2026-01-11 10:26:36

Many people think that market fluctuations are random, but that's not the case. The price movements of mainstream coins like $ETH are essentially dominated by institutions such as banks and hedge funds.

What do they need? Liquidity. To complete these massive trades, they must find enough counterparties. Retail traders' stop-loss orders become the easiest "opponent" to hunt.

This is how the market operates: the price continuously triggers retail traders' stop-loss levels, which is known as the trend. When there are no retail stop-losses above, the price will directly dip to previous lows to eat up the long retail traders' stop-loss orders. The reverse is also true.

By observing the order book, you can notice that retail traders' stop-losses on both sides often concentrate at certain price levels. These areas become key targets for institutions to sweep. They move back and forth, consuming these concentrated liquidity to build or reduce large positions.

So next time you analyze the market, consider paying more attention to those densely packed stop-loss levels — they are often the focus of the upcoming battle.

ETH3,65%

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LightningHarvester

· 01-11 10:55

Another set of the "cutting leeks" theory, it's making my ears callus up.

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AirdropChaser

· 01-11 10:55

Retail stop-loss levels are the institution's cash machines; there's nothing wrong with that logic. --- That's correct, but how many people can actually foresee those dense stop-loss levels in advance? --- So in the end, it still depends on who has better information. Ah, forget it, I'll just follow the charts. --- Institutions have been playing the damage sweeping game for a long time, but now it feels like the randomness is increasing. --- That's why retail investors are always being cut, and you need to understand where the true liquidity is. --- I just want to know how to find those hidden dense stop-loss zones. It seems easy to say but hard to see. --- Damage sweeping, at the end of the day, is still a liquidity game. I understand it, but I can't change the fate of being cut.

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ContractTearjerker

· 01-11 10:54

It's just outrageous. We retail investors are just meat on their cutting board. The traps are set by them, and we still have to jump ourselves. This game is unplayable. It's both institutions and liquidity—basically just the usual tricks to harvest the little guys. It's obvious now that we can't win at all; we can only eat some leftovers. Now I understand why my stop-loss orders always get hit.

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Layer2Observer

· 01-11 10:32

This logic sounds reasonable, but it must be acknowledged—retail investors' stop-loss clusters are themselves the most intense battlegrounds in the market. This is actually a cause-and-effect cycle that requires further validation. Are retail investors really that easy to hunt? Institutional costs are also quite high. However, from an engineering perspective, the observation that liquidity concentrates at certain price levels is indeed worth paying attention to.

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LiquidationWatcher

· 01-11 10:29

Basically, institutions are fishing, and we retail investors are the bait.

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