After so many years in the crypto world, I have seen too many crashes and witnessed many people jump out during downturns. But the most terrifying thing is never the decisive drop, but rather the sideways consolidation that seems endless.

Recently, I was watching the market and noticed a very interesting phenomenon. A certain coin, which was originally favored by many, changed its community sentiment after three days of sideways movement. Initially, everyone was shouting "can reach 10U," but after three days, they started saying "2U is enough." The coin hasn't changed, the project hasn't changed, and the fundamentals haven't changed—the only thing that has changed is people's mindset.

It's actually more interesting during a crash. When you're trapped, many people can "hold on stubbornly," even self-hypnotize themselves with reasons to comfort their losses. But sideways consolidation is different. It neither gives you the thrill of decisive stop-loss when you're heartbroken nor excites you to chase after gains when prices rise. It quietly and steadily wears down your patience and confidence. The feeling of boiling a frog in warm water is probably like this.

The data is a bit painful: over 60% of crypto investors hold assets for less than a year. What does this mean? It shows that most people have a short-term mindset in the market, chasing hot spots, entering and exiting frequently, making it hard to truly hold onto a promising asset.

Psychology calls this "loss aversion"—when faced with equal gains and losses, people fear losses more deeply. This leads to the typical retail investor behavior of "profit-taking early and holding onto losses": taking profits and running, but stubbornly holding onto losses. The result? They always buy the bottom when they shouldn't and sell when they shouldn't.