Recently, the cryptocurrency market has been experiencing frequent turbulence, and many people are complaining: "Why do I always buy high and get trapped, only to see a rebound after selling at a loss?" Basically, there are often main players or whales causing trouble behind the scenes. Today, we'll break down some of the most common tricks to help you spot the traps.

**Trick 1: Dump to Absorb Chips, Create Panic and Manipulate the Market**

The main players love to create panic. Suddenly dumping a large amount of chips causes the price to plummet instantly, and the market is filled with despair. Retail investors see the limit down and, in a rush, start selling, just giving the whales cheap assets. Once the panic selling is exhausted, the whales have already accumulated at low prices.

The key is not to be scared by short-term drops. If the project's fundamentals are solid, such sharp declines are often opportunities for low-cost buying.

**Trick 2: Sideways Consolidation to Shake Out Investors, Wear Out Your Patience**

After accumulating enough chips, the whales won't rush to push the price up. Instead, they oscillate within a narrow range, placing large orders and then quickly canceling them, making the order book look lively but actually full of false signals. Retail investors wait and wait, and when they lose patience, they sell at low prices.

At this point, on-chain data becomes crucial. Movements of whale addresses, large transfers, and other on-chain activities reveal the truth much more reliably than fake orders on the trading surface.

**Trick 3: Rapid Price Rallies and Publicity to Create FOMO**

Once the chips are laid out, the whales start rapidly pushing up the price. Meanwhile, multiple accounts buy and sell to create the illusion of high trading activity, coupled with social media hype about "listing on top exchanges soon" or "major technological breakthrough," enticing retail investors with dazzling news. They fear missing out on gains and chase the rally. After a wave of price increases, the whales begin to sell off in batches, leaving retail investors holding the last bag.

Many so-called positive news are actually smoke screens. Genuine structural good news doesn't happen this frequently. If there are big news every day, it should raise suspicion.