Three or four years ago, I came across this one article regarding Bitcoin and the 'innovation' it was bringing. It said something like it was supposed to be this digital currency, which I didn't completely understand at all; therefore being the high school student that I was, I decided it was ultimately stupid and unnecessary for society.
But of course, the winter of 2017 would come and show me that my judgment was wrong. And so I thought it over and decided to take an interest in learning the multifaceted aspect of this ground-breaking technology that is the blockchain and the currency it is built upon, which quickly became an obsession.
I began scouring the different media outlets for which coins to buy, how to buy it, how to keep my money safe, etc. I even made a Twitter and followed all the prominent members of the community in hopes of uncovering some insider information that I could use on the fly.
Eventually, I used the prospects of buying Bitcoin and altcoins as a motivation to actually find a job, get to work, and start saving money; all of which I had done in the following months. During this journey of self-doubt (that was caused by mass FUD propaganda) and self-discipline, as I witnessed the price falling all across the board, I learned valuable things that I believe all prospective traders should keep in mind, and they are as follows:
If you're in it for the money, then you're in it for the money.
I saw a clever meme about some excuse that's pretty much ubiquitous in the crypto community. People excusing themselves by stating that they have a general interest in the technology, when in fact, they're just in it for the money and only for the money, and there are two things I have to say about that.
One, be honest with yourself. If you're not, then you might end up placing bets rather than making investments. By acknowledging that you're actually in it for the money, then you're most likely going to be smarter with your money and you'd probably take it out of a shitcoin and put it into a safer bet. It's probably better to sell out when you know your coin is gonna tank and some other coin is gonna pump to the moon. When you admit to yourself that you're in it for the sick gains, then you are -more likely- to be acting rationally in ways where getting those gains can become a reality.
And more importantly, number two. If you're -only- in it for the money, then get the fuck out of crypto. If you want to get rich quick without having any sincere interest in the tech, then you're more likely not going to do well rather than succeed. You have to have a sincere passion and vision in which your coin is gonna go since the price of each coin is often significantly determined by the people behind it (e.g. adoption and their individual communities).
With that said, this is the most important lesson I have learned and I believe everyone should consider this as their number one priority to consider before entering into the crypto space.Be constructive and don't be afraid to fail.
I've made a lot of mistakes in this space, may they be fucking up while trying to calculate gas and other transaction fees from exchanges like Coinbase, but I've always made it a key point to learn from them. Even when I did a good amount of research as to how I can spend my money in the wisest of ways, there's just so much going on in this space that it's hard to pin down one best way.
If you FOMO buy or sell, don't beat yourself up for it. Just be constructive and think fast. You don't want to panic yourself while trying to make an order. Take a break and calm yourself down and REMIND YOURSELF OF THE FACTS.
If you fuck up twice though, I'd beat myself up. In fact, I did, so don't feel too bad. Just take it with a grain of salt and move on.Don't be quick to act on every piece of news that you get.
You hear this and that about some cartel or some other FUD spreading entity and all I've got to say is that some of the news you hear may actually be true. You just have to decide for yourself. Just remind yourself of how much you might to lose and how much were you looking to gain on each individual coin and determine the risk that you're willing to take from there.
The old adage of 'buy the rumor and sell the news' is especially relevant when it comes to short-term holds. You've just got to make sure that you buy and sell at the right time. When you hear about the price of some coin has skyrocketed beyond belief, you're most likely late to the party. Those who buy the rumors are proactive, and one way you can do that is by looking at each coin's team and their individual roadmaps. They usually have something new added on at the end of each quarter, so look for coins with big communities and you can be sure that many of them are going to be hyped when the news arrives. I'd probably buy around 1 to 2 weeks before the new quarter.
Remember! It's important to check the consistency of the team's delivery as well, as some often delay what they had promised to bring forth. And also, sell -before- the news hits. -Before-.
This leads to the final advice that I have learned thus far in my crypto journey and that's ->Don't HODL unless you're in it for the long-term.
I don't understand why there is a strong HODL culture around every piece of coin that's out on the market when all the VC's agree that most are likely to fail. This piece of news is rarely ever processed and I believe it's an incredibly popular shortcoming of many casual investors. Every coin seems like a good idea (unless it's a Ponzi scheme, but that's beside the matter), but what most people fail to see is that when you're HODLing, you're actually in it for the LONG RUN. That means you don't HODL coins with anonymous teams. That means you don't HODL coins with no actual project. That means you don't HODL coins with no versatile or ambitious roadmap. YOU ONLY HODL COINS THAT HAVE A SERIOUS TEAM WHOM OF WHICH ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO INNOVATE THEIR PROJECTS.
That means they don't offer some shabby alternative to Bitcoin, offering this and that about privacy and scalability. You HODL for coins that represent the future of crypto and what the whole sphere has to offer.
Every other coin is short-term at best.
And that concludes my rant to the past me, with all my incredible failures, and to those who are still like that past version of myself. I hope it does you some good, as it did for me.
And one last thing: Long live the blockchain!
(As you can see, I subscribe to the Crypto Lark).