Why Are Retail Investors in the Crypto Market Unable to Resist Continuous Trading?

In traditional financial markets, the concept of "time value of money" or "marginal utility" is emphasized as fundamental principles. However, in the cryptocurrency market, the issue becomes much more direct and fierce: one million dollars today and one million dollars after five years do not hold equal value. The simple reason is that no one can be sure that the currency will still exist, or that the exchange will still be operational in the distant future.

1. Little Capital, Cannot Wait Long Retail investors usually only hold limited capital, ranging from a few tens to a few hundred million VND. With such small resources, even if achieving an ideal profit level of 30% per year, doubling assets would still take three years. Meanwhile, the erratic cycles of the market, combined with fluctuations in real life, make the "waiting for compound interest" impossible.
2. Continuous Volatile Environment Unlike the traditional stock market with fixed opening hours, cryptocurrency operates 24/7. Prices fluctuate every minute, derivative contracts and leverage amplify the volatility, while meme coins create unpredictable spikes and drops. This characteristic creates a feeling that opportunities arise continuously, and missing out equates to "losing" potential profits.
3. The Need to "Quickly Turn the Tables" With a small capital, retail investors find it difficult to be satisfied with stable profits; instead, there is a demand for seeking "breakthrough" opportunities. A threefold increase in contract value is equivalent to many small profit-taking instances; a meme coin that increases by 100 times can shorten the financial journey by decades. The mentality of "betting to have capital for the next round" has become a popular choice.
4. Probability and Winning Ratio In essence, for retail investors, the story is no longer about calculating the "winning ratio" but about the "probability of a big win." High-profit opportunities are almost always associated with a high risk of failure. A 100x leverage is a typical example: either multiplying assets in an instant or being liquidated immediately. The cryptocurrency market, from this perspective, resembles an unending poker table, where players have only a little capital to use as "chips" and are forced to bet everything in hopes of having a chance to stay in the game. Conclusion Continuous trading not only arises from the "habits" or "personalities" of retail investors but also from the limited capital structure and the specific environment of the cryptocurrency market. When lacking the resources to follow a "long-term investment" strategy, the inevitable choice is to seek short-term fluctuations in the hope of reversing the situation. However, this comes with an extremely high risk rate, causing the "gain - loss" loop to occur continuously, making it difficult for most investors to escape.