The past year in the crypto market can be summed up with one word: "disastrous."

I looked through the data, and from last Christmas to now, a full twelve months, the performance of mainstream coins has been wildly polarized. Only $BNB (up 19.6%) and $ZEC (up 506.2%) are still somewhat visible; the rest have mostly been bleeding red. The most heartbreaking is $OP, which has plummeted by 86.5%.

Honestly, in this kind of market, the theory of "holding long-term" sometimes sounds like a joke. If you happened to enter around the peak last Christmas, regardless of the coin, you’re still trapped now. Even Bitcoin is no exception—if you chose the wrong entry point, you can only stand at the top watching the market slide down.

Sometimes, the losses for long-term investors are not much easier than short-term traders.

Interestingly, a certain exchange’s management recently clarified market trends. They mentioned that the rumor about a "large sell-off crashing Bitcoin to $24,000" is actually very simple—current market liquidity is too shallow, and a single large order can trigger intense price fluctuations. Arbitrageurs buy in at low prices, then sell at higher prices on other trading pairs, gradually bringing the price back.

This also implies: the more assets someone holds, the more they can influence the price (which is a bit… unsettling). From another perspective, it confirms that in a liquidity-tight environment, this market is indeed very fragile.

Honestly, the past twelve months have not been friendly to most holders. These market phenomena also tell us that the current trading depth is clearly insufficient, making it easy for large trades to stir the market. Under such circumstances, whether you are a long-term investor or a short-term trader, your judgment on entry timing, liquidity environment, and project fundamentals has become something you must take seriously.