Listening to a friend share his experience of a margin call two days ago, I actually don't find it surprising. Using tenfold leverage to heavily bet on a popular coin, he guessed the market direction correctly, but in the face of a sudden fluctuation, his account was wiped out instantly. He watches the K-line charts day and night, but the market manipulators have long since calculated every penny in his pocket clearly. This is not a market competition; it's a premeditated trap. Most retail investors never understand what role they are playing in this game, even until death.

**Human nature vulnerabilities are the manipulators' cash machines**

The least afraid thing for market manipulators is how skilled you are technically; what they fear most is your ability to control your emotions. You spend effort studying K-line patterns, support and resistance levels, but in the eyes of big funds, that's just a collective psychological cash machine. They are very precise in timing, choosing two moments to strike: at the end of a bear market, scaring you into selling with a sharp drop; at the peak of a bull market, deceiving you with hope to take over your position.

For example, after a sharp decline, the price consolidates for several months, then suddenly rises 20%. You get excited, thinking an opportunity has arrived, and buy the dip. But the other side immediately dumps the market—this isn't just market fluctuation; it's a carefully crafted emotional trap.

Even more outrageous are Ponzi schemes. The first round of dumping only costs you 10%, making you think "there's still hope, I can break even." When you can't bear to sell and add more, they smash the price to almost nothing. The more you hesitate for a second, the more profit the manipulators make on their books.

**Classic tricks, each one ensnares someone**

*Breakout with low volume — specifically targeting technical traders*

A coin suddenly breaks through a previous high with very low trading volume; 80% of the time, this is a trap. The manipulators pre-load fake orders on the depth chart to create a false sense of support, then when retail investors rush in to buy, they instantly withdraw all orders and dump the market to harvest profits. The most extreme operation I've seen: the same address places buy orders on the exchange while simultaneously transferring coins on-chain to prepare for a coordinated dump—that's outright open manipulation.

*Consolidation phase — the gentlest form of exploitation*

During the project team's control phase, the coin price enters a "chronic death" state, oscillating within a very narrow range. Retail investors cut losses here, then hope returns, and they buy back in repeatedly, only to end up losing everything. The manipulators don't need much effort; they rely on time and patience to gradually grind down retail investors' chips one by one.