I've noticed over the years: In the crypto market, everything follows trends, and once a trend starts, it usually stays in its direction. That's the key – you just need to learn how to read these trends and know whether they are bullish or bearish.

When I analyze myself, I always start with the larger timeframes. No matter what happens on the 4-hour or 1-hour chart – in the end, everything follows the higher-level trend. That's why I only use the smaller timeframes to time my entries on the weekly or daily chart. That’s simply the playing field where it matters.

A bullish trend always looks the same: The price makes higher highs and higher lows. Period. When that happens, you know the market still wants to go up. The most important thing is that no previous low is broken – as long as that holds, the uptrend remains intact.

Of course, nothing goes straight up. On smaller timeframes, you constantly see setbacks and consolidations. I’ve seen moves where the daily chart shows little change, but on the 4-hour chart, the price has fallen by 32 percent. That’s completely normal. When the price then drops into the zone of the last higher low, that can be your entry point – and the target is new highs.

A bearish trend works exactly the opposite: lower highs, lower lows. If you want to go short there, you use the same method – wait for a move of the smaller timeframe into the lower resistance zone and find your short trigger there. The target then is new lows.

But most people lose money here: during a trend reversal. When the market shifts from bearish to bullish, many hold on to their shorts and don’t understand what’s happening. And vice versa – when the trend turns, people still buy because they don’t accept the change. That’s psychological, but it costs real money.

You recognize a trend change with the same method: when an uptrend breaks, you see the price falling below the higher low. Once that happens, you can change your stance. Some take their profits there, others open shorts – it depends on what type of trader you are.

Similarly, the other way around: when the price breaks the lower highs in a bearish trend, it signals that the trend is turning bullish.

My realization after years in the market is simple: Be optimistic when the trend is bullish, and bearish when it is. Change your opinion when the trend changes. That’s not glamorous, but it’s the only way to survive long-term and really succeed in trading. Everything else is just noise.