7 Profit Paths for Professional Players in a Bear Market

2025.11.27

7 Profit Paths for Professional Players in a Bear Market

7 strategies to profit in a downtrend without needing to perfectly time the bottom.

2025.11.27 - 01:45:02

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Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights

7 strategies to profit in a downtrend without needing to perfectly time the bottom.

Author: CyrilXBT

Translation: Saoirse, Foresight News

When the market crashes, most people do only one of the following two things:

Panic sell and exit the market entirely;
All-in with leverage, trying to "win back the money."

Professionals, however, take a completely different approach. They shift from "directional speculation" to "replicable cash flow and advantage building."

Here are 7 strategies to profit during downturns—without needing to perfectly time the bottom.

Strategy One: Generate Yield from Assets You Want to Hold Anyway

If you're going to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other top-tier crypto assets long-term, let them "work for you."

Earn yield through:

Staking / liquid staking
Blue-chip DeFi lending (e.g., platforms like Aave, Compound)
CEX yield products with transparent terms

Why this works during a crash:

As long as you're willing to hold the underlying asset, volatility doesn't hurt you materially.
You earn by "waiting," not by emotionally trading every candlewick.

How to execute smartly:

Stick to "top assets + top protocols."
Avoid suspicious tokens promising double- or triple-digit APYs.
Treat yield as an "extra bonus," not the core reason for holding the asset.

The professional mindset: "I’m holding it anyway—the yield just helps numb the pain of price drops."

Strategy Two: Points & Airdrop Farming (The Pro Way)

Profitable farmers in today’s market don’t click randomly on random projects—they’re highly selective.

Earn non-token rewards (points, scores, XP) from protocols that:

Are likely to launch a token;
Have real use cases and funding;
Reward long-term active users, not one-time "check-in" visitors.

Why this works during a crash:

Even if prices drop, protocols still need user participation.
Most people stop paying attention, drastically reducing competition.
One substantial airdrop can exceed months of small trading profits.

How to execute smartly:

Focus on "infrastructure and core DeFi areas" (e.g., Layer2, perpetuals, cross-chain bridges, restaking, wallets).
Invest small but consistent effort: repeat the same actions weekly.
Track your farming projects and rationale in a simple spreadsheet.

Professionals treat airdrops as a "steady income stream," not a lottery ticket.

Strategy Three: RFQ / Arbitrage – Profiting from Market Inefficiency

If you're capturing pricing discrepancies, you don’t need to predict market direction.

Arbitrage: buy low on one platform, sell high on another.
RFQ (Request for Quote): execute large OTC trades at a fixed spread.

This includes both simple "CEX vs DEX arbitrage" and more complex "cross-exchange arbitrage."

Why this works during a crash:

Variance = frequent pricing errors.
Panic-driven moves create temporary spreads across platforms and pairs.

How to operate (even with small capital):

Basic version: monitor a few key pairs across 2–3 major CEXs and 1–2 DEXs; target recurring 0.5%–1% spreads exploitable with low fees.
Advanced version: use bots or tools that alert on spreads; maintain reasonable trade sizes; prioritize execution speed and fee efficiency.

You don’t guess "up or down"—you get paid for "closing market gaps."

Strategy Four: Providing Liquidity (Without Becoming the Bagholder)

Amateur liquidity providers (LPs) often lose big; professionals treat it as a business.

Provide liquidity to DEX pools such as:

Uniswap-style automated market makers (AMMs)
Concentrated liquidity (e.g., Uniswap V3 style)
Stablecoin pairs or highly correlated asset pairs

You earn:

Trading fees
Sometimes additional incentives like tokens or points

Why this works during a crash:

Even in a crash, people still trade—and volume may spike.
If you "strategically pick pairs," fee income can offset price depreciation.

How to avoid blowing up:

Start with "stablecoin-stablecoin" or "highly correlated pairs" (e.g., ETH-stETH).
Only use narrow liquidity ranges after fully understanding rebalancing mechanics; otherwise, keep it simple.
Monitor the balance between "impermanent loss (IL)" and fees: if IL consistently exceeds fee income, adjust immediately.

Think like a market maker, not a gambler: "Is my compensation sufficient to cover the price risk I'm taking?"

Strategy Five: Light Market Making on a Few Pairs

You don’t need to be a firm like Jump—just be systematic.

Place simultaneous buy and sell orders around the current price to:

Capture bid-ask spreads
Earn trading fees
Add market depth

Execution methods:

Manual (suitable for small accounts)
Simple bots / grid bots
Focus on 1–3 pairs you know deeply

Why this works during a crash:

High volatility and thin markets mean wider bid-ask spreads.
Every time someone FOMO-buys or panic-sells through the spread, you profit.

How to execute smartly:

Choose liquid blue-chip assets; avoid "ghost tokens" (low-volume assets).
Define your "inventory range"—the maximum amount of an asset you’re willing to hold.
No need for complexity: even basic grid strategies can profit with proper range and sizing.

This isn’t about "predicting candles"—it’s about "selling shovels during a gold rush."

Strategy Six: Content Creation – Monetizing Clarity When Others Panic

Attention never disappears—it shifts from "only-up memecoins" to "what should I do now?"

Create content such as:

Twitter threads, newsletters, deep dives;
Loom explainer videos / YouTube shorts;
Spaces audio rooms, podcasts, niche updates.

Monetize via:

Brand sponsorships
Affiliate marketing links
Premium subscriptions
Consulting gigs

Why this is profitable during a crash:

People desperately need "clear information" and "filter frameworks."
Even when hype fades, projects still need content (for user acquisition / brand exposure).
Your research is already for yourself—content just amplifies its value.

How to execute smartly:

Pick a niche (e.g., AI + crypto, Layer2, RWA, perpetuals, restaking).
Post consistently: e.g., 2 threads + 1 newsletter per week.
Focus on "clear frameworks," avoid hype—this is your key difference from noise.

In bear markets, "useful information" beats "emotional stimulation"—money flows here.

Strategy Seven: Consulting & Retainer "Brain Trust" Services

Once you can think clearly and communicate well, people will pay for your insights.

Get paid for services like:

Helping teams craft narratives, design token models, or go-to-market (GTM) plans;
Providing industry and project analysis to funds / OTC desks;
Supporting founders with branding, pitch decks, and community strategy.

Payment models:

Monthly retainers
Revenue or growth sharing
Token allocations / consulting agreements

Why this works during a crash:

Strong teams don’t stop building when markets fall.
After retail exits, teams prioritize "narrative, research, and strategy" over pure hype.
They prefer paying seasoned practitioners—not random agencies.

How to position yourself:

Use your content as a "thought portfolio" (proof of expertise).
Clarify your core strengths (research, tokenomics, storytelling, BD, etc.).
Start with "fewer, high-value projects": 1–2 great clients beat 10 low-value ones.

You transform from a "struggling trader" into an "industry participant paid by multiple parties."

The Professional Mindset During This Phase (Big Picture View)

When the market crashes, professionals do NOT:

Chase every candlestick
Triple their leverage
Pray for a "miracle bottom"

Instead, they tighten up and ask:

"How can I profit from 'market activity' rather than just price direction?"
"Which skills will compound in the next cycle?"
"How can I stop being the bagholder and start becoming part of the market infrastructure?"

If you don’t want to lose like most people, pick 2–3 of these 7 strategies and then: