For years, I thought I understood Market Structure.
I kept marking the wrong Break of Structure (BOS), and the market punished me every single time.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
But once I discovered the correct way to identify BOS, everything changed:
So let’s dive deep into Market Structure, BOS, and how to trade it effectively.
Great question!
I will break it down clearly so it makes sense whether you’re looking at crypto or forex charts.
Market structure in trading refers to the natural movement of price on a chart and the way highs and lows are formed over time.
It tells you the “story” of what buyers (bulls) and sellers (bears) are doing, and helps you identify the current trend.
Price does not move randomly.
It follows patterns of swings (ups and downs), and these swings form the structure of the market.
Prices make higher highs (HH) and higher lows (HL), indicating that buyers are in control.
Example: Bitcoin rallying from $30k → $40k → $50k.
Price makes lower lows (LL) and lower highs (LH), showing that sellers are in control.
Example: EUR/USD dropping from 1.12 → 1.10 → 1.08.
Here, price bounces between equal highs and lows without a clear direction.
There’s a ‘pause’ before a breakout up or down.
Example: Ethereum moving between $1,500 – $1,600 for weeks.
Now let’s put this together.
In an uptrend, the moves that break previous highs are called impulse moves.
The pullbacks that don’t break previous lows are called retracements.
In a downtrend, it’s the opposite:
Here’s where most traders go wrong:
Not every new high or low is a valid BOS.
A BOS only happens when the candle body closes beyond the level that formed the last swing high or low.
If only the wick pierces it, that’s not BOS. It’s a liquidity sweep.
Understanding this difference alone can shrink your losses and give you sniper-level precision.
Another trap is trading too early.
In internal structure, you must wait for a proper BOS before deciding which direction to trade.
Otherwise, you’re just gambling.
Just knowing BOS is not enough.
The real power comes when you combine it with Supply and Demand zones.
Here’s the step-by-step way to use this strategy for both swing trades and day trades:
Step 1:
Go to the 4H timeframe.
Identify the market structure, mark out the Break of Structure, and highlight your supply and demand zones.
Step 2:
Drop to the 1H timeframe. Do the same.
This is where you’ll find swing trade opportunities after a BOS at supply or demand.
Step 3:
Go to the 15M timeframe for intraday or day trades. Same process — structure, BOS, supply/demand zones.
Step 4:
Only take trades that give you at least a 3R risk-to-reward ratio.
That means for every $1 you risk, you want the chance to make $3.
Let me break that down:
Even with a 50% win rate, you’re still profitable, and that’s the power of Market Structure + Supply and Demand.
And by the way, to calculate risk and position size correctly, you can use the FX Crypto Calculator — it makes this simple. 300 and losers cost $100, you’ll stay profitable long term.
For years, traders kept losing because they didn’t understand BOS.
Once they grasped this, the losses shrank and my win rate skyrocketed.
The key takeaways are:
If you want to see this applied in real time, join our Monday live sessions where I analyze major forex pairs and share trade setups.
You can also join our mentorship session waitlist or our communities below:
The post The Market Structure Mistake Every Trader Makes: How I Fixed It appeared first on NIGERIA BITCOIN COMMUNITY.
Also read: Binance Introduces AI-Powered Tools to Enhance Cryptocurrency Trading
