Why Are Investors Still Losing Money Despite the Ongoing Uptrend?

Many people tend to believe that once an uptrend begins, everyone will win together. But in reality, it’s far from that. The question is not “who is the winner” but “who is the loser” — and usually, it’s the majority of investors. The nature of the financial market is not a smooth path paved with roses for everyone, but a rugged, challenging journey where only those who can withstand psychological fluctuations can enjoy profits from the uptrend.

The main difference does not lie in whether the market goes up or down, but in each individual’s psychology. Even during an uptrend, not everyone can maintain unwavering confidence from start to finish. And that’s why, even during strong rallies, many people still lose money.

The Difference Between Belief in the Uptrend and Actual Action

Trust in the uptrend is one thing, but actual action is another. Many investors speak confidently, but that confidence is superficial. When the market begins to correct, with dips or bad news being spread, that superficial confidence will vanish immediately.

True belief must be a stubborn, intense conviction — not just empty words. But why do some people still lose during an uptrend? The answer lies in six psychological mechanisms that we will analyze below.

Six Psychological Mechanisms Causing Investors to Lose Money During an Uptrend

Mechanism 1: Returning to the Market at an Inappropriate Time

Those who have lost heavily will leave the market, but the psychological scars remain. When the uptrend starts and positive news floods in, they are pulled back — and often, that is exactly when they are led into the worst trades. Returning to the market without overcoming old fears makes them prone to hasty decisions.

Mechanism 2: Capital Drain Due to Lack of a Clear Plan

Remaining investors without a clear direction often find themselves in a state of “restless agitation.” When prices fall, they hesitate to buy out of fear of further decline. When prices rise, they regret not entering early. They keep holding cash, waiting, but they don’t know exactly what for.

This behavior leads to constantly “missing opportunities.” Selling at $0.8 without buying, waiting to buy at $1, or $1.5 but not daring — until the price has soared to $2, $3, or $10, then rushing in — but it’s already too late. The result? No gains, only psychological chaos.

Mechanism 3: Late Entry Ticket and Endless Waiting

Those who entered at a “bad” price (dividing their capital by 3, 4, 5 times) will have a very different mindset. Instead of expecting profits, they just hope to break even — just to recover their capital. That’s why, during an uptrend, they still feel anxious.

When the price returns to their entry level, instead of holding, they hurriedly sell to “recoup their capital.” Then they wait for the price to drop again to buy more, but it never does. Because once the market confirms an uptrend, subsequent lows will always be higher than previous lows — never returning to old prices.

Even worse, if they sell and the price continues to rise, they fall into a loop of regret. Every time they sell, they think, “If I hadn’t sold, how much more could I have earned now?” This mindset leads to “chasing the price” to recover losses, one of the biggest trading mistakes.

Mechanism 4: Comparison and Fear of Missing Out

When other coins in the portfolio are soaring while your coin remains stagnant, frustration arises. That’s when investors start “trading back and forth,” selling one to buy another, then vice versa. The result? After selling, the coin they sold rises; after buying, the coin they bought drops.

After several such cycles, panic and frustration set in, leading to chaotic trades. The account gradually depletes with each small move until bankruptcy.

Mechanism 5: Vague Profit Goals and Trying to Overcome Them

Suppose you hold out until the uptrend, and now your account has 5x or 10x profit. But a critical question: when will you take profits? Usually, an uptrend lasts about 6 months, with 1-2 months being the most volatile. Can you predict when that will be?

Those without a clear plan often fall into the mindset of “holding on a little longer.” When it’s 10x but you want 15x or 20x — but if in February, the market crashes and your account drops back to 5x, what then? Instead of feeling happy about still having profits, you regret losing the remaining 5x.

While hesitating, the price rebounds to 6x, 7x, and you think it might surpass the previous high, so you keep holding. But this rebound is only temporary; then it drops back to 3x, 2x, eventually returning to the base. After months of holding, just a few dips can make you sell everything.

Or another case: you sell successfully in March, but April turns out to be the most explosive growth month. Thinking that if you hadn’t sold, you could have earned 20-30 billion. That “regret” mindset leads to “recovering” — trying to recoup missed opportunities, and eventually, all the money disappears.

Mechanism 6: Greed and the Vicious Cycle of Gamblers

If you manage to sell at the peak of the uptrend, that’s great. But behind that is the challenge of holding onto profits — and that’s the biggest test. Taking large profits often breeds greed. One million becomes two million, two million becomes ten million — people never feel “enough.”

Some ways to spend profits include re-entering the market to find new coins or trading futures hoping for more gains. But if you trade futures without controlling your psychology, using excessive leverage, you can easily wipe out your account even when trading in line with the trend. Just a 10-20% correction with 5x or 10x leverage is enough to be devastating.

When you lose, you want to recover. And from there, you fall into a gambler’s cycle — wanting to win more when winning, trying to recover when losing. Gradually, you get caught in it, with no way out.

How to Overcome Psychological Traps During an Uptrend

The scenarios above are not rare events — they are the actual laws of operation in the financial markets. And they happen to most psychologically weak investors, whether new or experienced.

Trust in an uptrend must be genuine — not just lip service. It must be stubborn, intense conviction — not empty words. If you believe in an uptrend, you must be consistent from start to finish. Believe that the market will go up, but also understand that it’s not “hold to die” — you still need to know when to curb your enthusiasm.

Successful investors are not necessarily the ones with the most money or luckiest. They are those who can withstand psychological instability, understand the laws of the uptrend, and have a clear plan in advance. Bitcoin has surpassed $100,000, and upcoming uptrends will be another test. The deciding factor is not the market, but you — your psychology, discipline, and readiness to overcome psychological traps on that journey.

Wishing everyone a victorious uptrend season, but remember that true victory is built on consistency, not illusions of hope.