Mastering the ICT Power of 3 concept - How to use it in trading!The financial markets often appear chaotic and unpredictable, but behind the scenes, institutional players operate with clear strategies that shape price action. One such strategy is the ICT (Inner Circle Trader) "Power of 3" model, a framework used to understand and anticipate market cycles through three key phases: accumulation, manipulation, and distribution. This guide will break down each of these phases in detail, explaining how smart money operates and how retail traders can align themselves with the true direction of the market.
What will be discussed?
- The 3 phases
- Examples of the PO3
- How to trade the PO3
- Tips for trading the PO3
The 3 phases
Accumulation
The Accumulation Phase in the ICT "Power of 3" model refers to the initial stage of a market cycle where institutional or "smart money" participants quietly build their positions. During this time, price typically moves sideways within a tight range, often showing little to no clear direction. This is intentional. The market appears quiet or indecisive, which is designed to confuse retail traders and keep them out of alignment with the real intentions of the market's larger players.
In this phase, smart money is not looking to move the market dramatically. Instead, they are focused on accumulating long or short positions without drawing attention. They do this by keeping price contained within a consolidation zone. The idea is to gather enough liquidity, often from unsuspecting retail traders entering early breakout trades or trying to trade the range, before making a more aggressive move.
Manipulation
The Manipulation Phase in the ICT "Power of 3" model is the second stage that follows accumulation. This phase is where smart money deliberately moves the market in the opposite direction of their intended move to trigger retail stop losses, induce emotional decisions, and create liquidity.
After price has consolidated during accumulation, many retail traders are either already positioned or have orders waiting just outside the range, either stop losses from those trading the range or breakout orders from those anticipating a directional move. The manipulation phase exploits this positioning. Price will often break out of the accumulation range in one direction, appearing to confirm a new trend. This move is designed to look convincing, it might even come with a spike in volume or momentum to draw traders in.
However, this breakout is a false move. It doesn’t represent the true intention of smart money. Instead, it's meant to sweep liquidity, triggering stop losses above or below the range, and then reverse sharply. This stop run provides the liquidity needed for large players to finalize their positions at optimal prices. Once enough liquidity is collected, and retail traders are caught offside, the real move begins.
Distribution
The Distribution Phase in the ICT "Power of 3" model is the final stage of the cycle, following accumulation and manipulation. This is where the true intention of smart money is revealed, and the market makes a sustained, directional move, either bullish or bearish. Unlike the earlier phases, distribution is marked by clear price expansion, increased volatility, and decisive momentum.
After smart money has accumulated positions and shaken out retail traders through manipulation, they have the liquidity and positioning needed to drive the market in their desired direction. The distribution phase is where these positions are "distributed" into the broader market, meaning, institutions begin to offload their positions into the retail flow that is now chasing the move. Retail traders, seeing the strong trend, often jump in late, providing the liquidity for smart money to exit profitably.
This phase is typically what retail traders perceive as the real trend, and in a sense, it is. However, by the time the trend is obvious, smart money has already entered during accumulation and profited from the manipulation. What appears to be a breakout or trend continuation to most retail participants is actually the final leg of the smart money’s strategy. They are now unloading their positions while price continues to expand.
Examples of the Power of 3
How to trade the PO3?
Start by identifying a clear accumulation range. This typically happens during the Asian session or the early part of the London session. Price moves sideways, forming a consolidation zone. Your job here isn’t to trade, but to observe. Draw horizontal lines marking the high and low of the range. These become your key liquidity zones.
Next, anticipate the manipulation phase, which usually occurs during the London session or at the NY open. Price will often break out of the range, triggering stop losses above the high or below the low of the accumulation zone. This move is deceptive, it is not the real trend. Do not chase it. Instead, wait for signs of rejection, such as a sharp reversal after the liquidity grab, imbalance filling, or a shift in market structure on a lower timeframe (like a 1- or 5-minute chart).
Once manipulation has swept liquidity and price starts showing signs of reversing back inside the range or beyond, you now look for a confirmation of the true move, this begins the distribution phase. You enter in the direction opposite of the manipulation move, ideally once price breaks a structure level confirming that smart money has taken control.
For example, if price consolidates overnight, fakes a move to the downside (running sell stops), and then quickly reverses and breaks above a key swing high, that's your signal that the true move is likely up. Enter after the break and retest of structure, using a tight stop loss below the recent low. Your target should be based on liquidity pools, fair value gaps, or higher-timeframe imbalances.
The key to trading the Power of 3 is patience and precision. You're not trying to catch every move, but to wait for the market to complete its cycle of deception and then ride the clean expansion. Ideally, your entry comes just after manipulation, and you hold through the distribution/expansion phase, taking partials at key liquidity levels along the way.
Tips for trading the PO3
1. Learn price movements
Before you can effectively apply the ICT Power of 3 strategy, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of how price behaves. This means being comfortable identifying market structure, recognizing trend direction, and interpreting candlestick dynamics. Since the Power of 3 is deeply rooted in how price moves in real time, a strong grasp of these basics will give you the confidence to read the market correctly as each phase develops.
2. Analyse multiple timeframes
Although the Power of 3 pattern shows up on lower timeframes, relying on just one can lead to misreads. You’ll gain a clearer picture when you align the short-term view with higher timeframe structure. For example, what appears to be accumulation on the 15-minute chart may simply be a retracement in a larger trend on the 1-hour or daily. By examining multiple timeframes together, you can better identify the true setup and avoid being tricked by noise.
3. Exercise patience
A key part of trading the Power of 3 is knowing when to act, and more importantly, when not to. It’s easy to get impatient during the accumulation or manipulation phases, but entering too early often leads to frustration or losses. True discipline comes from waiting for the expansion or distribution phase, when the market reveals its real direction. This is where the most favorable risk-to-reward setups occur.
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Manipulation
BTC - Another Potential Bearish PatternHere I present my second alternative for a Bearish case for Bitcoin.
Per my previous posts I explain in detail the interest in recollecting liquidity in these lower zones. Previously I presented pathways to the uber lows at 7,000-10,000 - however this is another possible case.
I believe Bitcoin can see a drop from 109,200 straight down to 19,000-20,000
Why?
1. Major Volume support at this level
2. Major liquidity pools in confluence with this level
3. Price would form a W bottom with a higher low - which aligns with DXY breaking down on the monthly time frame. We can use DXY to project a bull market spanning 2-5 years (weakening dollar = more interest in deflationary assets such as Bitcoin)
4. Per the note above, it’s unlikely that BTC continues straight up without a sharp drop. The way this market works is to a large degree with leverage trading. The market and exchanges desperately want to shake out these longs, especially if we consider a 2-5 year bullish forecast through a macro view.
5. Confluence with this diagonal trendline which shows a clear support / resistance structure (note the Bitcoin chart is formed via diagonal ascending support and resistance lines - we can demonstrate this clearly and repeatable by duplicating the correct trendline and seeing how it forms the chart at any location)
Personally, I am shorting Bitcoin from 109,000 - and am expecting to see a fast drop through the rest of the weekend.
I will watch what the price does, where it reacts and interacts, and attempt to get a head start on understanding the true bottom before this “true” bull cycle begins.
Happy trading
BTC - Bullish Madness or Bearish Retest?Zooming out on BTC chart we can note this major bearish trendline on the HTF. This diagonal support / resistance line can take BTC to 7,000.
Likely? Maybe not. Possible? Absolutely.
A straight move up on BTC like we have seen the last two years is very dangerous. There is a large chain reaction of leveraged sell orders via long position stop losses cascading down the price levels.
Can this trigger a massive and fast flash crash?
In my view - absolutely.
Here are two potential moves that take price to those low liquidations levels.
Possibility 1
110,000 to 35,000
35,000 retrace to 81,000
81,000 to 7,000
Possibility 2
110,000 to 43,000
43,000 retrace to 72,000
72,000 to 7,000
Note that both of these possibilities end with 7,000. I’m mapping out two routes that take us there, using confluences with trendlines, volume profiles, liquidity mapping, and common sense.
Always remember that crypto is a very new market, with some unique mechanics that differentiate it from other more established markets. Predominantly the futures and high leverage usage and the ways these platforms make their money…
Beware and be prepared.
BTC - Liquidity Mapping to Predict MovementAs a part II to my previous post on “Bull Market OR Bearish Retest?” - Here is a 2 day liquidity map on BTC’s chart.
I’m anticipating a sharp drop to 7,000 - why is this number significant?
There is a mass amount of liquidity in the chart down towards 7,000-10,000.
This liquidity is in the form of long stop loss orders.
In layman’s terms - the sell orders required to take price to this extreme low are already within the chart. It is a pre-set consequence to traders decisions in a market dominated by leveraged buys and sells.
If we consider what the “floor” price of BTC is (IE all long term secured holders) - we first have to seperate out the leveraging liquidity used in the futures market.
How much of the BTC market cap is injected liquidity from futures / derivatives? In my view, anything above 7,000.
This liquidity can flow in and out, and the business and function behind it isn’t affected. This liquidity is extremely fluid. It can drop 90,000 and rise 90,000 shortly after without any affect on the fundamental value of Bitcoin.
Sure there is a psychological consequence with perceived value and market stability - but the fact is, leveraged liquidity can enter the market and leave the market with no impact at all on the wallets of market makers.
Food for thought - happy trading.
Trump vs. Powell: 4d Gold Price Roller Coaster📊 Summary of Recent 4 Trading Days
During the ongoing US-China trade war, President Trump has ramped up his public criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Though he lacks the authority to remove Powell directly it seems, Trump's frustration with the Fed’s independent policy direction has led to an apparent institutional power struggle.
This conflict hasn’t gone unnoticed by the markets. Just the mention of removing Powell caused the gold price to spike, as stock market money got squeezed out, amplified by tensions in the trade war. The Federal Reserve’s credibility is high, so such remarks naturally trigger significant volatility.
After Trump's initial outburst, gold surged $216. But when he softened his tone, the price reversed just as dramatically—falling about $240 (with the trading day still ongoing at the time). Hopes for progress in trade negotiations also played a role in this sharp reversal.
⚠️ Warning Signs of Market Distortion
Statements from the US President now function almost like market-moving events in addition to normal news. For gold traders, this creates an unstable environment where typical technical setups may fail.
The past days showed signs of manipulated or artificial movements—with potential insider activity. One notable example: Gold looked set to break higher after a 1-hour candle closed above the EMA 20 line. But a sudden $12 bearish candle in the last 30 seconds erased the setup. It felt orchestrated—possibly by institutional players defending key levels.
💡 Trader’s Takeaway
Don’t blindly trust technical signals in this environment.
Watch for political noise—it’s louder than usual.
Prefer quieter markets if you’re risk-averse.
Expect $100+ daily ranges and frequent price whipsaws.
🗣 What’s your take?
Is Trump really influencing the gold market on purpose—or just creating chaos? Let’s discuss below. 👇
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This is just my personal market idea and not financial advice! 📢 Trading gold and other financial instruments carries risks – only invest what you can afford to lose. Always do your own analysis, use solid risk management, and trade responsibly.
Good luck and safe trading! 🚀📊
NZDCAD Discretionary Analysis: Bank Manipulation?The price just crashed into the distribution block, straight into that sellside liquidity order block like it knew exactly where it was going. Bank manipulation? It's all over this one. The institutional orderflow is running the show, and with a sharp liquidity spike followed by orders stacking up like a ticking time bomb, it's getting real... they are manipulating the price. The fair value gap is wide, and that uptrust into the distribution channel? That's the red flag that’s flashing "this is it." Everything is lined up for a big move, and I'm here for going on the lower timeframe and entering on that liquidity sweep from a NY Open manipulated candlestick.
Just kidding, I just think it's gonna go up.
313% vertical this morning $0.30 to $1.24300% vertical BOOM 💥 squeezing out shortsellers who were just moments before trying to manipulate downside 👉🏻 Priceless! 🤑
+33% gain realized with 3 Buy Alerts into vertical NASDAQ:ICCT
What red market is everyone talking about? We don't know anything about that 🤷🏻♂️
What happens if you give a TikTok trader a billion dollars?In this video, I covered the topic of accumulation and distribution of large positions.
I explained why big market players prefer using limit orders when building and offloading their positions.
I also talked about how retail traders — who I often call TikTok traders — tend to rely on market orders, and why the price is more likely to move against the masses of TikTok traders.
Understanding this is crucial when analyzing what’s really going on "under the hood" of the market. I’ll dive deeper into this in my upcoming posts.
So don’t miss out! Subscribe!
Bearish Dump Continuation: TRUMPUSDTContext: We're more than half way through a dump on TRUMPUSDT
-Pullback into the zone after heavy bearish shift on Friday.
-Imbalance on the market profile
-61.8 Retest to the imbalance zone
-A miro-structure 61.8 retracement to the POC and VWAP (Intraday)
-Larger imbalance gaps awaiting below $10
Coinbase Gap TradeI find Coinbase very interesting right now, especially since we’ve likely completed Wave 4 around the $240 level. Since then, price has been stuck in a sideways consolidation, following an unfilled breakout gap after Wave 4 ended. This gap is still open, and I believe there’s a strong chance we’ll at least partially close it.
From a market cycle perspective, we’re currently in the accumulation phase, followed by the manipulation phase (red), and then the distribution phase (green). My plan is to target that distribution phase, aiming for the gap closure.
I’m placing a limit order roughly in the middle of the gap, just above the Yearly Open, which I expect to act as support. The RSI is still low—not oversold yet—but there’s some room for more downside before the entry triggers.
The limit order is set at around $259, with a target of at least $326, offering solid reward potential—exactly the kind of setup I’m looking for.
🔹 Asset: Coinbase
🔹 Timeframe: 1H
🔹 Entry: 259.36
🔹 Stop: 244.25
🔹 Target(s): TBA
ETH – What Happened? A Detailed Breakdown and What to do next!Crypto Panic or Manipulation? Breaking Down Ethereum’s Crash and the Entire Market
🔥 Hello everyone, this is Ronin!
The last two trading days have seen one of the biggest crashes in the history of the cryptocurrency market. 📉 We witnessed a massive wave of liquidations that burned through the capital of many traders.
Looking at the numbers:
Most assets lost 10–30% of their value.
Some altcoins dropped by 50%.
The total crypto market capitalization shrank by more than 10% in just a few days.
But the biggest victim of this crash was not Bitcoin, nor low-cap altcoins—it was Ethereum (ETH) itself.
What Happened to Ethereum? Why Did It Drop from $3600 to $2000?
If we talk about the strangest asset in this cycle, Ethereum stands out.
While other coins were breaking all-time highs, ETH didn’t even come close to its peak valuation. This is despite:
The launch of Bitcoin ETFs, bringing in a wave of institutional capital.
News that Donald Trump was reportedly buying ETH for his projects.
Growing interest in L2 scaling solutions and Ethereum network upgrades.
None of these bullish catalysts helped ETH break even $4000.
And then, within just four days, Ethereum plunged from $3600 to $2000. On Binance’s futures market, the price briefly hit $2080.
❓ Has Ethereum ever seen such a sharp drop before?
Personally, I don’t remember such a massive drop happening in such a short time without catastrophic fundamental events.
This wasn’t a network hack, a mining ban, or a major DeFi collapse—nothing fundamentally bad happened.
So who crashed the market, and why?
Who Benefited from This Crash?
Let’s analyze the key question: who had the most to gain from this crash?
The obvious answer is that the biggest winners were major crypto exchanges and market makers.
Why Didn’t Bitcoin Drop as Much?
At the time of the crash:
📌 Bitcoin’s liquidation zones were nearly empty. Many traders had both buy and sell orders in place, so there was no strong incentive to push BTC down.
What About Ethereum?
📉 ETH futures open interest exceeded tens of billions of dollars.
📉 Leverage was heavily skewed towards long positions, meaning liquidations brought massive profits to exchanges.
📉 ETH’s open interest was even higher than BTC’s, making it a prime target for manipulation.
How Crypto Exchanges Made $2 Billion in One Night
The cryptocurrency market is unique because the major players not only provide liquidity but also profit from liquidations.
💰 Crypto exchanges are not just trading platforms—they are global market makers who actively move prices.
📌 On Sunday night, the following happened:
Big players spotted an overloaded leverage in ETH long positions.
They triggered a wave of sell-offs, forcing liquidations.
On Binance alone, exchanges raked in $2 billion in a single day from liquidations.
⚠ Ask yourself this: if you had the power to make $2 billion in a single day, wouldn’t you do it?
Of course, they want to and they do.
How the Smart Money Strategy Works
If you’ve heard of Smart Money trading strategies, you know that big players always think ahead.
📌 The classic scheme:
1️⃣ Pump the market up—give traders confidence that the rally will continue.
2️⃣ Open short positions in zones overloaded with leverage.
3️⃣ Dump the market sharply, triggering stop losses and liquidations.
4️⃣ Buy back at the bottom, raking in billions.
📉 This is exactly what happened with Ethereum—exchanges used a false news narrative about trade sanctions to tank the price.
How I Survived This Crash
🔥 I was long on Ethereum with leverage and held a total position of over 200 ETH.
Honestly, that night was brutal.
📌 When the price dropped to $2080, I had two options:
❌ Panic and close the position, taking a six-figure loss.
✅ Hold and wait for a recovery, because I knew this was a fake move.
I chose the latter. Not only that—I added to my position at the lower levels.
This doesn’t mean the market can’t drop further, but…
📌 Trading rule: Buy when everyone is selling—Sell when everyone is buying.
📌 Right now, the market is in panic mode—which means some smart players are accumulating ETH at these prices.
Conclusion: What Comes Next?
📌 This was an artificial correction—big players intentionally crashed the market.
📌 The coming days should see a recovery, especially if trading volumes start picking up again.
📌 Market psychology is the key factor. When everyone is afraid, that’s when big players accumulate assets.
If you’re interested in how I will navigate my $200,000 ETH drawdown, follow me on TradingView—I’ll be posting regular updates.
🚀 In upcoming articles, we’ll break down the analysis of other altcoins and provide a microeconomic perspective on the most promising assets.
💬 Boost this post if you found it insightful—your engagement helps, and a little positive activity never hurts!
This was Ronin—stay tuned for more updates! Big things are coming. 🎯
BTC: broadening wedge or channel retest? Bullish or bearish?There are three possible patterns in formation right now, two of the which would be bullish and one bearish. I'm not 100% on which one I'd pick so I'll present here the three cases.
right-angled broadening wedge (the bullish case):
- check the following links www.forex-central.net and www.centralcharts.com
In this case we should expect a dump to the 86K levels and then a bounce back to breakout and push price to 125K:
right-angled broadening wedge (the bearish case): see the previous links for the examples. In this case the wedge support wouldn't hold breaking down and bringing price to the 75K area. Notice that the upper resistance of the wedge shows alsoa double top which is a very bearish pattern:
descending channel retest: for this case I've used the coinbase's chart, it's just because the chart is less messy. As you can see the break out happened already days ago and this could be the retest of the previous R. This is a bullish case that would make price bounce to 109K
At the moment I don't know where to lean because my gut says market are overreacting to this AI fuss so I stay open to any possibility and I'm not doing any margin trade, just buying what I think has potential.
Good luck
EURUSD ADR Continuation Swing to 1.06500Weekly swing trade level - using ADR from level 2
-Level 1 & 2 Confirmed,
- Target 1.06500 Area
False day start (1/3 ADR)
W at volume profile imbalance area
78.60 intraday Fib. confirmation
Divergence and trend continuation
Backup order below at 1.04900 area due to potential larger reverse distance on level 2
-Retail formation possible confirmation with liquidity grab
-Multiple red news events upcoming in the day
Reach out for TG notfier
And please give boosts!
Drop after Election Pump with FOMCMy trading idea for next week is as follows. I will be watching the price action very closely on Monday, the day before the election. This will prepare the price for the volatility of the election. I expect the price to move to the EMA50 on the 1D time frame next week. That would be around $64k. Then there is the FOMC meeting on Thursday, which could lead to a significant rise in the price. Next week is very important. The use of leverage should be taken carefully.
THE PLAN IS THE PLAN Like i said before and i will say again im bullish on tesla and after the event im MEGA bullish on tesla
As i managed to anticipate the scam dump since yesterday on premarket dont think the market is bearish dont be triggered to think it is, DONT BOTTOM SHORT.
We are at the 100 daily EMA and that is MEGA FAIR VALUE for WALLSTREET.
This whole dump is to grab retail traders money. BUY NOW while you can. CUP AND HANDLE TARGET IS 400!
We are right now on october lowest point and below the value area high and actually at the 3 months POC.
i've been covering tesla since around august dont say you didnt know!
TSLA MOONING