There are always people rushing in during the consolidation phase after a major crash in the crypto market, shouting "bottomed out," only to get trapped shortly after. Why does this happen? The key lies in many traders simply not understanding the true logic behind the price movements.

Wyckoff Theory can help you see through the market’s essence—identifying the movements of smart money rather than blindly following the trend. This theory is particularly effective when applied to ASTER chart analysis because charts visually display the relationship between volume and price. Those overlooked signals are actually embedded in the lines. Unfortunately, most people only focus on the ups and downs and ignore the meaning behind the trading volume.

Here’s a painful reality: many of the so-called "bottom accumulation" sideways movements in the crypto market are actually 80% controlled by the main players distributing their holdings. Notice that every sharp decline is accompanied by huge trading volume? Many think it’s panic selling, but in reality, it’s the main players’ "peak of selling." Their tactic is to first create a wave of panic, then during the chaos when retail investors are frantic and rushing to buy the dip, they unload大量. Afterwards, the market often experiences a technical rebound, and most retail traders start to deceive themselves into thinking "a reversal is coming." Unbeknownst to them, on the ASTER chart, the top of this rebound is precisely the "distribution zone upper limit" carefully designed by the main players, effectively setting a boundary for subsequent selling.

Even more cunning is the so-called "second bottom." After the price rebounds, it falls back near the lows, but this time the trading volume is noticeably smaller than during the previous sharp decline. At this point, retail investors begin to fantasize, thinking "the shrinking volume indicates the bottom is stable, and demand will soon return." In fact, this is a sign of the opposite—shrinking volume precisely proves that the main players have finished distributing, and the market lacks genuine buying support.

The core wisdom of Wyckoff lies here: don’t be fooled by superficial price fluctuations. Learn to read the volume-price relationship. When a massive volume appears at a high level and then diminishes, it usually indicates a transfer of holdings. Conversely, when the price drops to a low and the volume is insufficient, it shows that the real demand to absorb the position is actually very thin.

Many traders’ tragedy stems from this—they habitually rush in after a big drop, without realizing they might be walking into a trap set long ago by the main players. ASTER charts can help you see these details clearly, provided you are willing to seriously study the correlation between volume and price, rather than just focusing on the appearance of the trend. Only then can you distinguish whether it’s genuine bottom accumulation or main players’ distribution when similar patterns occur again.