The most heartbreaking statistic in the crypto market is: 90% of losses are not caused by misreading the market, but by overtrading.

Last winter, a trader shared his insights — stick to your plan and be patient. It sounds simple, but this approach is actually the most effective weapon against market noise. Let’s break it down and see what’s really going on.

**Low liquidity environments are the biggest traps**

In January this year, trading volume dropped to 60% of the monthly average over a weekend. In such environments, the market is especially prone to bugs: false breakouts are everywhere. For example, on January 6th, BTC surged directly to $93,000, then turned back down, resulting in 70% of stop-loss orders being wiped out. Retail traders’ average holding time shrank to just 3.2 hours, more than halved, and trading fees were swallowed up just like that.

**Why are limit orders more reliable than chasing the pump?**

Some traders placed short orders at $92,192 and $93,500 for BTC, and similar operations for ETH. It looks simple, but in reality, it’s exploiting market inertia for strategic play:

Data shows that placing short orders at resistance levels has a success rate of 68%, while chasing highs only 32%. During last year’s Q4 volatile market, this strategy averaged a 7.3% gain with a maximum drawdown of just 2.1%. The stability is completely different.

**"Doing nothing" is the hardest trading decision**

It sounds counterintuitive, but “not acting” is actually an active strategic choice.

The cost of overtrading is very real: people who trade more than 5 times a day see their decision accuracy drop by 40% after three months. The brain gets tired, and judgment declines accordingly. Conversely, waiting for high-confidence signals, though fewer trades, makes each one more reliable. When BTC formed that classic pattern on the daily chart last September, those who patiently waited managed to catch the bottom.

In high-volatility markets, true competitiveness isn’t about speed of reaction, but about being able to hold back.