CZ Reveals: Smart Bitcoin Investors Buy During FUD, Not Market Highs

Forget chasing peaks—the real money buys the fear.

### The Contrarian Playbook

While the herd piles in at all-time highs, seasoned crypto players are quietly building positions when headlines scream doom. It's a strategy that flips traditional finance logic on its head—and, according to industry insiders, it's where the real alpha is generated. The psychology is simple: maximum opportunity arrives wrapped in panic.

### Timing the Trough, Not the Top

This approach requires a stomach of steel and a timeline measured in years, not days. It means going against every instinct when regulators rumble, exchanges wobble, and your portfolio bleeds red. The goal isn't to catch the exact bottom—a fool's errand—but to accumulate when the long-term thesis remains intact and the short-term sentiment is shattered.

### The Institutional Nod

This isn't just retail folklore. The same principle is now baked into sophisticated trading desks and fund mandates. They deploy capital systematically when volatility spikes and liquidity dries up—precisely when the amateurs are hitting the sell button. It’s a brutal efficiency that makes traditional dollar-cost averaging look like a quaint hobby.

So next time the market tanks and the fear is palpable, remember: the smart money isn't selling. It's shopping. After all, on Wall Street they teach you to buy when there's blood in the streets—they just forget to mention it's usually their own.

The crypto community supported Zhao’s argument

Several crypto community members appear to agree with CZ’s view, with one even suggesting that the same will be said about AI tokens. X user Lawrence Lanzilli also encouraged traders to buy BTC during this holiday period, stating that crypto institutions are preparing quietly for a 2026 bullish rally. He also reiterated CZ’s words, saying that “real Stacks built in doubt, not euphoria.”

Another X user also asserted that people are always looking for opportunities to generate revenue, adding that few are willing to deal with the nausea that comes with seizing the opportunity. He further commented, The price of being early isn’t just capital, it’s the stomach to click buy when the timeline is burning.”

RWAlytics, a tokenisation insights provider based in Australia, also pointed out that most traders prefer the early, lower prices—not the fear that comes with them. Speaking in a similar vein to CZ, he stressed that conviction is born under FUD, not at record highs. In addition, another argued that the holiday lull at present will stack against 2018’s winter downturn, a quiet bear stage, which later laid the groundwork for the next big cycle.

As of December 24, the cryptocurrency market remained under pressure, with a 1.1% decline in total capitalization to $3.02 trillion, despite a 24-hour trading volume of $98.49 billion. However, although cryptocurrency had seen mass losses throughout the marketplace, Bitcoin’s market cap was nearly $1.73 trillion, maintaining its dominance.

Zhao had advocated for BTC traders to sell at greed and buy at maximum fear

At November’s end, Zhao had sparked another debate after he shared what he thought was the key to profiting from Bitcoin’s volatile cycles. He had claimed traders should sell when Optimism and greed are at their highest, and buy when fear is most intense.

At the time, Bitcoin’s sentiment indicators were still fluctuating erratically between extremes. Then again, many other people supported the Binance founder’s opinion, advising investors to observe market conditions carefully rather than react emotionally. They also advocated that the strategy be used across all reliable cryptocurrencies to maximize returns. Normally, market optimism builds during upswings, whereas fear intensifies when prices fall.  However, some criticised the Bitcoin enthusiast for his remarks, especially since BTC was experiencing turbulence at the time.

Around the same time, Binance CEO Richard Teng had also sought to reassure BTC investors, noting that all asset classes experience cycles and volatility. He added that some risk-off behavior and deleveraging were affecting the cryptocurrency market at the time.

In another X post in September, CZ had warned that most investors panic-sell BTC because they don’t fully grasp technology, finance, or global trends.  He cautioned that relying on recommendations to buy Bitcoin won’t give investors the confidence to hold Bitcoin during turbulent periods. Thus, he urged traders to educate themselves more on technology, finance, and market trends, to gain enough confidence to resist selling during a downturn and hold onto Bitcoin for its long-term prospects.

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