A real week, in numbers
One LP trader logged 36 positions in 7 days on sub-$100 sizing: +$200.5 net, $434.9 in fees, a 78% win rate, a 22-minute average hold, and a best win of $55.72. The wins were small and frequent: +$10.55, +$21.69, +$23.51, +$36.79. The losses were fat: -$37.30, -$47.81, -$32.77.
Fees are not profit
$434.9 of fees against $200.5 of net PnL means over half the fee revenue was given back in losing positions. Fee APR is a gross number; every out-of-range exit, every negative-PnL close, and every gas cost comes out of it.
The same math scales up. A wallet can show a 78% win rate and thousands in fees while the pocket number is a fraction of the dashboard number. Always ask for the net.
The lessons behind the numbers
From the trader's own notes:
- Analyze a token like you are about to hold it, not just to farm fees.
- Once positioned, watch the narrative, not the fee counter. Fees follow token quality.
- If there is any hint of cabal or honeypot behavior, stay sidelined. Capital safety beats a maybe-print.
- The highest profit comes from token growth, so entry precision beats fee-APR chasing.
How to audit yourself
Track, per position: gross fees claimed, realized PnL on close, gas spent, and net result. Tools like Metlex generate weekly PnL cards that separate fees from net. Compare your rolling 4-week net against simply holding the assets: if LPing loses to HODL, the strategy or the pool is wrong.
Scale up only on net, not on gross. The source trader explicitly refused to increase sizing until the net had grown by a fixed amount.