Are Retail Traders Becoming the Smart Money? Let’s Talk Modern Forex Psychology”

[ZEESHANALI]

Hey traders!


Over the years, the phrase “retail traders always lose” has become almost a meme in the trading world. But in 2025, I’m starting to wonder — is that narrative starting to shift?


Here’s why I’m asking:


Access to better tools (TradingView, AI bots, order flow data)
Massive growth of Telegram and Discord signal communities
Smart risk management techniques are spreading
More awareness of institutional traps and fake-outs


So here’s the thread question:
Are retail traders actually becoming more intelligent, more adaptive, and harder to trap? Or are we just repeating new versions of old mistakes?

 

[Enivid]

Retail traders definitely change, upgrade, and adapt their tools, but since other market participants aren't sleeping too, and considering that Forex is largely a zero-sum game, retail traders aren't 'harder to trap'. I don't think much has changed in average retail trader's survivability since mid 2000's in Forex.