Watching ETH slightly rise on the 5-minute chart, the community is once again boiling over. Traders who have accumulated losses are all eyes and shouting that 3150 must hold and that a reversal is coming.

Seeing these discussions, I can only sigh.

The problem is that everyone is looking at these tiny gains in the short term. The real risk is hidden in the savage "shooting star" on the 4-hour chart—that is the bottomless bullish pit left at the 3400 level. Retail traders can't see it, but the big players are well aware.

Currently, ETH is stuck around 3180, and this level is very critical. From a technical perspective, this is a false support in a downtrend—an area where prices neither go up nor down, making it the easiest place to get trapped.

On the 5-minute candlestick chart, the MACD has indeed shown a golden cross, and the volume has symbolically increased a bit. All the data is there, looking like a rebound signal. But this is precisely the most deceptive part.

Think about it—if the big players don’t push the price up, how can they trick retail traders into taking the bait? How do they secretly transfer the chips trapped at 3300 to new entrants? So they have to give some sweeteners to give you hope. This is what’s called "trapping longs."

The current rebound, frankly, is just a technical correction against the previous low of 3120, and its nature is different. The levels at 3250 and 3300 are all trapped orders, like a multi-layered heavy pressure. Bulls want to push higher? They need to shed some skin. But the big players are not that merciful—who would voluntarily help retail traders exit their positions?

Based on this judgment, my advice is straightforward:

**First, hold your horses.** Don’t chase longs at the 3180 level now. The upward space is blocked tightly by trapped orders; entering now is just taking on the chips, with no other outcome. Greed at this point often leads to the biggest costs.

**Second, distinguish real from fake.** This rebound is just a trap. The true sign of stabilization has not appeared yet. You need to suppress the impulse to bottom fish; the market will give you better opportunities, provided you survive until then.

**Third, wait for the trend.** The key criterion is simple—unless the 4-hour level can hold above 3300 and break through effectively, any rebound is just a chance to reduce positions. Don’t think that a rebound is an entry point. That’s two different things.

In the end, the market never sympathizes with those who follow blindly. Only by truly understanding the trend and market structure can you protect your principal in this brutal environment. Short-term technical signals can be misleading, but medium-term structures won’t lie. Trust your analysis, not the market noise.