After eight years in the crypto circle, I finally see through the tricks of the market makers' shakeouts.

To be honest, the funds in your account are nothing to them. Don't overestimate yourself; the goal of the market makers is never to squeeze your little bit of profit. A shakeout, in simple terms, is just preparation for a subsequent surge.

When I first entered the market, I was also fooled by this illusion — thinking that big institutions were watching over my few coins. It wasn't until later that I realized the essence of shakeouts isn't targeting retail investors like us, but rather "exchanging chips." Imagine a card game; the dealer needs to swap out bad cards for good ones. Why would they bother fighting over small chips at the table's bottom?

The 2018 METIS case is a classic example, and I still remember it vividly.

The price started to decline from $1.2, gradually falling to $0.9 over two months. The forums were full of "This project is hopeless" comments, with some people cutting losses at $0.95. During the second round, the price spiked down to $0.7 and then immediately rebounded. Some technical traders saw an opportunity and rushed in, only for the dealer to turn around and push it down to $0.65, causing many to be shaken out.

Then came the harsher part. Rumors spread, and the price plummeted to $0.5. Community activity dropped sharply, and the atmosphere was extremely desperate. At this moment, the market maker executed a V-shaped reversal within three days, bringing the price back to $1. The people who had sold earlier lost the nerve to chase, and new entrants faced higher costs. The chips were firmly in the market maker's hands, easily pushing the price up to $3.

Years of experience have taught me what a real shakeout looks like —

It's like the uncomfortable heat before a storm, where the discomfort is just to exchange the air. What the market maker wants isn't your coins, but your heart that can't withstand volatility. The rules of the market are actually very cruel: constantly filtering out those who are low-cost but hesitant, and welcoming those with high costs but strong resolve to buy in.