Have you ever had such regrets? Clearly catching the bottom but unable to hold the position, hitting the bull market but only tasting the soup, while watching the market run wildly, your account remains empty.
This isn't bad luck; it's that the operator has long understood the weaknesses of retail investors. Today, I’ll share with you the 'holding mindset' that I have forged with real money; learn it, and in the next bull market, you can steadily enjoy the big profits.
A bloody lesson: I too was shaken out before dawn.
In the first few years of entering the circle, the pits I fell into could fill a truck.
In 2021, I bought ETH at 1,800 dollars, waited for half a month until it rose to 2,400 dollars, but then a large bearish candlestick crashed down, and I was so scared that I sold at a loss overnight. But within three days, ETH surged to 4,000 dollars, and looking at the stop-loss in my account, I slapped myself hard twice.
Last year, I built a position in $WIF at 0.5 dollars, and after two weeks of sideways movement, everyone in the group was talking about another hot coin. I watched others' coins rise daily while my WIF was as lifeless as a dead fish. Unable to resist, I switched positions and chased after it. As soon as I sold, WIF initiated its main upward wave, soaring to 5 dollars, and a tenfold opportunity slipped right through my fingers.
There was another time when I bought a coin in the Layer2 track correctly but stopped out during the operator's 'fake drop' — clearly, the trend hadn’t broken, but because of a single bearish candlestick breaking the support level, I hastily handed over all my chips, only to realize later that it was just a wash, and the main force was already waiting to pick up chips from impatient investors like me.
The operator's three harvesting tools: specifically targeting the 'vital points' of retail investors.
Later, in hindsight, I realized that retail investors can't hold positions is not simply because of 'bad luck', but because the operators understand our weaknesses too well — fear, impatience, and lack of patience. With these three tricks, they can easily deceive us to give up our chips.
1. Fake pin bars: using panic to break your stop-loss.
The most ruthless is the 'pin bar wash'. The market is moving well, and suddenly a large bearish candlestick crashes through a key support level, looking like a steel needle stuck in the candlestick chart. You stare at the stop-loss line, your heart racing, thinking 'the trend has broken, I need to run', hastily executing a stop-loss and exiting, only to see it pulled back to its original position half an hour later — this is the operator 'testing the stop-loss orders', using a small amount of chips to smash the market, scaring you into selling your blood-stained chips.
Last year when Bitcoin was fluctuating around 25,000 dollars, many around me sold at 23,000 dollars, only to watch it bounce back to 30,000 dollars, slapping themselves and saying 'I panicked too much.' Later, I learned: a single pin bar doesn't break the trend, it's mostly a wash, so don't rush to exchange your chips.
2. Low volume smashing: exchanging your chips with a 'small cost'.
There’s another trick called 'low volume smashing'. Clearly, there's no bad news, yet the price suddenly drops 5%-8%, but the trading volume is even smaller than usual. This isn't a real drop; the operator is 'putting on a show' — using their chips to smash the market, creating a panic atmosphere.
Retail investors panic as soon as they see a 'drop', thinking 'if I don't sell now, I'll lose more', and quickly sell at a low price. The operators smile at the low prices, waiting to accumulate enough chips before pulling the price up. Remember: a drop with volume is scary; low volume smashing is mostly a wash, the more it drops, the more you need to stay calm, don’t be the 'sucker' delivered right to them.
3. Long-term sideways movement: outlast the impatient retail investors.
The most exhausting thing is the 'war of time'. The operators keep the price oscillating within a range for one or two months, rising a little and falling a little every day, making you feel 'this coin has no market'. At this time, others in the group start talking about other hot topics; you see other coins hitting new highs every day, while your coin is stagnant, leading to a gradually imbalanced mindset: 'Maybe I should switch to a more active coin?'
When you can't help but switch positions, just as you hand over your chips, it suddenly breaks out with volume, starting the main upward wave. This is the operator's 'patience-testing' strategy — they exhaust the retail investors without resolve, leaving behind 'firm chips that can be held', making it easier to pull the price up later. I have suffered too many losses like this; now, the longer it sideways, the more vigilant I become: 'Is the main force waiting for me to exit?'
The way to break the situation: the main force hates you holding positions like this.
Over the past two years, relying on two sets of mindset techniques, I have finally transformed from 'a retail investor shaken out' to 'a winner holding doubled positions'. No matter how the operators stir things up, I can steadily hold my chips, and you must thoroughly understand these two methods.
Mindset One: Pyramid Position Increasing Method — Let profits roll while locking in risks.
This is my 'life-saving trick' summarized from losses, the core is 'stable base, cautious increase, profit withdrawal':
Never sell the base position: 30% of the funds from the first position is treated as the base position, and as long as it doesn't break the weekly trend line (like MA30), it should not be touched. Even if it drops 20% in between, as long as the trend remains, hold through the wash. I held the base position of ETH in 2023, enduring three pullbacks of over 10% without touching it, ultimately enjoying a double return from 1,800 dollars to 3,000 dollars.
Add positions only after breaking key levels: don't start with a full position; wait for a breakout before adding. When the price breaks through previous highs and stabilizes above resistance, add 20% to your position; if it breaks through a major resistance level again, add another 20%. For example, add once when ETH breaks 2,000 dollars, and again when it breaks 2,500 dollars; don't gamble in advance, wait for confirmation before acting, which can increase the win rate by 60%.
Take profit on the principal, let profits chase the trend: when it rises to 50%, withdraw the principal first, and treat the remaining profit as the 'suicide squad'. For example, if you have a 100,000 dollar principal, withdraw 100,000 after making 50,000, and continue holding the 50,000 profit. This way, even if it drops later, the principal is not lost, and your mindset remains as steady as a mountain. Last year, I used this strategy with SOL, withdrawing my principal and watching it rise to 100 dollars, with profits multiplying eightfold, allowing me to sleep soundly.
Mindset Two: Trend Anchoring Technique — Use 'hard indicators' to combat emotional fluctuations.
Retail investors can't hold positions because they rely on 'feelings' to judge the market, and emotions are easily manipulated by operators. Later, I learned to use three 'hard indicators' to anchor the trend, remaining calm even when emotions are chaotic.
Never break the weekly MA30 while holding: the weekly line is a 'big trend filter'; as long as the weekly closing price is above MA30, the trend is considered intact. Last year, SOL rose from 20 dollars to 100 dollars, and the weekly MA30 never broke; I didn't move even during the fluctuations, which means 'the trend is in hand, no anxiety'.
Monthly closing price hitting new highs must be held: the monthly line represents the attitude of large funds; when the monthly closing price breaks previous highs, it indicates that the main force is increasing positions, and you can at least hold for another 1-2 months. When ETH hit a new high in May 2021, I relied on this signal to hold on, resulting in a subsequent threefold increase without exiting midway.
On-chain whales haven't sold yet; check the on-chain data to see if there are any large transfers from whale addresses holding millions. If the whales haven't moved, why should retail investors fumble around? Last year, when $APT rose to 15 dollars, I checked the on-chain data and found that the whales hadn't decreased their positions, so I just 'laid flat', and sure enough, it later rose to 40 dollars, catching the main upward wave.
Is it still too late to enter? Don't miss this opportunity.
Recently, many have asked, 'Is it still possible to enter now?' Just look for these three signals to be clear.
Bitcoin has not yet broken the previous high of 69,000 dollars; it is now just 'climbing halfway up the mountain', and retail investors are still a distance away from entering madly.
Ethereum has just stabilized at a historical high, and the weekly MA30 is steadily rising; the main upward trend has just begun.
The average increase of altcoins is only three times; it hasn't reached the crazy stage of 'even the market aunties are discussing it'; quality tracks (AI, Layer2, decentralized storage) still have great opportunities.
Finally, I want to say: making big money in a bull market relies on 'being able to hold'.
The biggest insight over the past few years is: making big money in a bull market only requires selecting the right coin for 30%, while being able to hold accounts for 70%. 90% of retail investors lose because of 'impatient stop-losses', 'random position switching', and 'lack of vision', while the operators fear most is you having 'methods, patience, and discipline'.
If you also frequently get shaken out and can't hold positions, don't panic. I have organized the 'Key Level Judgment Manual', 'Trend Anchoring Details', and 'Position Increase Ratio Table', these practical techniques, pay attention to @钱包守护者 .
Remember: a bull market doesn’t lack opportunities; it lacks 'mindsets that can seize opportunities'. Next time there's a big profit, don’t just be a bystander, use methods and discipline to become part of the 10% that gets to enjoy the meat.