The Breakout Trading Strategy I Use to Catch Big Moves
I’ve longed resistance and shorted support for 9 years… This is the exact opposite of what every trader tries to do. In this article, I will share my entire strategy so you can skip years of testing and losses. This is something you will want to bookmark, take notes on, and set time aside to think about. Lesson 1: The Only 2 Trading Strategies Before you can identify good momentum setups, you need to understand what momentum trading actually is. Momentum and mean reversion are opposite strategies based on opposite assumptions. The Two Trading Styles Momentum (where you take a trade betting on a continuation of the current trend)Mean Reversion (where you take a trade betting on a reversal of the current trend) One assumes strength continues; the other assumes strength exhausts. Let’s consider this through a visual example. Suppose price is approaching a resistance level (in other words, a level where there was previously selling pressure, preventing the price from moving higher). Momentum assumes the level will break. You’re betting on continuation.Price approaches resistance, you buy, expecting it to push through and keep running.The level becomes support once broken. Mean reversion assumes the level will hold. You’re betting on rejection.Price approaches resistance, you short, expecting it to bounce back down.The level acts as a ceiling. Same chart. Same resistance level. Opposite strategies. There is no right or wrong. The key is to understand when you are in a momentum trade environment, such that momentum strategies are highly aligned. The next section shows you exactly how to identify when the environment favours momentum (my best strategy). Lesson 1 Summary There are 2 trading styles: momentum and mean reversionMean reversion bets levels will hold; momentum bets levels will breakOne is not better than the other; it depends entirely on the trade environment Lesson 2: Optimal Trade Environment Just opening a long every time price hits resistance won't make us any money. Without the right conditions, momentum dies immediately after the breakout. You enter. It reverses. You're stopped out. That's not bad luck, that's a bad trading environment. The Rowing Analogy Imagine you’re rowing a boat. You either row against or with the current. One makes it easier to row while the other takes a lot more effort. Your boat, or rowing technique, didn’t change… Only your environment did. Trading is the same. Your strategy is your boat. Your optimal trade environment is the current. Now use this 3-filter checklist to ensure you only take trades where a breakout is likely (with the current). Filter 1: How Did Price Approach the Level? What you WANT: A slow, grinding staircase pattern approaching resistance.Each candle makes incremental progress.Higher lows are stacking up.Controlled, deliberate movement. What you DON’T want: A fast vertical spike into resistance.Price shoots up in one or two large candles.After a spike, buyers' strength is depleted and price typically consolidates or reverses.This is exhaustion, not momentum. The staircase pattern shows sustained buying pressure building gradually. When this breaks through resistance, buyers are still engaged and ready to push further. Common mistake: Traders see a strong candle break resistance and assume momentum is strong. But these fast moves often reverse quickly. → Do this instead: Take momentum trades when price approaches resistance in a slow, grinding staircase over multiple candles. Real Trade Example: Slow clear grind into resistance showing an optimal ‘price approach to level’ for momentum. Filter 1: slow grindy staircase ✅ Filter 2: What Did Volume Look Like? Volume confirms whether the price movement has conviction behind it. What you WANT: Gradual increase in volume as price approaches resistanceThis pattern shows controlled, sustainable momentum. What you DON’T want: Flat volume (no conviction) or sudden volume spikes (exhaustion).Flat volume means the move lacks participation.Volume spikes often mark climax points where momentum exhausts.Decreasing volume (why would price break out of resistance now, if volume was lower than before?) Volume should mirror the price pattern, steady and building, not erratic. This strategy works because momentum continuation is most likely when participation is sustained, supply is absorbed gradually, and structure remains intact. Real Trade Example: Around the time the grindy staircase begins to emerge, we see a slow, consistent increase in volume. Filter 1: slow grindy staircase ✅Filter 2: clearly increasing volume ✅ Lastly, Filter 3: Moving Average Crossovers This filter distinguishes trending markets (good for momentum) from choppy, indecisive markets (bad for momentum). What you WANT to see: Moving averages with minimal crossovers. This indicates a directional trend. What you DON’T want to see: Frequent crossovers. This signals chop and indecision. Fewer crossovers = cleaner trend or range = better momentum continuation. Use the 30SMMA (Smoothed Moving Average). ✍️Quick Actionable Step: To add the 30SMMA on your charts: Search for the Smoothed Moving Average Indicator in TradingViewAdd it to your chartGo into settings and change the "Length" to "30" Real Trade Example: Filter 1 (Price Action): slow grindy staircase ✅ Filter 2 (Volume): clearly increasing volume ✅ Filter 3 (Crossovers): minimal MA crossovers ✅ 🎓Lesson 2 Summary Slow grinding staircase approaches have better follow-through than fast spikesVolume should be gradual (increasing or decreasing), not flat or spikingFewer MA crossovers indicate cleaner directional conditions for momentum Lesson 3: Identifying Setups Now you know what momentum is. You also know the optimal conditions for it. Next, you need to know where to execute these trades. Step 1: Draw Support and Resistance Levels Momentum trades happen at these key levels. You need to identify them consistently. I've already written an in-depth masterclass on how to set these levels. I'll link it at the end of this article. Common mistake: Traders draw levels randomly or inconsistently, leading to missed setups or false signals. Do this instead: Use my step-by-step approach at the end of this article. Step 2: Await Your Entry Trigger on the 1-Minute Chart Once you’ve identified a resistance level on your primary timeframe, switch to the 1-minute chart for precise entry timing. Why 1-minute chart? You learn faster. More trades, more chart exposure and more oppurtunities to practice psychology. I’ve added a bonus guide on why you should be trading the 1-minute chart at the end of this article. Real Trade Example: Step 3: Three Filters Before entering, check the three filters from Section 2: Is price approaching resistance in a slow staircase pattern?Is volume gradually increasing or decreasing (not flat or spiking)?Are there minimal MA crossovers (not choppy)? If any filter fails, reduce your risk on the trade. Only take full risk on A-grade setups, not forcing trades in poor conditions. 🎓Lesson 3 Summary Draw levels using the ZCT masterclass approach at the end of this articleUse your entry trigger on the 1-minute timeframe: 2 candle closes above for confirmationCheck all three filters before entering, allocate risk and size accordingly Lesson 4: Strategy Logic: Stop Loss, and Take Profit You've drawn your levels. You've confirmed the setup aligns with optimal momentum conditions. Now you need precise execution. Entry timing, stop placement, and profit targets determine whether you capture the momentum move or get stopped out on a good setup. This is where most traders lose, not in analysis, but in execution. Step 4: Entry Trigger We have established to wait for two consecutive 1-minute candles to close fully above the resistance level. This confirms the level broke and momentum is continuing. Critical execution detail: After the second candle closes above resistance, place a limit order AT the resistance level (now acting as support), not above it. Price often pulls back slightly after breaking out. Your limit order gets filled on the pullback without chasing. Common mistake: Traders wait for confirmation, then market-buy above resistance as price runs away. They enter late with a wider stop and worse risk/reward. → Do this instead: Preset your limit order AT resistance after the second candle closes. Let price come back to you. Real Trade Example: Step 5: Stop Loss A swing low is: the lowest wick in a pullback. Your stop loss goes at the most recent swing low before the breakout. Common mistake: Traders place stops at the nearest swing low, even if it’s only 0.3% away, leading to frequent stop-outs from normal volatility Do this instead: Always measure the distance of your stop loss using the ruler tool on TradingView. If it’s less than 1%, use the next swing low down. Step 6: Take Profit 1R (Equal Distance to Stop) Your take profit target is 1R, the same distance as your stop loss, but in the profit direction If your stop loss is 1.982% away from entry, your target is also 1.982% away, but on the upside. This gives you a 1:1 risk/reward ratio. Why 1R? It’s conservative and achievable. Momentum trades often hit 1R quickly because the breakout has follow-through. You’re not trying to catch the entire move, you’re taking a high-probability piece of it. Over time, as you get data in your journal, you can start extending your profit targets when you see how far your average winning trades go beyond 1R. This way, you’re not guessing where to take profits, but following a systematic approach. Real Trade Example: 🎓Lesson 4 summary Enter after two 1-minute candle closes above resistance, using a limit order at prior resistance (now support) to avoid chasing price.Place stop losses at the most recent valid swing low, ensuring enough distance to avoid normal volatility and minor stop hunts.Set initial profit targets at 1R to capture high-probability momentum continuation in a repeatable, systematic way. Immediate Next Steps✍️: Read the Support and Resistance Masterclass to learn how to draw levels (shared at end of article)Look at 3 charts using the 3 filter checklist to identify a momentum trade environmentUse the strategy steps to enter your tradeGather 30 trades using this method, journalled and reviewed against the criteria 🎓 Final Summary Lesson 1: Momentum vs Mean Reversion Momentum trades bet that price will continue through a level, while mean reversion trades bet that a level will hold and reject price.Both strategies are valid, but performance depends entirely on matching the strategy to the correct trade environment. Understanding this distinction prevents applying breakout logic in conditions where it has no edge. Lesson 2: Optimal Trade Environment High-quality breakouts form when price approaches resistance in a slow, grinding staircase rather than fast vertical spikes.Volume should build gradually to confirm sustained participation, not remain flat or spike from exhaustion.Minimal moving average crossovers indicate cleaner directional conditions where momentum continuation is more likely. Lesson 3: Identifying Setups Momentum trades should be executed at consistently drawn support and resistance levels.Entries are triggered on the 1-minute chart using two consecutive candle closes above resistance for confirmation.All three environment filters must align before taking full risk; weaker conditions require reduced sizing or passing the trade. Lesson 4: Stop Loss and Take Profit Enter using a limit order at prior resistance (now support) after two confirmed 1-minute candle closes to avoid chasing price.Stop losses should be placed at the most recent valid swing low with enough distance to avoid normal volatility and minor stop hunts.Initial profit targets are set at 1R to capture high-probability momentum continuation in a repeatable way. 🎓What Changes From Here The next time price approaches resistance, you won’t have to guess if it will break out. You’ll know when a breakout has real momentum, when volume confirms it, and when conditions support follow-through. You’ll also execute with defined entries, stops, and targets. #CryptoZeno #tradingStrategy
After getting rejected at the first deviation of the monthly VWAP, price is now consolidating just above the monthly VWAP itself.
Now it’s important to see where price finds acceptance. At the moment, it is still trading above, which would slightly favor another retest of the upper band.
However, if price breaks below and finds acceptance there, I would expect a pullback toward the lower band at 61.5k.
No matter how you look at the current chart or which tools you use for your analysis, it all points to the fact that we are at a crucial decision point regarding whether we revisit the highs or the lows next.
A broke 26 year old with no job traded a red paperclip for a house. He never spent a dollar.
> July 2005, Kyle MacDonald was unemployed in Montreal and tired of paying rent.
> He looked at a red paperclip on his desk and posted it on Craigslist. Asking if anyone wanted to trade something bigger.
> Two women in Vancouver offered him a pen shaped like a fish. He flew there to make the trade.
> The fish pen became a hand sculpted doorknob in Seattle.
> The doorknob became a camping stove in Massachusetts.
> The stove became a Honda generator in California.
> The generator became an instant party kit. Empty keg, beer IOU, neon Budweiser sign.
> The party kit became a Ski Doo snowmobile.
> The snowmobile became a two person trip to Yahk, British Columbia.
> The trip became a box truck. The truck became a recording contract. The contract became a year of free rent in Phoenix.
> The year of rent became an afternoon with Alice Cooper.
> The afternoon with Alice Cooper became a KISS snow globe.
> Everyone called him insane. He had just traded a music legend for a snow globe.
> The snow globe became a paid speaking role in a Corbin Bernsen movie.
> Turns out Bernsen owned 6,000 snow globes and wanted the KISS one bad enough to trade a part in his next film for it.
> The movie role became a two story house at 503 Main Street, Kipling, Saskatchewan.
> The town offered the house in exchange for the role. Citizens of Kipling auditioned for the part.
> 14 trades. 12 months and zero dollars spent.
> CBC covered it. He got flown to Japan to appear on game shows. Random House published a book in 14 languages. He ended up giving a TED Talk in Vienna.
> Kipling built the world's largest red paperclip sculpture.
> Guinness gave him the record for Most Successful Internet Trade.
He didn't keep the house. He gave it back to the town. It's a cafe now called the Paperclip Cottage. The red paperclip was never about the paperclip. #CryptoZeno #TrumpAnnouncesUS10%IntelStake
A college dropout built a $100 MILLION a year empire just by stealing tweets
In 2011 a 19 year old kid from Brooklyn named Elliot Tebele was working at his brother's wholesale electronics company and started posting photos of vintage cars on Tumblr in his spare time
He noticed that cheeky captions made his posts perform way better, so he switched to taking screenshots of Twitter jokes and reposting them on Instagram
The account was named "fuckjerry" because he was watching Seinfeld in the background when he made it
Within a few years the biggest celebrities like Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Tom Brady and Justin Bieber were all following it
By 2017 the account had 12 million followers and was charging $30,000 per post from brands like Burger King, Comedy Central and Subway
Tebele dropped out of Hunter College in his second year and built a marketing company called Jerry Media that ran 30 side accounts, including Beige Cardigan run by his wife, the famous Dude With Sign and the world record Instagram Egg
Every single one of those accounts mostly just screenshotted other people's tweets and posted them with the username cropped out
In 2016 Tebele turned the meme account into a card game called What Do You Meme and the Kickstarter raised $229,000 in the first 4 hours
By 2019 his company was charging $75,000 for a single Instagram post and $25,000 for a swipe up story
Then the company got hired to do the marketing for Fyre Festival
When the festival collapsed, Jerry Media used the footage they filmed behind the scenes to make the Netflix documentary about how it all fell apart
Two different filmmakers sued them claiming their footage was used without permission
Today his parent company is called Relatable, has 80 employees and does over $100 million a year selling card games and toys
Forbes ranked Tebele the 7th highest paid creator in the world in 2023, with $30 million in earnings that year
The guy who built one of the biggest media empires on the internet has never written a single one of the jokes that made him rich
Two MIT brothers stole $25 MILLION from Ethereum in exactly 12 seconds. The jury couldn't decide if it was even a crime.
> Anton and James Peraire-Bueno both studied computer science at MIT.
> Their father was the former head of MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
> In late 2022, they found a vulnerability inside MEV-boost, a piece of software running on 90% of all Ethereum validators.
> They spent months planning. Set up 16 fake validator nodes. Ran test transactions to study how MEV bots behaved.
> Then they baited the bots, dangling transactions the bots were designed to attack.
> The moment the bots moved in, the brothers exploited the vulnerability to see the block's contents before it was finalized
> Rerouted $25 MILLION in real crypto out of it and replaced it with worthless illiquid tokens.
> The bots were left holding coins that were effectively worth zero.
> Total execution time: 12 seconds. The length of one Ethereum block.
> Victims reached out asking for the money back. The brothers never responded.
> After the exploit, Anton searched online for "top crypto lawyers," "wire fraud statute of limitations," and "money laundering statute of limitations."
> He misspelled statute as "statue" both times.
> James walked into a bank and asked for a safe deposit box big enough to fit a laptop.
> The DOJ arrested them in May 2024 and called it the first crime of its kind ever charged.
> Each brother faced up to 20 years in prison on three counts of wire fraud and money laundering.
> Their defense: what they did fell within the accepted rules of Ethereum.
> Validators are expected to maximize profits. They just did it better than anyone else.
> The trial lasted four weeks. The jury deliberated until some jurors were reportedly in tears.
> They couldn't agree. The judge declared a mistrial.
> Two MIT graduates exploited Ethereum for $25 MILLION in 12 seconds and a jury still couldn't decide if it was a crime.
That's either the best defense in legal history or the most honest thing anyone has ever said about crypto.
A 17 year old built crypto’s first margin exchange in 4 days, lost $11 BILLION worth of Bitcoin and
His name was Zhou Tong In 2010 he was a 16 year old Chinese teenager in Singapore who bought his first Bitcoin for $10 By 2011 he had taught himself to code and decided every existing exchange sucked So he built his own in FOUR DAYS He called it Bitcoinica. It wasn’t just another exchange at the time… It was the first crypto margin trading platform in history Users could bet up to 50 BTC instantly on the price of Bitcoin going up or down Back then long, short or leverage never existed in crypto until this kid built it The platform exploded and within months Bitcoinica was doing $40 MILLION per month in volume, second only to Mt. Gox Zhou personally cleared 2,000 BTC in his first two weeks. Worth $215 MILLION today Then he had to take school exams Running the second largest crypto exchange in the world didn’t fit with finals. So he sold the platform to a company called Wendon Group in late 2011 Wendon went all in. They brought in legendary developer Amir Taaki for security. They spent $1 MILLION buying the domain Bitcoin com to give it credibility They got hacked 4 months later In March 2012 the hot wallet was drained of 43,554 BTC. The hackers reset passwords on the exchange’s hosting provider Linode and walked in No multisig existed yet. If you had the password, you had the keys Two months later they got hit again for 18,000 BTC In July they got hit a THIRD time for another 40,000 BTC plus $40,000 in cash Total: 101,554 BTC gone. Over $11 BILLION at today’s prices evaporated from the second largest crypto exchange in the world in a single year Roger Ver alone lost 24,000 BTC Then it got weirder On chain investigators tracked the stolen funds moving through Mt. Gox accounts They observed coordination between Bitcoinica wallets and Mt. Gox mixing the trail 80 BTC was sent to a wallet belonging to Theymos Michael Marquardt, moderator of Bitcointalk the most influential forum in crypto The “recovery effort” funds were moving through the same hands that controlled crypto’s main information venues Theymos was later subpoenaed during the Silk Road and Mt. Gox investigations. The full picture was never resolved Zhou Tong’s last public move was buying ONE Casascius coin Casascius coins were physical gold coins minted in 2011, each containing a real Bitcoin private key embedded under a tamper proof hologram Zhou bought one of THREE remaining 1,000 BTC ultra rare versions for 1,000 BTC That single coin is worth over $100 MILLION today Then he disappeared For years the community speculated whether he was complicit, whether his partners stole the funds, whether he knew the whole time He hinted at “dishonest partners and employees” in his final Bitcointalk post and never elaborated All from a kid who couldn’t keep running it because he had finals “Zhao Tonged” became slang in crypto for getting wiped out by an exchange you trusted A teenager in Singapore built the future of crypto trading in 4 days, lost the equivalent of a small country’s GDP, walked away with the rarest single item in Bitcoin history, and was never heard from again The first margin exchange. The first mega hack. The first OG to vanish without a trace All from a kid who couldn’t keep running it because he had finals #CryptoZeno #YenSlidesToFourDecadeLow
The First Technology That Rewards People For Asking Better Questions
Something unusual happens after spending enough time with AI. People stop searching and start interviewing. The habit of typing keywords slowly disappears, replaced by full thoughts, half-formed ideas, strange hypotheticals, and questions that would never work inside a traditional search engine.
That shift is why @OpenGradient keeps drawing my attention. OpenGradient Chat is not simply another destination for generating answers. It exists inside a larger transition where language itself is becoming an interface. Instead of learning commands, menus, or complicated workflows, users interact through natural thought. The quality of the outcome becomes tied to the quality of the question rather than technical expertise. That is a very different relationship between humans and software than the one that dominated previous generations of technology.
The reason I continue watching $OPG is that this transformation still feels underestimated. For decades, people adapted themselves to machines. Now machines are adapting themselves to human expression. The implications reach far beyond AI chat. Every improvement pushes technology closer to understanding intention rather than instructions. #OPG sits directly inside that evolution, and Open Gradient is building around one of the most interesting behavioral shifts happening in technology today.
summer plan + my altcoin watchlist (charts in comments) thoughts: - we've seen strength in certain altcoin sectors - bitcoin still looks weak and hasn't given a trigger yet - many of the stronger altcoins broke their uptrend structure or key levels after the rally = corrections likely? plan: Bitcoin - still don't think Bitcoin is worth it until it gives a trigger, - still think it needs more time and potentially more downside before mini down cycle resolves - still very bullish on previous cycle continuation while mini cycle correction forms in line with 4 year cycle Altcoins - still think it's worth noting down the strongest altcoins from the past few months - we've seen altcoin strength while bitcoin was weak - note down ideal buy zones and triggers in case of a bigger correction - maybe they show early outperformance again once Bitcoin bottoms, shows strength, or stops nuking everything = ensure having a clear setup with trigger and invalidation Overall, take it slow, enjoy (euro)summer, and play the stronger altcoins. Don't turn into a macro pessimist because you'll miss the reversal. Watchlist AI - VVV - NEAR - WLD Pokemon - CARDS Privacy - ZEC (idk about the situation but watching) Hyperliquid - HYPE Darkhorses - BNB - MEGA - NL (as worldcup winner) (altcoin charts in comments)
An Entire Generation Learned To Type Prompts Before They Learned Photoshop
A quiet shift has happened over the last two years. Millions of people who never touched design software suddenly started creating posters, illustrations, product concepts, avatars, and marketing visuals simply by describing what they imagined. The keyboard became the canvas. Technical skill stopped being the entry ticket.
That is why the image creation layer inside @OpenGradient caught my eye. OpenGradient Chat is no longer limited to text. Users can move from an idea to a visual output using image models from different providers within the same environment. The fascinating part is not the image itself. It is the speed at which imagination becomes something visible. A thought that exists for five seconds can suddenly exist as a picture.
The creative process used to begin with tools. Now it begins with language. That transition feels bigger than many people realize. Every improvement in image generation lowers the distance between imagination and execution. Watching $OPG expand around that concept has been surprisingly compelling. While many discussions focus on model rankings, #OPG is helping explore a different question: what happens when creating becomes as natural as describing? OpenGradient is building directly inside that transformation.
$BTC Pro tip: In uptrends, buy the first clear demand response (green bands) on dips. You can notice how negative OB imbalance becomes green too.
And when price bounces back into negative imbalance, you can notice that at the highs longs are aping in but fail to push higher, that’s your signal to de-risk: either close the long or flip short.
The Strange Reality Of Opening Five AI Tabs Just To Finish One Simple Task
A habit has quietly appeared among heavy AI users. One tab for writing, another for research, a third for brainstorming, a fourth for image generation, and sometimes a fifth because a different model handles a specific task better. The result is an experience that feels less like using artificial intelligence and more like managing a collection of disconnected tools
That fragmentation is exactly what caught my attention about @OpenGradient - Chat approaches the problem from a different angle by bringing multiple leading AI models into a single environment rather than forcing users to jump endlessly between platforms. Instead of adapting your workflow to fit individual models, the models become part of the same workspace
The interesting part isn't simply convenience. Creative work tends to improve when ideas can move freely between different systems without constant interruptions. A rough concept can become research, research can become writing, and writing can become images without breaking momentum. That shift increasingly relevant as AI becomes integrated into everyday workflows. Watching how OpenGradient expands this experience is one reason I continue following $OPG and the broader vision behind #OPG
Crypto spends enormous energy building tools. New protocols appear every week. New mechanisms appear every month. Yet a surprising number of them struggle with the same problem: they assume better technology automatically creates a better experience. Reality is rarely that simple.
What caught my attention about #Bedrock is that the discussion increasingly revolves around structure rather than isolated features. uniBTC is not being presented as a standalone destination. It is becoming part of a broader framework designed to connect multiple opportunities, strategies, and services under a more coherent model. That makes the role of $BR feel less like an attachment and more like a component within a larger system.
Many projects focus on adding new pieces to the puzzle. @Bedrock appears focused on making the puzzle itself easier to navigate. That difference may sound subtle, yet it often determines whether a platform remains fragmented or becomes something users can genuinely build around over time.