150k people liquidated! BTC falls below $77k, but the real big players are starting to "pick up the wreckage"?

On May 18th, the crypto market suddenly experienced a "midnight horror."
BTC broke below $77k, ETH directly lost the $2,200 support, and altcoins collectively performed a "free fall." In just 24 hours, over 150k people were liquidated across the network, and the contract market was crying out in despair.
The most outrageous thing is—those who were shouting "$100,000 is a sure thing" yesterday are now already researching how to deliver takeout today.
But what’s truly worth noting isn’t the decline itself, but the change in market structure.
Because this time, it’s not a complete collapse.
DeFi and SocialFi surprisingly resisted the decline against the trend.
What does this mean?
It means funds haven't completely exited the market but are "changing direction."
Many attribute this drop to geopolitical risks. News of possible resumption of military actions by the US and Israel against Iran indeed instantly heightened global risk aversion. What are investors most afraid of? The most feared thing is "uncertainty."
So, US stocks fell, the crypto market fell, gold initially rose then oscillated, and the entire market entered the classic "risk shutdown mode."
But here’s the question:
Can geopolitical conflicts truly change the bull market trend?
Historically, most sudden war news causes short-term market crashes, but there are few cases where the trend is actually permanently changed. Because emotions will pass, and funds will ultimately seek returns.
And the core logic in the crypto space right now—ETF funds, institutional allocations, halving cycles—has not disappeared.
So what does the current market resemble?
It’s more like a "high leverage wipeout."
When do big players like to manipulate the market?
It’s when they’ve already crushed retail longs.
Currently, the fear index is rising rapidly, but large on-chain wallets haven't shown obvious large-scale withdrawals; instead, some funds are starting to accumulate at low levels.
Especially after ETH fell below 2200, many whale addresses began to show unusual activity.
So my current trading approach is very simple:
Don’t chase shorts;
Buy the dip in batches;
Control your positions.
Because when danger is real, no one dares to speak; and real opportunities often come after liquidations.
The current crypto market is very much like the sea after a storm.
It’s full of waves, but the real big ships have already started to set sail again. #加密市场下跌15万人爆仓