There's one thing that needs to be made clear first: the so-called "following the trend" that most people talk about is essentially not a strategy at all. It's an instinctive reaction driven by the K-line, simply being led by the nose.

For example, recently BTC surged near the 90,000 mark. When you're watching the market on the exchange, this pattern repeats itself: a big bullish candle jumps from 95,000 straight to 100,000, the market is hot, and the group chat is shouting "It's up now" and "If you don't follow now, it's over." Your psychological defenses collapse instantly, and you chase in a long position at 99,800. And then what happens? The price immediately reverses, plunging down to 96,500, and your stop-loss gets triggered in the pullback.

The same applies in reverse. When the price drops from 100,000 straight down to 95,500 with a big bearish candle, it scares you into thinking "This must be a crash," so you quickly open a short. But the next candle has a long lower shadow, wiping out your stop-loss, and then the price rebounds sharply back above 99,000.

Eventually, you calm down and realize: "Following the trend doesn't necessarily make money."

But the real issue isn't that "following the trend" is useless. The problem is—you're not really following the trend at all. You're just reacting emotionally to the K-line's mood.

**Why does "buy when bullish, sell when bearish" seem like a strategy, but in reality is just human instinct?**

Human nature boils down to two points: seeing a crowd rush forward, and automatically thinking "I have to follow, or else I’ll look stupid"; seeing a crowd retreat, and instinctively reacting "I have to run too, or I’ll end up losing."

The market behavior reflects this: when a certain direction has been rising for a long time, the trading community is full of voices like "The bull era is here" and "This wave will skyrocket." At this moment, new buy orders keep pouring in. You get caught up in the atmosphere, your rational mind gets suppressed, and all that's left is the thought of "I can't miss out."

The same applies during a decline. When the technicals turn bad, sentiment starts to fade, some big players begin to close positions, and panic spreads through the market. You see your account showing floating losses, psychological pressure skyrockets, and finally you decide to cut your losses and exit.

This is why most retail traders' trading records look similar: chasing highs at the top, cutting losses at the bottom, cycle repeats. Technical analysis isn't the problem, risk management frameworks are well-designed, but once real money is on the line, all theories are crushed by emotion.

So, what's the real difference between "going with the trend" and "following the emotional crowd"? Simply put: one is based on structural judgment of the trend itself, and the other is a reactive after-the-fact response to the candlestick patterns. The former requires making predictions before the trend fully develops; the latter only follows after clear signals appear—often already at the end of the move.