Trading Legend | BNF A Japanese Trader Who Turned $13K into $150 Million

The Day Tokyo Blinked In December 2005, a single trading error sent shockwaves through Japan's financial center. Billion-yen positions collapsed. Algorithms failed. Panic spread. But in the chaos, one man didn’t flinch. From a modest bedroom, armed with nothing but a screen and a strategy, he executed a trade so legendary it still echoes through trading circles today.

His name? BNF.
His weapon? $13,000 and an unshakable mind.
His legacy? $150 million, and a reputation that haunts Japan’s financial elite.

Who Is BNF? The Humble Beginning of a Market God

BNF is the alias of Takashi Kotegawa, a self-taught Japanese trader born in 1978 in Ichikawa, Japan. With no formal financial education, no Wall Street pedigree, and no insider connections, he started trading in 2000 using savings from part-time jobs, just ¥1.6 million (around $13,000).
He lived modestly, reportedly eating cup ramen daily to save time and money. His lifestyle was frugal, his focus razor-sharp. While others chased luxury, BNF chased precision. He didn’t care about fame, and rarely gave interviews. His only indulgence? Two Nintendo Wiis.

The Legendary Trade: J-Com and the $17 Million Mistake

BNF’s defining moment came on December 8, 2005, when a trader at Mizuho Securities mistakenly listed 610,000 shares of J-Com Holdings at ¥1 each, instead of 1 share at ¥610,000. The error triggered chaos.
BNF saw the opportunity instantly. He placed buy orders for 7,100 shares, scooping them up as prices plummeted. He later sold 1,100 shares at ¥772,000 and 6,000 shares at ¥912,000, netting a ¥2.2 billion profit in a single day. That moment cemented his status as a legend.
Though this trade made him famous, he was already worth ¥1.15 billion a year earlier. In 2005 alone, he earned ¥6 billion, proving the J-Com incident was just one chapter in a much larger saga.

What Is His Trading Strategy?

BNF’s approach is a masterclass in precision and emotional control:

➡️Swing Trading: He holds positions for 2–6 days, focusing on short-term price movements.

➡️No Fundamentals: He ignores metrics like PER and PBR, believing they’re irrelevant for short-term trades.

➡️Technical Discipline: He trades based on price gaps and moving averages, especially the 25-day line.

➡️Emotionless Execution: He treats trading like a machine, no news, no analyst reports, no outside opinions.

➡️Massive Focus: At his peak, he monitored 700 stocks daily, using six monitors and multiple laptops.

➡️Risk Management: He avoids leverage, doesn’t use credit cards, and rarely carries cash to minimize emotional stress.

He once said he doesn’t enjoy trading but can’t stop. It’s not fun. It’s obsession.

Want to Trade Like Him? How can you start?

BNF didn’t have a mentor or a fancy degree, just relentless focus and a community of traders to learn from. You don’t have to go it alone.
Start your journey with Followme, where thousands of traders share strategies, insights, and support. Join the community now and learn from the best.

Check out this week's Top 5 Signal Providers on Followme