The real sell-off happens before the sell-off.
$MERL faces 70 million unlocked in December, but the market's collapse began the moment the 'expectation' was formed. This is a classic prisoner's dilemma: everyone knows that a massive amount of chips will be released in mid-month, so there is only one optimal solution—to act before others.
So you see: buy orders as thin as a cicada's wings, no one dares to take them; sell orders piling up, panic spreading. This is not a sudden deterioration of the fundamentals, but an inevitable result of human nature's game. Early holders see any rebound as an opportunity to offload, and potential selling pressure turns into real selling under the catalyst of emotion.
Prices self-fulfill in a spiral of 'anticipated sell-off - price drop - verification of panic - further selling.' What we witness is not a simple decline, but a race about liquidity and confidence. When the theater alarm goes off, no one will wait for sparks to land on them.
In this game, leaving early may be the only rational choice. $MERL's winter arrived the moment everyone foresaw winter.
