Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and the $5,000 SMC/ICT Course Explained Through Price Action Concepts

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There’s a multi-million dollar industry built around Smart Money Concepts (SMC) and Inner Circle Trader (ICT) teachings that promises hidden insights into trading cryptocurrency and bitcoin. But what if I told you much of it is just old price action knowledge repackaged with fancy new terms? This article unpacks those claims, revealing how traditional price action trading and SMC/ICT frameworks tell the same market story — just in different languages.

By understanding this, you’ll save thousands, cut through confusing jargon, and get straight to the core of what really moves the crypto and bitcoin markets.

Table of Contents

Market Structure: Same Pattern, Different Names

At the heart of both price action and SMC trading lies market structure — one of the purest ways to read price. The basics are simple: in an uptrend, price makes higher highs and higher lows; in a downtrend, it makes lower highs and lower lows.

Price action traders identify trends by connecting these swing points, while SMC traders talk about “breaks of structure” or “changes of character.” But both are observing the same price rhythm: when price breaks its previous pattern, it signals a potential trend change.

For example, price climbing in a stair-step pattern of higher highs and higher lows indicates a strong uptrend. When this pattern breaks, both methods recognize a shift — price action calls it a trend reversal, SMC calls it a change of character. Both pay close attention to support and resistance zones, where control shifts between buyers and sellers.

Order Blocks: Rebranded Supply and Demand Zones

Order blocks are a cornerstone of SMC but are essentially supply and demand zones from classic price action. These zones mark where big players enter trades with significant volume, often identified by strong momentum candles signaling clear buyer or seller control.

A bearish order block forms when price moves up but reverses sharply downward, matching what price action traders call a supply zone. Conversely, bullish order blocks are demand zones where price drops then reverses up.

SMC adds rules about order blocks, such as the idea that price rarely trades past the candle that formed the block. Price action traders noticed this too, seeing these as strong reversal levels that often get retested.

This retest phenomenon aligns with the market maker theory: institutions create artificial moves to fill large orders and return to those key price levels later. Both approaches agree that order blocks are most meaningful when aligned with shifts in market structure and are often found near major market highs and lows.

Liquidity Sweeps: False Breakouts Exposed

Liquidity sweeps (or liquidity grabs in SMC) are just false breakouts or bull and bear traps from a price action perspective. These traps occur when price pushes beyond key levels to trigger stop losses and trap traders on the wrong side.

For instance, in an uptrend, price may briefly dip below recent lows, triggering stop losses and forcing traders out of good positions, before reversing higher. In downtrends, price spikes above highs to trap late buyers before dropping.

Big players use these sweeps deliberately to gather enough orders to fill their massive trades. SMC highlights liquidity pools—areas dense with stop orders just beyond support or resistance—as prime targets for these moves.

Trading strategies benefit from this insight: buy after bear traps in bullish markets and sell near highs after bull traps in bearish markets. This exploits trader psychology, where most expect breakouts to continue but instead face quick reversals fueled by forced exits.

Mitigation: The Institutional Retest

Mitigation in SMC is just a fancy term for retests or pullbacks known to price action traders. It describes how institutions manage losses or offset unfavorable positions when price moves against them.

Institutions often can’t fill massive orders all at once without causing slippage, so they split trades into smaller chunks. This results in price revisiting key levels before continuing its trend, offering ideal entry points.

For example, in a downtrend, price retracing to the last bearish order block lets institutions close temporary buy positions at breakeven while stacking more sell positions to profit from the continuation. Price action traders see this as a pullback to resistance or a supply zone.

Understanding mitigation demystifies market moves and shows institutions aren’t infallible—they also manage risk and losses. Sometimes retracements go deeper to find enough liquidity, which price action traders call deep pullbacks; SMC traders see this as part of mitigation.

Inducement: Classic Trap Setups

Inducement is SMC’s term for trap setups long recognized by price action traders. It’s how the market lures traders into poor positions via false moves that initially look convincing but ultimately work against those trapped.

Since institutions can’t enter or exit huge trades quietly, they create fake breakouts or patterns—like double tops or bottoms—to generate liquidity by triggering stop losses and enticing breakout buyers.

For example, price may break above resistance, triggering stops and breakout entries, only to reverse sharply, leaving traders stuck. Liquidity pools—clusters of stops near obvious levels like previous highs and lows—are targeted to fuel these inducements.

Breaker Blocks: Role Reversal with a Twist

Breaker blocks are a refined version of the price action concept of role reversal, where support turns into resistance or vice versa. SMC adds emphasis on liquidity and institutional activity.

For example, if price closes below the low of a bullish order block, it becomes a bearish breaker block, now acting as resistance. If price closes above the high of a bearish order block, it becomes a bullish breaker block, now acting as support.

Price action traders have long recognized these flips as critical moments marking shifts in market sentiment, with big players defending or rejecting these levels. Breaker blocks work best when aligned with the overall trend, much like how price action traders prioritize retests that confirm the trend direction.

Fair Value Gaps: Market Imbalances Explained

Fair value gaps (FVGs) in SMC correspond to price action’s concept of gaps or market inefficiencies—areas left behind when price moves too quickly without balanced trading.

An FVG is identified in a three-candle sequence where the first and third candle’s wicks don’t overlap, signaling a sharp directional move and imbalance between buyers and sellers.

For example, in a bullish FVG, a large bullish candle follows a small bullish candle, and the third candle’s lower wick doesn’t overlap the first candle’s upper wick, creating a visible gap. This gap often acts as a magnet for price to revisit later, either to fill the imbalance or allow institutions to mitigate positions.

The middle candle in the sequence is often called the institutional candle, representing strong momentum backed by significant volume, showing where big players entered the market.

ICT Power of Three: The Wyckoff Model Rebranded

The ICT Power of Three framework breaks price movement into accumulation, manipulation, and distribution phases. While it may sound innovative, it closely mirrors Richard Wyckoff’s decades-old model.

Wyckoff’s accumulation phase, where smart money quietly builds positions during sideways price action, aligns with ICT’s accumulation. The “spring” in Wyckoff’s model, a sharp drop below range to trigger stops, corresponds to ICT’s manipulation phase.

After accumulation and manipulation, Wyckoff’s markup phase—where price rises as demand exceeds supply—matches ICT’s distribution phase, where institutions offload positions to retail traders chasing the trend.

Both frameworks describe how institutions manipulate price to generate liquidity, trap traders, and create conditions for significant moves. The Power of Three is essentially Wyckoff with new terminology.

Price Action vs. SMC/ICT: What Really Matters

Price action and SMC/ICT traders are often seen as rivals, but at their core, they analyze the same market behaviors: price movement, participant psychology, and supply-demand dynamics.

SMC repackages classic price action concepts with institutional narratives and new names like order blocks and fair value gaps. Understanding this helps traders avoid paying thousands for information they can learn through solid price action study.

For traders focused on cryptocurrency and bitcoin markets, mastering price action fundamentals offers a clear, actionable blueprint without the noise. The key is recognizing that whether you call it a “breaker block” or a “role reversal,” the market tells one story — one that you can learn, understand, and trade profitably.

Conclusion

Trading cryptocurrency and bitcoin effectively doesn’t require expensive courses or complex jargon. The core principles behind Smart Money Concepts and ICT strategies are built on timeless price action foundations.

By stripping away the fancy terms and focusing on market structure, order flow, liquidity hunts, and key price zones, you can develop a solid trading strategy that works across markets.

Remember, whether you’re reading “order blocks” or “supply zones,” “liquidity sweeps” or “false breakouts,” the price action remains your most reliable guide. Use this knowledge to trade smarter, avoid hype, and take control of your trading journey.

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