It is a misunderstanding to blame the whales entirely, what needs to be emphasized is that early traders bought altcoins only because they were carried away by the trend when altcoin prices rose due to bitcoin ATH this year.

while basically cutting the doubts in the sense of making a stop loss it returns to the trader's mentality. they decide to enter at high prices just because they don't want to miss out on profits even though the trading pattern is cyclical. there will be a proper correction to enter and buy at a cheap discount.
therefore, don't let that perspective overwhelm ambitions that will only bring you down.