Hey fellow crypto traders, do you ever have this feeling: you pick a seemingly good target, but end up inexplicably losing money? Or you buy a coin, and as soon as you sell, it skyrockets, while holding onto it results in a 50% cut? Do these kinds of things happen often?

Actually, the real issue isn’t the coin itself, but human nature—greed and fear are controlling you tightly—especially the real-time fluctuating profit and loss line, which is practically playing with your mindset.

Let’s look at a real scenario: Suppose you invest 100,000 USDT, dividing it into two coins, each with 50,000. Not long after, Coin A drops 20%, leaving your paper profit at 40,000; Coin B rises 20%, making your paper profit 60,000. Suddenly, you need cash urgently and must sell one. Which one would you choose?

I bet eight out of ten people would choose to sell Coin B. Why? It’s simple—seeing the account in the green feels great, and getting the money directly feels even better, giving you a sense of security. A few might stubbornly sell Coin A because they can’t stand seeing it in the red, cutting losses to keep things clean. But honestly, both choices are wrong.

The game logic in crypto is actually like playing mahjong—counting your chips before the game ends is just asking for trouble. Until you actually sell, unrealized gains and losses are just numbers bouncing on the screen; they don’t change the final outcome.

There’s only one correct approach: no matter how much you’ve gained or lost now, you should sell the asset that has no future growth potential and no prospects, rather than just selling based on recent gains. But in reality? Human fear of losses pushes you to do the opposite—sell the profitable asset to take profits, while holding onto the losing one, hoping for a rebound. This turns “small gains, big losses” into your trading norm.

Is this cycle repeating itself in your experience too? When a coin rises 10%, you panic and sell quickly, only to see it double afterward, and you’re left kicking yourself. When another coin drops 10%, you convince yourself “it will bounce back,” but end up holding on and losing 30%, 40%, or more before finally cutting. Repeating this cycle, the profits you make can’t even cover the losses.

This isn’t the game smart traders should be playing; it’s gambling with emotions and fear. True trading masters are never hostage to short-term ups and downs—they focus on fundamentals, long-term logic, not the blinking K-line on the chart. Next time you face this dilemma, pause and ask yourself: Am I investing, or am I being manipulated by my emotions?