How retail investors can make money through trading:

Many people entering the crypto world think that making money depends on skills.
Studying candlestick charts, analyzing indicators, researching patterns.
Staring at the screen for over ten hours every day.
Always feeling that if they try a little harder, they can become consistently profitable.
As a technical trader, although I rely entirely on technical analysis, I know that my profits don’t come from it.
After experiencing several bull and bear markets, I’ve realized a fact that many people haven’t noticed:
99% of those losing money in crypto are not wrong about the direction, but because they trade too much.
You think you’re battling the market, but in reality, you’re competing with market makers, quant teams, and exchanges for liquidity.
Your leverage, position size, and stop-loss levels are almost transparent to them.
As long as you trade frequently, you will eventually get liquidated.
If you gradually stop studying the next candlestick and start analyzing cycles, you’ll find:
The real big money in crypto has never come from trading profits, but from cycle gains.
In this cycle, Bitcoin rose from $16,000 to $125,000, nearly an 8x increase.
If you buy spot near the cycle bottom and hold, then sell near the top,
Your returns will surpass 99% of short-term traders.
And after the bull market ends, the bear market also presents opportunities.
Make money during the rise, and make money again during the fall.
A complete cycle actually involves two wealth transfers:
One from going long, and one from going short.
Many people think they are trading, but they are actually betting on the next hour.
Cycle traders study: the next 6-12 months, or even 2-3 years into the future.
That’s also why I’ve been using fewer indicators over the years, doing less short-term trading,
Indicators are just auxiliary tools to help judgment, to stay alert to market changes.
Because I’ve found: whether in US stocks or crypto, those who seize a few opportunities each year
often end up earning more than those trading daily.
The most counterintuitive aspect of crypto is here:
The harder you try to trade, the less likely you are to make money;
but those who truly make big money often only do a few trades.
Buy at the bear bottom, sell at the bull top;
Short at the bull top, close positions at the bear bottom.
Then patiently wait for the next cycle.