Bitget Trader Steve: From US Stocks to On-Chain, Moving Towards 'Unity of Knowledge and Action' in a 24/7 Market

As trading extends from traditional finance to on-chain markets, traders' choices are also changing. For Steve, the transition from A-shares and US stocks to on-chain assets is not just a change in trading targets, but also a process of re-exploring market opportunities.

Today, we invite Bitget VIP trader Steve. He primarily engages in news-driven short-term trading; after a significant loss, he began to contemplate another question in trading: what exactly separates knowledge from action.

01 From US Stocks to On-Chain, He Begins to Seek New Trading Opportunities

Steve's trading experience has undergone several shifts.

Initially, he traded A-shares. Around 2020, he started to engage with US stocks, primarily trading through IBKR.

By June of this year, as the environment for mainland users participating in traditional markets like Hong Kong stocks changed, he began to rethink how to participate in the market in a more direct way. Meanwhile, on-chain markets came into his view.

For Steve, one obvious change brought by on-chain trading is that stock trading opportunities are no longer limited by fixed market hours. The on-chain market operates 24/7, and when an event occurs outside traditional market hours, the market does not wait until the next day to react. For Steve, who is accustomed to finding direction from information and events, this means he can directly observe market reactions after information appears and judge whether to participate accordingly.

Now, trading has become his main job. He spends about ten hours a day monitoring the market and has gradually established his own fixed sources of information, including overseas information channels and small groups of friends.

"I mainly engage in news-driven short-term trading," Steve summarized when discussing his trading style.

02 A Storage Market Event That Showed Him the Value of Direction Judgement

For Steve, not every piece of information is worth trading.

After information appears, the first thing he needs to judge is whether this matter will affect the market and whether this impact can form a relatively clear direction. Only when the information itself has sufficient trading value and the market begins to show a reaction consistent with expectations will he truly enter a trade.

The storage market event in June this year was a relatively typical opportunity.

Storage is also one of the directions he has been paying attention to this year. After relevant information and market changes appeared, he began to track this direction and judge whether the market was developing according to his expectations based on market reactions. After confirming the direction, he chose to participate in trading through contracts, usually controlling leverage around 3 to 5 times.

This is what Steve refers to as "news-driven," but the news itself is not the answer to trading; the real decision point lies in the "direction" brought by the news.

Reflecting on his trading performance, he summarized his profit sources with a very direct statement:

"Most of the time, it’s still about combining news-driven insights to judge market direction."

03 "I Know the Right Answer, But It's Not Easy to Execute"

If the storage market event allowed Steve to see his ability to judge direction, then a significant loss in July this year made him re-evaluate himself.

That trade occurred on another exchange. After his position incurred losses, he did not exit in time but held on until he could no longer bear it and had to choose to cut losses.

Looking back, he clearly knows what he should have done at that time: the trend no longer aligned with expectations, so he should have exited. But when faced with the losses that had already occurred, there was a psychological distance that was hard to cross between knowing the rules and executing them. This is actually a common phenomenon in trading known as "loss aversion," where people often find it harder to accept losses that have already occurred.

Steve has a very direct summary of this contradiction:

"The most common mistake is holding on when the trend no longer aligns with expectations. The simplest principle is not to hold positions, but it's psychologically very difficult to truly achieve."

After this experience, Steve began to re-examine his profits and losses.

He found that most of his profits came from direction judgement, while losses often stemmed from his own irrationality, especially holding onto positions. In other words, what truly affects trading results is not just whether one can accurately predict, but also whether one can accept the outcome when the market proves them wrong and act according to the rules they already know.

"I know the right answer, but it's not easy to execute."

This perhaps comes closer to his current understanding of trading than any set of trading skills.

04 As Trading Becomes Routine, He Begins to Care About Those "Small Details"

As trading becomes routine, Steve's requirements for the platform have become increasingly specific.

Steve prefers contract trading, and one important influencing factor is liquidity. After information appears, he needs to quickly complete his judgement; once the judgement is established, he needs to turn it into a real trade. In practical use, he believes that Bitget performs well in terms of liquidity, which allows him to complete trades more smoothly.

For short-term traders like Steve, information itself is also part of trading. The industry updates, market information, and strategy content provided weekly for VIPs can offer him additional references for judging market direction.

In addition, he pays attention to seemingly small issues that can directly affect trading experience. For example, he hopes to see OI (Open Interest) directly on the mobile terminal; he hopes the platform can update asset name changes more quickly, etc.

Steve's feedback is also very direct: he recognizes the existing trading experience but will still look for areas that can be improved based on practical use.

05 Turning "Knowing" into "Doing"

After several trading experiences, Steve's understanding of trading has begun to shift from judging the market to understanding himself.

The psychology of "loss aversion" can genuinely affect a trader's decisions. Knowing that the trend has changed, knowing that one should cut losses, but when faced with losses, one may still be led by emotions.

For Steve, the next step may not be to find a more complex trading method, but to continuously practice detaching himself from current profits and losses, viewing each judgement from a more rational perspective.

This article is based on an interview with trader Steve, and the views expressed in the text only represent the interviewee's personal opinions and do not constitute any investment advice. Contract trading is highly risky and may lead to total loss of principal; please make decisions cautiously based on your own risk tolerance.