different countries, energy assets will continue to undergo value revaluation.