Are retail investors doomed to be cut? Not necessarily. The problem lies in being led by the market rhythm.

In the crypto market, those who lose money often aren’t lacking in market signals; they lack the ability to understand what the whales are doing. Most people only focus on the emotional swings of price increases and decreases, resulting in buying just before a drop and selling just before a rise, frequently cutting themselves off.

What is the most typical trap? Dumping to collect chips. The price is rapidly pushed down, and most retail investors lack the ability to analyze the structure. Their first reaction is panic and cutting losses. Little do they know, while they are cutting losses, the whales are quietly accumulating at the low levels.

Once the chips are accumulated enough, the whales won’t rush to push the price up. Instead, they enter a period of dull and chaotic oscillation—direction becomes unclear, and they repeatedly shake out traders. This stage is the easiest to crush retail investors’ confidence, causing them to hurriedly exit at points where they shouldn’t.

Only when market sentiment is exhausted does the price begin to rise slowly. Trading volume is carefully manipulated to appear very active, with false signals like "big funds are entering" or "about to start," enticing retail investors to chase the high.

True experts won’t rush to dump at this point. They continue to push the price up while creating fake selling pressure illusions, making you think there’s a dump, when in fact they’re just forcing you to hand over your chips. Once enough follow-on traders jump in, they complete the final distribution at the high.

The secret to the whales’ profit is actually very simple: they exploit your fear and greed—you’re afraid of falling, so you cut losses; you love chasing, so you chase the highs.

To avoid being cut too often, the key isn’t about predicting rises and falls precisely, but about maintaining your rhythm. Don’t let a single candlestick change your judgment, don’t let emotions hijack your decisions. Understand the market structure, identify the right entry points, be patient when waiting, and act decisively when it’s time to move.

Whether this round of market can slowly recover your account depends not on the market itself, but on whether you can keep your rhythm aligned. When the rhythm is right, you can indeed avoid many detours on the way down.