Bitcoin rises and falls, Ethereum prices jump, and countless people follow the trend to enter the market. "Getting rich quickly" and "liquidation tragedies" happen every day in the crypto world, with messages flooding the community. But have you ever thought—do these people really understand what they are doing?

Honestly, many followers don't even understand basic operations, yet they rush to leverage and enter the market, ultimately becoming the market's "chives." The root of the problem is often simple: they don't understand the concepts of "long" and "short." Today, we'll explain the essence of these trading terms in the most straightforward way.

**Going Long: Simply put, it's "buy low, sell high"**

Going long is the most fundamental way to trade in financial markets, and it aligns with our daily buying and selling logic—"buy first, then sell, profit from the difference."

If you believe a certain digital currency will rise, you buy it at a lower price now, and when the price increases, you sell it at a higher price. The difference between the two is your profit. This approach is something we use in daily life. For example, you predict a pair of sneakers will appreciate, buy them for 1000 yuan, and sell them six months later for 1500 yuan, easily earning 500 yuan—that's the core mindset of going long.

In the realm of digital currencies, every spot trade purchase is essentially a long operation.

Here's an actual example: suppose Ethereum (ETH) is currently quoted at $2,500. You analyze and believe it will rise to $3,000 in the future, so you buy 1 ETH at $2,500. After some time...