If you ask most beginners how they lost their first money in crypto or forex, the story is usually the same.
“I bought when the price was going up fast.”
That single sentence explains the biggest mistake new traders make: buying green candles and chasing the market because of fear of missing out (FOMO).
It looks harmless. It feels logical. But it is the fastest way to donate money to the market.
When price starts moving up quickly, emotions take control. You open the chart and see big green candles. Twitter is talking about it. Telegram groups are shouting “to the moon.” Influencers are posting rocket emojis. Everything around you is screaming that you are late.
And that is exactly when beginners enter.
Not because they planned the trade. Not because they saw a setup. Not because they understood the market structure.
They enter because they are afraid of missing the move.
This is FOMO in action.
FOMO removes logic from trading. It replaces analysis with emotion. Instead of asking, “Is this a good entry?” you start asking, “What if it keeps going without me?”
That question is expensive.
Here is what beginners don’t realize. By the time you see big green candles, smart money is already preparing to sell. The people who bought earlier, at support, at discount prices, are now in profit. They are looking for buyers to sell to.
And who are those buyers?
Beginners chasing the pump.
You are not entering early. You are providing exit liquidity.
This is why, right after you buy, the market often reverses. Price drops. Panic starts. You sell at a loss. Then the market slowly goes back up without you.
It feels like the market is against you. But it is simply a pattern caused by emotional entries.
Markets move in cycles: accumulation, expansion, distribution, and retracement.
Beginners only notice the expansion phase because it is loud and fast. But the best entries are usually during quiet accumulation, when price is boring and nobody is talking about the asset.
Unfortunately, beginners hate boredom. They want action. They want fast moves. So they ignore the best areas to buy and rush into the worst ones.
Another reason this mistake happens is social media. You see profit screenshots. You see people bragging about catching the move. Nobody posts where they entered. Nobody shows the waiting period. You only see the result, not the preparation.
So you try to copy the result without copying the process.
That leads to late entries.
The truth is, profitable traders do most of their work before the move happens. They mark support and resistance. They plan entries. They decide their risk. They wait patiently.
When price finally moves, they are already inside the trade.
Beginners, on the other hand, wait for confirmation in the form of excitement. But excitement is a sign that the move is already mature.
So how do you avoid this costly mistake?
First, change how you see green candles. Instead of seeing opportunity, see warning. A big green candle often means the move is already extended. It is not the safest place to enter.
Second, plan your trades before price gets there. Mark your key levels. Decide: “If price comes here, I buy. If it doesn’t, I do nothing.” This removes emotion from the decision.
Third, understand that missing a trade is better than entering a bad one. The market will always give another opportunity. Protecting your capital is more important than catching every move.
Fourth, learn to love boring charts. The best entries usually happen when nothing is happening. Low volatility, tight ranges, quiet markets — these are signs of accumulation, where risk is smaller and reward is larger.
Fifth, always ask yourself before entering: “Am I buying because of my plan, or because of fear?”
If the answer is fear, close the chart.
Finally, use stop loss and proper risk management. Even if you make a mistake, a small loss is better than a blown account.
The market rewards patience and punishes impatience. It rewards planning and punishes emotions.
Most beginners lose money not because they lack intelligence, but because they act on feelings instead of structure.
If you can learn this one lesson early, never chase the market, never buy green candles without a plan, you will already be ahead of most new traders.
In crypto and forex, success is not about being fast. It is about being disciplined.
And discipline starts with resisting FOMO.
If you learned something from this, follow me, I share beginner friendly trading lessons daily.