[Coinfest Asia] How to Avoid Getting Rekt in Crypto, According to Exchange CEOs

Surviving a crypto bull market is surprisingly difficult for retail investors.

Even when asset prices surge across the board, up to 93% of retail traders end up losing money. They routinely buy at the peak of hype, hold collapsing tokens in hopes of a rebound, and serve as exit liquidity for early insiders.

To avoid getting wiped out, traders must understand how market structure works and adopt basic risk controls. During a panel at Coinfest Asia in Bali, regional exchange CEOs from the Philippines, India, and Indonesia broke down the operational mistakes retail buyers keep making, as well as how to fix them.

This is an interview conducted during Coinfest Asia 2026. Check out more Coinfest coverage here. For more interviews, click here.

Stop Hunting for the “Next Bitcoin”

Retail investors frequently destroy their capital by chasing high-risk altcoins or meme tokens in hopes of catching a 100x return.

For Gabriel Rey, founder of Indonesian exchange TRIV, retail traders repeat this mistake every cycle, previously with tokens like IOTA, and more recently with speculative tokens like Hyperliquid.

“There will be no next Bitcoin. Bitcoin is always Bitcoin,” Rey said.

“The money flow into Bitcoin right now is more on the institutional side, and the gap between Bitcoin and everything else is already very far away.”

Gabriel Rey (TRIV Group, Indonesia)

Nichel Gaba, CEO of Philippine exchange PDAX, observed that while retail traders have matured since previous market cycles, hype still clouds judgment.

“In the last bear market, there were a lot of questions about, ‘Hey, is crypto even legit?’ because the narrative then was that crypto is magic internet money,” Gaba said.

“Now, the understanding of Bitcoin is much more nuanced, even among retail investors. Observing trading behavior, we now notice more people doing dollar-cost averaging rather than panicking during sell-offs or buying endlessly during a pump.”

Nichel Gaba, CEO, PDAX

Master Target Prices and Stop-Loss Rules

Failing to establish clear exit parameters before entering a trade is a primary cause of wiped-out portfolios.

• Ashish Singhal, CEO of Indian exchange CoinSwitch, revealed that on their platform, 93% of retail traders lose money while only 7% remain profitable. The difference lies almost entirely in disciplined execution.

“One of the biggest mistakes retail investors make today is not using target or stop loss correctly,” Singhal explained. “A lot of investors may invest in a token which is down 40%, but in the hope that it’ll come back again, they’ll keep on holding that rather than cutting their losses.”

Singhal added that retail traders suffer equally from failing to lock in profits during rallies, recommending that investors take at least 50% of their capital off the table once a target price is met.

• Gaba noted that traders often fall into the trap of assuming market cycles no longer apply to them.

“The one thing that retail investors still get wrong is thinking that the cyclicality of the crypto markets somehow would end,” Gaba said.

“Whether people think it’s going to be a forever winter or a super cycle bull market, the data shows we don’t see enough buying when markets are down, and we don’t see enough risk management whenever markets are going up. Ultimately, the crypto markets will always be cyclical, and certainly for the foreseeable future, it will be volatile.”

Nichel Gaba, CEO, PDAX

Assess Liquidity Before Entering a Trade

When asked whether exchanges should actively intervene to stop retail users from buying into risky assets, Gaba argued for exchange neutrality rather than excessive gatekeeping.

“In running a marketplace, your job is not to express a view. Your job is to make sure that people can buy when they want to buy, and people can sell when they want to sell. The moment that an exchange takes it upon itself to influence whether traders are buying more or buying less, it’s entering into advisory territory.”

Nichel Gaba, CEO, PDAX

To avoid getting trapped in illiquid assets, Rey recommended that traders check order book depth before buying.

“Don’t make a position where you can enter the position, but you cannot exit,” Rey advised.

“Liquidity is one thing that you have to remember. Always see the community on the coin, because the bigger the community is, the harder it becomes for a bad actor to manipulate.”

Gabriel Rey (TRIV Group, Indonesia)

Take Accountability for Trading Decisions

When retail portfolios suffer severe losses, blame is often assigned to influencers, token issuers, or trading platforms. Singhal highlighted that influencers bear a major portion of the blame for promoting low-liquidity tokens without disclosing risks.

“Exchanges play two critical roles: curation during listing and active monitoring,” Singhal said.

“At CoinSwitch, if irregular activity happens on a coin, within five minutes we put out a message to showcase that we are experiencing irregular activities so users can stay away.”

Ashish Singhal (CoinSwitch, India)

However, both Gaba and Rey maintained that final accountability rests entirely with the individual trader.

“I bought shoes last week that I ultimately did not like. It was my fault, buyer’s remorse, it’s my fault,” Gaba noted.

“If there is some loss in your investment, don’t put the blame on others. Put the blame on yourself, because the decision is in your hand,” Rey added.

Closing the discussion, Gaba urged market participants to focus on sustainable value creation rather than pure speculation.

“All of this excitement around crypto is because of the underlying technology that can make life better for so many people. In all of this hype around crypto, or even AI, it’s important to not lose sight of the use cases that each of us can still build in order to create value for everyone, not just out of a trade.”

Nichel Gaba, CEO, PDAX

This article is published on BitPinas: How to Avoid Getting Rekt in Crypto, According to Exchange CEOs

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