Retail investors in the crypto world harvest the whales; take small profits and run.
In 2025's crypto world, the relationship between whales and retail investors resembles a cat-and-mouse game—retail investors do have opportunities to make money, but the prerequisite is to understand the rules better than the whales and to leverage the situation. #PublicAccountBlockchainOutpost
1. The harvesting toolbox of whales: Why are retail investors always being harvested? 1. Liquidity manipulation: Whales lock up retail investors' tokens through staking pools (like stETH in ETH2.0), creating a liquidity black hole, and then use these staking certificates to borrow and lend on exchanges, short-sell, and crash the market. Your locked tokens might be used as ammunition by the whales.
Case Study: In 2024, a certain altcoin plummeted 62% within 24 hours due to whales withdrawing their liquidity. Retail investors' stop-loss orders failed due to an exchange API vulnerability, resulting in over ten million dollars in liquidations.
2. Dimensional information strikes: Whales monitor whale addresses on-chain, collaborate with KOLs to release good news, and even manipulate exchange data (like altering K-lines or triggering liquidations). The 'surge signals' seen by retail investors might be traps set by the whales in advance.
Typical scheme: Memecoins (like TRUMP coin) have internal teams stockpiling in advance, then sell off after hype on social media, leaving retail investors with losses exceeding 60%.
3. Leverage strangulation: In 2025, the average leverage ratio for perpetual contracts skyrocketed to 50x. Whales exploit the 'double kill' mechanism to harvest. For example, a 6% fluctuation in Bitcoin can trigger liquidations worth billions, and the liquidity from these liquidations is ultimately consumed by the whales.
2. Opportunities for retail investors to strike back: How to make money from the cracks in the whales' grip?
1. Avoid high leverage and embrace passive income.
Participate in decentralized liquidity mining (like SKD funds), where annual yields are only 5%-15%, but it avoids the risk of contract liquidations. The key is to choose audited pools with sufficient depth (like ETH/USDC) to minimize impermanent loss; stake mainstream coins (like BTC/ETH) on compliant platforms to earn stable returns of 3%-8%. Whales find it hard to manipulate such large-cap assets.
2. Reverse emotional betting.
When social media frantically hypes up wealth myths (like a certain intern making millions from meme coins), it often signals whales unloading; at this point, one should reduce positions; during panic sell-offs (like Bitcoin dropping over 8% in a day), buy in batches, as whales often wash out during panic.
3. New variables in 2025: Institutional entry has changed the rules of the game. 1. Whales are also upgrading: Some institutions are beginning to use AI hedging systems to adjust liquidation lines based on retail investors' positions, even showing different prices to different users.
2. Tools for 'information equalization' for retail investors: Zero-knowledge proof technology (like certain DEXs) allows transaction records to be verifiable, reducing data manipulation by whales; on-chain data platforms like Glassnode can issue warnings for 'abnormal staking' or 'whale movements.'
4. Retail investors can make money, but must 'switch tracks.' Short term: Trading with whales requires strong discipline (stop-loss at 5%, take profits at 20% and exit), suitable for small funds aiming for high odds.
Long term: Dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin and Ethereum (making up 70% of the portfolio), using DCA strategies to average down costs; under institutional trends, these types of assets are the least manipulable.
The truth: Whales harvest 'greed and ignorance'; if retail investors focus on value discovery (like real projects in AI or DePIN tracks) and reduce leverage, they can become exceptions to being ‘whale fuel.’
The crypto world is like a casino; whales always hold the advantage, but retail investors can learn to count cards, use on-chain data as a x-ray, and low leverage as armor. Get profits and run; don’t fall into a love for battle.
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