الشراء الطويل مقابل البيع القصير في تداول العملات الرقمية: دليل شامل للمبتدئين

If you’ve been scrolling through crypto trading communities, you’ve probably seen traders dropping “going long” or “shorting the market” left and right. But what does it actually mean? And more importantly—how can you use these strategies without getting liquidated?

The Basics: Long and Short Explained

Going Long is straightforward: you buy an asset expecting its price to rise. Say Bitcoin is trading at $61,000, and you think it’ll hit $65,000. You buy 1 BTC now, wait for the price to pump, then sell at $65,000. Your profit? $4,000 (minus fees, of course).

Going Short is the opposite—you’re betting on a price fall. But here’s the catch: you don’t need to own the asset first. Instead, you borrow it from the exchange, sell it immediately at the current price, then buy it back cheaper later. Return it to the exchange, pocket the difference.

Example: Bitcoin is at $61,000. You believe it’ll drop to $59,000. You borrow 1 BTC from the exchange and sell it at $61,000. When the price drops, you buy it back at $59,000 and return it. Your profit: $2,000 (minus borrowing fees).

Sound complicated? It is—but most trading platforms handle all the backend stuff automatically. On your screen, it’s just clicking “Open Long” or “Open Short.”

Bulls vs Bears: The Market Players

These terms describe trader sentiment:

• Bulls (牛市/Bullish traders): Expect prices to go up. They open long positions and buy assets, pushing demand and prices higher. The metaphor? A bull “throws” prices upward with its horns.

• Bears (熊市/Bearish traders): Expect prices to fall. They open short positions, selling assets and increasing supply. A bear “swipes” prices downward with its paws.

When the overall market is rising, we call it a bull market. When it’s falling, it’s a bear market.

Hedging: Your Insurance Policy

Not all traders are 100% certain about price movements. That’s where hedging comes in—a risk management strategy where you open opposite positions to protect yourself.

Scenario: You own 2 bitcoins and expect them to appreciate. But you’re nervous about a potential crash. To reduce losses if things go wrong, you open a short position on 1 BTC while keeping your 2 BTC long.

If price rises from $30,000 to $40,000:

• Your 2 BTC long: +$20,000
• Your 1 BTC short: -$10,000
• Net profit: $10,000

If price falls from $30,000 to $25,000:

• Your 2 BTC long: -$10,000
• Your 1 BTC short: +$5,000
• Net loss: -$5,000 (instead of -$20,000)

Hedging cuts your losses in half—but it also cuts your gains in half. Think of it as paying for insurance: you sacrifice upside potential for downside protection.

Futures: Where Shorts Really Shine

You can’t easily short on the spot market (you have to actually borrow the asset). But futures contracts change everything.

Futures let you bet on price movements without owning the underlying asset. Two types dominate crypto:

1. Perpetual Futures: No expiration date. Hold your position as long as you want.
2. Delivery Futures: Contract expires at a set date; you settle in cash or the asset itself.

When you open a long future, you’re essentially agreeing to buy the asset at a future date at today’s price. For shorts, you’re agreeing to sell.

There’s a catch though: exchanges charge a funding rate every few hours—basically rent for maintaining your position. This is the difference between spot and futures prices. If futures are trading higher than the spot price (traders are heavily long), you pay the funding rate. If futures are lower (heavy shorting), you receive it.

The Liquidation Trap

Want to maximize profits? Use leverage—borrow money from the exchange to make bigger trades.

But here’s the danger: the exchange requires you to maintain a minimum margin (collateral) level. If the market moves against you and your collateral drops below that threshold, you get a margin call—a warning to add more funds.

Ignore it, and your position gets liquidated: forcefully closed by the platform to recover their loanable funds. You lose your collateral, sometimes fast.

Long vs Short: The Real Trade-Offs

Longs are intuitive: They work like regular investing—buy low, sell high.

Shorts are counterintuitive and riskier:

• Borrowing fees reduce your profits
• Price crashes happen faster and harder than rallies (psychology: panic selling vs. gradual buying)
• Liquidation can happen quicker on shorts

Longs have unlimited profit potential (theoretically). Shorts? Your max profit is capped at 100% (price to zero), but losses can exceed your initial collateral if liquidated late.

The Bottom Line

Long = betting on price rises (easier, safer) Short = betting on price falls (complex, riskier)

Use futures and leverage to amplify both. Master risk management, or the market will liquidate your capital. And remember: leverage is a double-edged sword—it multiplies gains and losses equally.

The traders making consistent money? They’re the ones who respect the risks, not the ones YOLO’ing 100x leverage on hunches.