I want to write this as a purely discipline-based trading guide, not a signal call or a technical analysis tutorial, but a few fundamental principles I've summarized from my years of experience in the crypto space.
The first and most easily overlooked rule is to always separate emotional indicators from on-chain real data. In the chart just now, social sentiment showed bullishness, but Ethereum gas fees were only 0.08 Gwei, with almost no on-chain activity. This combination of sentiment leading real demand is very common in the crypto space. My approach is that whenever I find a significant divergence between sentiment and on-chain activity, I treat it as a risk signal rather than an entry signal, because sentiment can be manipulated by leverage and signal calls, but on-chain activity cannot be faked.
The second rule is to closely monitor the open interest of perpetual contracts. The higher the market leverage, the more fragile the market becomes. This doesn't mean you must always trade against high leverage, but you need to be aware that you are trading in an environment prone to long squeezes or short squeezes, so position size and stop losses should be tightened accordingly. My habit is that when open interest in perpetual contracts shows abnormal volume spikes, I immediately cut my position to less than half of my usual size, even if the market looks favorable at the time.
The third rule concerns the logic for judging Bitcoin market dominance. When dominance is high, recklessly going all-in on altcoins is essentially betting on a rotation that hasn't happened yet. When the altcoin season index is below 70, I basically avoid heavy altcoin positions, because historical data tells me that chasing altcoins before the rotation starts is likely to be a way of taking the next wave of Bitcoin's rise on the chin.
The fourth and most counterintuitive rule is to never use options implied volatility to judge direction. Volatility only tells you how large the market expects price swings to be; it doesn't tell you whether the price will go up or down. Ethereum options volatility being significantly higher than Bitcoin's only means the market expects a wider price range for Ethereum, not bullishness or bearishness. Confusing these two is a direct cause of many beginners getting liquidated.
The final rule, which runs through all the above principles, is that no single indicator can be used as an independent trading basis. Emotional indicators, on-chain data, derivatives positions, and macro liquidity must be cross-verified. Only when they all point in the same direction is the signal reliable enough. The crypto market is extremely noisy with information; what truly determines long-term survival is never catching a single big rally, but having a discipline that lets you do less or nothing when signals are unclear. $BTC
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