Why Are Individual Investors in the Crypto Contract Market Always the "Prey"?

Account burnout right at the candle wick peak. The price hits the stop-loss then reverses immediately. High win rate but the account still goes to zero. If you’ve experienced these things, understand a harsh truth: from the moment you open a position, you’ve entered an unbalanced game. And in that game, individual investors are almost always in the weakest position.

1. Your Stop-Loss Is Not a Shield, But a Target Many believe that setting a stop-loss is discipline, a way to protect the account. But in the futures market, the stop-loss zone is precisely where large capital flows target. The mechanism is very simple: Order books on the exchange are transparent. Price zones with many stop-loss orders often coincide with: Short-term highs and lows Common support and resistance levels Round numbers, psychological levels Just one strong price push can trigger a cascade of stop-loss orders, creating a domino effect. After liquidity is “harvested,” the price reverses and continues in the original trend. Therefore, the feeling of “just cutting losses and then the price runs” is not luck, but an inevitable consequence of market structure.
2. High Leverage Won’t Make You Rich Quickly, It Only Makes You Leave Faster Leverage is a tool, but for most individual traders, it becomes a psychological trap. 10x: Just a 10% move against your position can wipe out your account. 20x: A 5% move is enough. 50x – 100x: A sudden price spike ends everything. Meanwhile, crypto markets fluctuate 5–15% daily as normal. A painful truth: 👉 You can win 20 consecutive trades, but just one wrong all-in move can erase all your gains. Screenshots of 50x, 100x profits circulating online only reflect survivors, never revealing the thousands of accounts that disappeared behind the scenes.
3. Futures Trading Is a Zero-Sum Game, and Exchanges Are Always in the Lead Unlike long-term investing, futures markets have features that always disadvantage individual traders: Trading fees and funding fees Every order costs money. Holding positions longer incurs funding costs. The more you trade, the faster your capital erodes. ADL mechanism (automatically reduces positions) During high volatility, small traders’ positions can be closed first. Exchanges prioritize protecting liquidity and system benefits. Risk-sharing mechanism In extreme situations, you might absorb losses for others. This means: 👉 Even if you predict the right direction, you’re not guaranteed to make money.
4. Can Individual Investors Still Survive? The answer is yes, but only if you accept to play differently.
5. Reduce leverage to the minimum No more than 3–5x. Risk per trade should be 1–2% of total capital.
6. Stay away from low-liquidity altcoin contracts Large spreads = easy to be manipulated. Wide spreads = losses right from entry.
7. Quit continuous trading Most profits come from a few trades in the right trend. Trading excessively only benefits the exchange.
8. Trade futures with an investor’s mindset Look at larger timeframes. Prioritize trend structure, not chasing individual candles. Conclusion The market doesn’t need you to win or lose. The exchange just needs you to trade as long as possible. The biggest enemies of individual traders are not sharks or exchanges, but: The psychology of wanting to get rich quickly. Lack of patience. The belief that “I am different from the majority.” Those truly successful in crypto are not those bragging about huge profits, but those who survive 3–5 years, with increasing capital and decreasing risk. If you’re still obsessed with entry points and 5-minute candles, maybe it’s time to stop and ask yourself: Do I really understand the rules of this game? In crypto, learning how not to lose is already a form of victory. And knowledge, discipline, long-term thinking – that is the most valuable asset you can accumulate.