FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a common psychological phenomenon that leads investors to make irrational decisions, potentially resulting in losses.
🌪 A retail investor's FOMO journey (true reflection)
Stage 1: Spectating phase (calmly watching the show)
👉 “Did a certain coin rise again? What does it have to do with me? It's all a scam!”
Seeing friends flaunt their profits, coldly laughing inside: “It will go to zero sooner or later.”
Occasionally seeing news but completely uninterested, thinking that trading coins = gambling.
Stage 2: Curiosity and probing (starting to waver)
👉 “It seems like I can really make money? How about… taking a look?”
Friend A says: “A certain coin I bought last year increased 100 times.”
Secretly download the exchange, research ‘how to buy coins,’ but still don’t dare to take action.
Mental activity: “What if I miss the next BTC?”
Stage 3: Anxiety begins to sprout (fear of missing out)
👉 “Damn, why did it rise again? Is it still too late to buy?”
A certain coin breaks XXX USD, and trending topics are all about “the bull market is here.”
Seeing others flaunt their account profits, feeling sour and unable to sleep: “If they can do it, so can I!”
Mental activity: “If I don’t buy now, it’ll be too late!”
Stage 4: Impulsive entry (All-in!)
👉 “Forget it, All-in! Financial freedom is just around the corner!”
Transfer savings to the exchange, close your eyes and buy popular coins.
Immediately take a screenshot and post in the group after buying: “Brothers, we’re taking off!”
Mental activity: “I’ll sell tomorrow when it doubles!”
Stage 5: Brief celebration (false victory)
👉 “Haha, I made 20%! I’m indeed a genius!”
As the coin price continues to rise, you feel like you are the ‘chosen one.’
Start fantasizing: “If it increases tenfold, I’ll quit my job!”
Mental activity: “If I had known, I would have bought more!”
Stage 6: Panic from a crash (doubting life)
👉 “How did it drop? It must be a washout! Increase positions!”
Coin price retraces 10%, quickly add positions: “Bottom-fishing opportunity!”
Continuing to drop, open Twitter to find an expert analysis, self-soothing: “Hold on, value investment!”
Mental activity: “Damn, will it really go to zero?”
Stage 7: Desperate cutting losses (leaving with tears)
👉 “I’m never playing again! Damn dealer!”
Coin price halves, cut losses, and lose 50% of your principal.
Uninstall the exchange, vow: “From now on, I’ll only buy BTC!”
（But next time continue FOMO）
Mental activity: “Why do I always buy at the high point??”
💡 Summary of human nature
The root of FOMO: It’s not about missing the opportunity, it’s about ‘others making money while I didn’t.’
The cycle of retail investors:
Spectating → Curiosity → Anxiety → All-in → Celebration → Panic → Cutting losses → More FOMO
🔍 Why is it easy to experience FOMO when trading coins?
1. Extreme market volatility
2. The amplifying effect of social media and news
Twitter, WeChat groups, and KOLs continuously hype “the next hundred-fold coin,” creating anxiety.
News headlines like “Bitcoin breaks historical high!” will reinforce FOMO emotions.
3. Herd mentality (herd effect)
Humans are inherently afraid of ‘being left behind,’ when seeing many people flock to a certain coin, they inevitably follow and buy in.
“Everyone else is making money, if I don’t buy, I’ll lose” is typical FOMO thinking.
4. Fear of missing out (Fear of Missing the Boat)
Investors worry about missing the ‘last chance to buy at a low price,’ impulsively entering even when prices are already high.
5. Short-term memory bias (Recency Bias)
People tend to remember coins that have recently surged (like a certain MEME coin doubling in a day) while ignoring the lessons of previous crashes (like LUNA going to zero).
Leading to the wrong belief that ‘this time is different, it won’t drop.’
Solution: 🛡 How to avoid FOMO?
🚩1: Establish ‘take profit and stop loss principles’ using cognition and data, refuse to blindly follow: Clarify the logic of every coin investment (project progress/data, industry position or underlying fund flow), don’t just chase because ‘I heard someone is going to pump.’
Use transaction volume/on-chain data/fund flow monitoring to verify whether the ‘pump’ is genuine capital or emotional speculation.
Set stop-loss levels (e.g., if it drops 10%, automatically stop loss), take profit levels (e.g., if it rises to the expected level, automatically cash out, set a partial withdrawal ratio), and execute firmly to reduce decision-making errors caused by emotional fluctuations.
🚩2: Practice the mental training of ‘not regretting missing out,’ and develop an independent style: If Coin A surges and you didn’t buy, record the reasons for this decision and the market signals at that time. Reflect: Was your analysis method wrong? Was there no familiar capital entry pattern, or a lack of on-chain data you were watching? Don’t regret missing out, follow up next time when you see similar signals, rather than chasing current trends.
Spend energy on the niche areas where you have a cognitive advantage/information sources, such as focusing on specific blockchain ecosystems or specific new blockchain logic.
🚩3: Assess risks before participating, turning ‘gambling your life’ into ‘managing risks’: Start with position management, try new targets with small funds to prevent losing your principal in one heavy investment.
Don’t chase news from a single source for new coins, focus on active community discussions, development progress, and mainstream KOL’s long-term views, cross-verify to avoid ‘being the one left holding the bag when the dealer offloads.’
🚩4: Practical principle — “Lock in profits + reviewing is king”
After seeing floating profits, appropriately lock in profits. Don’t blindly believe that ‘long-term all-in leads to big opportunities,’ high-volatility assets are more suitable for T+0 short-term or gradually taking profits, and avoid letting an ‘all-in turn into being stuck.’
After each trade, seriously review, record the decision process and market changes, build a personal ‘museum of failures’ and ‘model of successes,’ continuously optimize the trading model.
🚩5. Learning from historical lessons
Think about past experiences of FOMO chasing highs and getting trapped, remind yourself to stay calm.
Change ‘fear of missing out’ to ‘fear of losing everything.’
🌸 Stay calm when others brag, study when others panic 🚩
💴 Never become the ‘liquidity for the dealer’: When you see a coin surge, ask yourself who is cashing out this time, has the ‘news and surge’ been widely spread by mainstream media? According to on-chain transfers, are large off-market holders continuing to enter, or are whales gradually retreating?
Seize the home field advantage: Focus on the information flow and technical areas you are good at, learn to say ‘no’ in topics or obscure coins you are not familiar with, and patiently wait for opportunities where your judgment is clear.
Next time when FOMO hits, think of this script.
History does not repeat itself, but retail investors do 🥦
