If you're just starting to understand trading, the first thing you need to realize is how people generally make money in crypto. There are two main directions: either you buy an asset expecting it to increase in price (this is called going long), or you go short, meaning you sell in hopes of buying back cheaper and profiting from the decline.

Now, about the main thing — how to properly enter a trade. This is, essentially, your entry point into the position, meaning the price at which you open the trade. This is the foundation of the entire strategy because the correct choice of entry point determines the overall outcome.

Once you've entered a position, you need to protect yourself from losses. For this, a stop is used — a pending order that will automatically close your trade if the market moves against you. Roughly speaking, a stop is your safety cushion.

On the other hand, if the market moves in your favor, you want to lock in profits. For this, there is take-profit (TP) — an order you set in advance so that the trade automatically closes with a profit at the level you specify.

All together — entry point, stop, and take-profit — are called a setup. This is your working scenario, the plan of how the trade will develop from entry to exit.

There is also an important point regarding timeframes. MTF is a lower timeframe (for example, a 5-minute chart), and STF is a higher timeframe (for example, an hourly chart). Experienced traders look at both to understand the overall picture.

And finally — be cautious of market traps. These are situations where the price gives a false signal, as if the asset is about to rise or fall, but then unexpectedly reverses direction. Traps catch inexperienced traders who rush into the entry.

Another point — correction. This is when the price moves against the current trend. For example, if an asset is rising but temporarily falls — that’s a correction. It’s completely normal and doesn’t mean the trend has broken.