2026 crypto trading’s harsh truth: making money is getting harder, and the logic of a real bull market has long changed

Recently, I heard a senior entrepreneur talk about the current economy, and he said one particularly painful truth:

“Making money now is really much harder than before.”

Put in the crypto world, this is more than ever the most genuine sentiment of countless traders.

Old-school coin friends should all feel this deeply: the market in 2017 and today are simply not the same era.

Back then, the行情 was simple, brutal, and pure.

Whenever the market came, funds from outside the exchange would rush in like crazy, and opportunities were everywhere.
A single day up 10% was just normal—up 30% was only just getting started. For truly major bull coins, it was common to see dozens of times or even hundreds of times gains.
That was the era when you could eat meat with your eyes closed, trends ruled, and even “dumb people” could make money.

But times are different now.

Today’s market is becoming more mature—and also more cruel.

Many people have been misunderstanding: there are no opportunities left in the market.

Actually, it’s not that there’s no opportunity—it’s that there’s no new capital.

With the real economy under pressure and profit difficulty rising across industries, investors’ overall mindset has become more conservative and cautious.
And crypto itself is a high-risk speculation market—without incremental capital entering, it will never escape a sustained bull market.

Many people day after day hope for rate cuts, hope for good news, and hope that the bull market will restart.

But everyone needs to face one reality:
Good news has been repeatedly exhausted, and expectations have already been priced in early.

The real bull market has never been created by a single piece of news—it’s built by a steady stream of incremental capital, continuously strong market sentiment, and trends layered step by step.

Looking at the current “磐面,” the走势 is very typical:

Up for a few days, then shake for a few days—then a single fast red candle wipes out all the gains.

This is not a bull market feature; it’s a typical game of supply-limited, existing capital.

What does a bull market look like?
Trend continues, pullbacks don’t break, higher lows form, the market gets stronger the more it moves, and after corrections it sets new highs again.

But now the market is:
Poor in sustainability, weak in confidence, money squeezed into competition, and any spike is inevitably sold hard.

Besides that, there’s another very real change in the market:

There are more and more projects, but fewer and fewer people hold steadily.

Everyone wants quick trade arbitrage; no one wants to hold with a bigger picture.
Everyone wants to lock in profits; no one is willing to hold through the cycle.

Without long-term capital settling in and without incremental entry, the market naturally can’t form sustained upside.

So I want to tell every crypto trader one heartfelt piece of advice:

In 2026, don’t keep fantasizing about a “making money with your eyes closed” kind of market.

The era has changed, the tailwinds are gone, and the market has fully moved from the “easy profit / lie-flat earning era” into the “technical survival era.”

When the market is bad, don’t chase outsized gains—only pursue stability.
If you can’t understand the market, don’t trade it.
If the profit is uncertain, don’t get greedy.
If you can’t read the trend, don’t bet on it.

Control your position size, strictly manage risk—only do the certain opportunities you can understand.

The market never lacks opportunities; what it lacks is people who are alive and waiting for opportunities.

When the bull market truly comes,
you need to have positions—and you need to have principal.
When opportunities truly arrive,
you need to have mindset—and you need to have skills.

The market always rotates; staying alive matters more than anything.

— Encouraging all traders together