ARTICLE | Why I Stopped Trading XAU and Crypto

I started trading out of nothing more than curiosity. XAU (gold) and crypto looked exciting — volatile, unpredictable, and full of potential. The first few days… even weeks… were fun. I was earning a little money here and there. It felt like I was learning something new, even useful. But when I step back and look at what I was actually doing, it wasn’t about strategy or smart investing. It was about watching charts. Watching candles. Watching them go up… and more painfully, watching them go down. And that took over my life.

The Downside of Constant Monitoring

Crypto markets don’t sleep. They run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year — unlike traditional markets that close every day for part of the day. That never-ending “always-on” nature makes it easy to fall into compulsive behavior: refreshing charts, checking prices at night, waking up to see what happened while you slept. This kind of constant monitoring has actually been linked to sleep disruption, anxiety, and compulsive trading habits in scientific reviews. (Forbes). For me, trading stopped being a hobby and started being a chore. It consumed my thoughts, my energy, my conversations, my attention. I couldn’t live a normal life. I was watching the graphs like a second job, and life outside the markets started to feel smaller and smaller.

When Losses Become Personal

And then… last night happened. I burned more than I had earned all week. More than all the profits from the first few weeks combined. My account went negative, and just like that… I hit ground zero. Or actually, past ground zero. And yet… I don’t feel devastated. I feel relief. That surprised even me. But it turns out it’s not unusual.

The Psychology Behind Why Traders Quit

Research suggests that the emotional stress of trading isn’t just about money — it’s about how humans react to risk, uncertainty, and volatility. In behavioral finance, people consistently feel the pain of loss much more intensely than the pleasure of equivalent gains — a phenomenon called loss aversion. This can make losses hit far harder than profits feel good. (Ecoinimist). Some studies even show that crypto traders exhibit addiction-like behaviors — the “dopamine hit” of a winning trade can be uplifting, but the fear and stress of losses can be even more intense, pulling people into repeated cycles of watching, trading, and reacting. (Forbes)

Most Traders Don’t Win — Especially Not Over the Long Term

More sobering still: multiple analyses of retail traders suggest the vast majority lose money over time. Some sources put the figure as high as 80–95% of active crypto traders losing money over extended periods. (Medium). This isn’t to be dramatic — but it is to be factual: trading is not a guaranteed path to income. It’s a risky endeavor that rewards discipline, emotional control, and a structured strategy — things I just didn’t have.

So Why Do I Feel Relief?

Experts explain this kind of relief in a few ways:

• Removal of chronic stress: Constantly watching volatile prices increases anxiety and mental fatigue. Stepping away reduces that mental load. (Forbes)

• Escaping compulsive behavior: When something stops being productive and starts being compulsive, stopping it can feel like a weight off your shoulders — not a failure.

• Better self-alignment: When our actions align with our real goals (health, relationships, passions), our brain rewards that alignment with calm instead of chaos.

In short, my sense of relief doesn’t mean I was weak. It means I prioritized myself — my time, my mental health, and my life beyond charts.

Here’s What I Learned

If you’re thinking about trading — whether gold, crypto, stocks, or forex — here are a few lessons from my experience and these studies:

1. Trading is as much psychology as it is finance. Emotional reactions, fear, greed, and stress influence decisions more than technical analysis does. (WhiteBIT Blog)
2. Markets can be addictive, not just risky. Constant volatility triggers reward systems in the brain in ways similar to gambling. (PubMed)
3. Losing money rarely feels like losing “just money.” It feels like losing control, stability, and peace — and that’s where the real cost lies.

So yeah — I quit. Not because trading was bad — but because it wasn’t good for me. And if stepping back gives you peace instead of pressure, that’s not failure — that’s growth.