In the past week, there has been a rather painful phenomenon—the liquidity during the Asian trading session has almost disappeared. Since mid-October, effective trading volume during the day has been nearly nonexistent, and those once-active Asian big players have been gradually pushed out.

The reasons behind this are not hard to understand. After institutional investors from the US and Europe entered the market, the game rules changed. They are constrained by tax regulations and do not trade as frequently as retail traders—doing so would only lead to losses. In contrast, Asia has higher trading freedom, but it is precisely because of this freedom that retail traders become the easiest targets for being "cut" in extreme market conditions. Coupled with the launch of ETFs and deep Wall Street involvement, the cryptocurrency market has gradually evolved into a hunting ground for professional capital.

You have all seen the recent K-line movements—several days of extreme tug-of-war, with gains and losses dictated by large funds. In such an environment, most retail trading systems become completely ineffective. When BTC becomes a pawn in institutional battles, retail traders are still trying to figure out short-term arbitrage, but the only result is being harvested.

Rather than struggling in this liquidity-starved market, it’s better to adjust your mindset—abandon short-term trading and shift to a monthly-level layout. For retail traders, this might be the most rational choice at the moment.