I haven't been in the cryptocurrency space for very long, just slightly over a year now. During those first few months, I was passively investing without diving into Reddit or Telegram. Once you start peeling the layers back of this world, you begin to see how extensive it is and how necessary it is for you to do your research.
The crypto space is full of overhyped moments like when a coin is moving up at a rapid pace, and everyone wants to jump on that rocket.
It's during those times when you have that feeling that you could be missing out on the opportunity that is going to change your life. When you invest in anything, you hope to catch something before it takes off with the hopes you can sell near the top and aren't the last one holding on as it all drops.
Now after seeing a boom and bust cycle I can see how the FOMO negatively affect people. Whether it's that fear of missing an opportunity to make money or it's the anger that coincides with not selling when you should have, FOMO can lead to heartache. I know many people, including myself, wish they would have sold before everything crashed in 2018. And now as we all see the prices keep falling there is the fear that it might shoot back up again and you missed the chance to cash in at the bottom.
You can't let FOMO control your life or cloud your investing strategy.
So what can you do to avoid the FOMO? The first thing is to know and admit that you're going to fall for it. If you are aware that you fall for the hype surrounding something, take a second to think about your actions before you follow the hype. Maybe even sleep on it. Making rash decisions with your money is never wise.
Do your research before investing your own money into something. Know that if you do your research and end up missing out on a deal, there will be many more opportunities like it down the road. If you were kicking yourself because you had a chance to buy bitcoin last year before the major run up, don't fret because if you had waited six months, you now have that same opportunity again. Plus, you now have put a bit more weight into your choices.
As you learn more about projects in the cryptocurrency space, be mindful that you're not blindly trusting a random person’s word. Many people in the cryptocurrency space have an ulterior motive, especially all those YouTubers who haven't updated their channels since February 2018. Many people are out there to sell you on the coin that they invested in not to impart knowledge.
Don't buy into something just because it's up 100% today; tomorrow it will be something else and same with the next day. Chasing the dragon gets you nowhere, instead, find projects in the space you believe in and are interested in, and you'll have a higher chance at success.