Bitcoin nearly touched $85,000 last week. Days later, it was struggling to hold $80,000. Traders who bet on the recovery suddenly found themselves facing another selloff.

The reversal came as leveraged bets remained elevated, even while buyers pulled back. According to Glassnode’s latest market report, Bitcoin’s futures market remains heavily exposed to further price swings.

For Bastian Keller, the trader better known as Bitbull, this is where many investors make their most expensive mistakes. Speaking to BeInCrypto at TOKEN2049 Singapore earlier this month, he explained why trading psychology can matter more than predicting the next price move.

Keller founded Bitbull Trading and TradeMania, a trading community and software platform. TradeMania has a commercial partnership with Bitunix, which Keller described as its main exchange partner.

Paper Trading Can Mislead Beginners

One of Keller’s most controversial views challenges a common piece of advice given to aspiring traders: practise with fake money before risking your own.

He believes paper trading creates unrealistic confidence because traders know they have nothing to lose.

“When it’s come then to real money, yeah, it’s completely different,” Keller said. “Emotions coming in, FOMO coming in, and then end of the day your your brain decide what you’re doing.”

His argument is straightforward. Someone might calmly hold a losing position in a simulated account. Put their savings on the line, and fear can take over.

Keller recommends starting with very small amounts of real money to understand that pressure.

“You can trade with $10. You can trade with $50,” he said.

Paper trading remains useful for learning platforms and testing strategies without financial risk. Keller’s criticism concerns whether those lessons prepare traders for the emotional pressure of real losses.

The ‘Circle of Death’ That Destroys Trading Accounts

Keller learned this lesson through his own losses.

Before entering cryptocurrency in 2018, he traded Forex. He told BeInCrypto that he was scammed and struggled with the experience.

That history shaped what he calls the trading “circle of death.”

A trader loses money. Instead of accepting the loss, they immediately enter another position to recover it. When that fails, they take an even bigger risk.

**“Then you’re going to your revenge trading, you lose more, you lose more, you lose more, and then everything is gone,” Keller explained.

Revenge trading becomes particularly dangerous when leverage allows traders to control positions much larger than their deposits. Even a relatively small market move can wipe out their capital.

Why Bitcoin’s Current Market Makes This More Dangerous

Bitcoin’s latest reversal shows how quickly confidence can disappear.

Glassnode reported that Bitcoin futures open interest climbed from $36.5 billion to $37.5 billion over the past week. Traders holding bullish positions continued paying elevated funding rates even as prices fell.

Meanwhile, spot buying weakened, and investors increasingly sought protection through options.

The market also faces two major events: the Federal Reserve’s October 28 interest-rate decision and the November 3 US midterm elections. Analysts expect volatility to rise.

For traders, this creates a difficult environment. A sudden rally can encourage aggressive buying, while the next reversal can trigger forced liquidations.

Keller believes beginners often make things harder by constantly chasing short-term movements.

“You don’t have to do scalping,” he said, encouraging traders to consider slower strategies that do not require watching charts every few minutes.

Can AI Stop Traders From Repeating Their Mistakes?

Keller is now trying to address some of these problems through TradeMania.

He said the platform is developing tools that analyze trading history and provide AI-generated feedback on trading behavior.

“You can track your trades and you can communicate with an AI agent as well,” he explained.

The idea is to help traders identify recurring mistakes before they become costly habits. However, there is no independently verified evidence from the interview that the AI system improves trading returns.

For now, Keller’s most practical advice remains surprisingly simple.

“First of all, don’t trust everyone.”

That warning extends to trading influencers, automated signals, and market predictions. With Bitcoin entering another uncertain period, managing risk may prove more important than getting the next price call right.