At the start of a market move, when it’s obvious many are sidelined, the best trades are often the simplest. You’re not trying to outsmart the market - you’re trying to anticipate where it will bid first. And early on, it’s rarely deep risk or complexity. It’s comfort, familiarity, and narrative alignment.

There are a few reliable plays in this phase:

1) Top Narrative Coin

The asset that already represents the dominant market theme: AI, meme, RWA, whatever’s front of mind. It becomes the default exposure for those rushing back in. Participants anchor to what already has social consensus.

2) Top Proxy on the Mover Chain

If a specific chain starts moving, traders reflexively rotate into the most obvious meme, utility, or low float proxy on that chain. It’s not deep analysis, it’s habit. Liquidity chases familiarity.

3) The KOL-Endorsed Favorite

Coins already championed by trusted or high-profile KOLs get early attention. Not because of deep fundamentals, but because people trust the messenger. It’s a shortcut for conviction when they have none of their own yet.

Why do these work?

Because early in the move, people are still shaken. They’ve just seen pain, they don’t trust the rally yet, and they don’t want to be the first to get rugged. So they flock to the path of least resistance - simple narratives with perceived safety. It’s only after price confirms and momentum builds that the market slides down the risk curve, hunting for the next thing, rotating into longer-tail bets and unproven narratives.

That early phase isn’t about genius. It’s about understanding reflexes.