From Balance to Leverage: Understanding the Risks and Opportunities of Buying Power in the Crypto Market

Purchasing power is closely related to trading results.

If both people are bullish on a certain coin:

One operates only with the balance, while the other uses leverage to amplify purchasing power. When the price rises, the latter will yield higher returns, but when it falls, the latter will also suffer more. This indicates that purchasing power itself does not have “advantages or disadvantages”; the key lies in the ability to bear risk.

The “faster money-making” brought by purchasing power is just a facade.

When you see high purchasing power, there is an illusion: “As long as it rises a little, I can make a lot of money.”

But the prices in the crypto market do not move in the direction you expect. Once the market turns against you, your losses will also be amplified accordingly. This is the root cause of most beginners losing money.

Market fluctuations cause purchasing power to change at any time.

Unrealized profits from positions will enhance your purchasing power, making you feel like “you can continue to increase your position.” However, if the market suddenly turns, these unrealized gains can quickly vanish and even turn into losses, causing you to be unable to meet margin requirements and leading to forced liquidation by the system.

Therefore, do not rely on floating profits to increase purchasing power to continue adding positions.

Three Disciplines That Beginners Must Adhere To

1. Clearly define the maximum loss limit for each trade: do not go all in just because it “looks stable.”

2. Build positions in batches instead of all at once: this can avoid the situation of “just bought and then immediately eaten by the opposite side.”

3. Do not engage in operations beyond your understanding: Avoid using tools such as leverage and perpetual contracts if you do not understand the principles.

How to steadily increase purchasing power?

The truly safe way is not to rely on leverage, but to:

• Increase learning and improve judgment.
• Increase principal scale
• Reduce trading frequency to avoid emotional trading.

This is more reliable than blindly enlarging purchasing power.

Summary

Purchasing power is both an opportunity and a risk. The crypto market is highly volatile; to survive in the long term, the key is not to “make quick money,” but to first protect the principal. When you can manage purchasing power instead of being tempted by it, you can truly become a mature trader.