Most crypto investors after a bear market are like children in a huge candy store. Their eyes light up and, if parents allow it, they will try everything. Many candies they will love and want more, other flavors are not for them, but they want to try them anyway. Imagine a child trying out a candy with pepper. Poor kid!
So, why do i say crypto investors would be like that? Because most of us have seen lots of red and low profit (if any) throughout the bear market, and all at once, if we have accumulated during all that time, the profit "climbs" on us.
So, here are some mistakes we might be tempted to do, and I made too in time:
1. Taking Profit Often and Early
It's been proven that long time hodlers of crypto assets that stood the test of time (in crypto) are often more profitable than someone who rides shorter waves.
One particular situation here is the early stage of the bull run after the bear market or a long side way movement. Investors may be easier tempted to mark smaller profits than they would at a later stage in the bull market because they are not used to such profits anymore, and don't want to see them vanish.
Attempting to ride shorter waves has at least two downsides:
- you won't catch the lower and the upper sides of the interval, reducing the profit you take.
- there is the risk that you take profit and the market keeps going up, which early in the bull market rarely makes sense; most people who do that re-enter the market at a higher price point, cutting into their overall profit.
Plus, you always have to watch the market and its movements.
2. Regularly Switching From One Crypto Token to Another Based on News
That's probably wrong even without the word "regularly". During the bull market, if you forgot, we will be bombarded by positive news of things happening or almost happening here and there in the crypto sphere.
When a news comes out, insiders would have loaded well before it became public, in most cases. By the time you read the news, there are two scenarios:
- if there is something substantial worth investing, the price already skyrocketed
- if it's a no-future coin, it probably entered in a pump-and-dump scenario
That's why, in my opinion, switching regularly from a coin or token you know and are invested in to another based on the expectation of a higher profit after you read some news can be a mistake. I certainly did that early on in my crypto journey, so I speak from my own experience.
3. Being Invested in Too Many Things
The bear market is rather calm, despite the negativity. You have time to take the right decisions. Bull market is different. Everything has a different speed. There are more things happening at once, you will have more news, people are excited and they talk more and often they think everything is great, even when they are not. Even smart people. Especially them!
You won't have enough time to think. You will be surrounded and you will catch yourself some FOMO.
What you need the least is a couple dozens significant investments to track down, make decisions and act on them.
It is said 7 is the magic number of investment one should have. No more! Because we can't focus on too many things. And in the bull market will be even harder.
4. Not Having a Plan
Time to plan was the bear market or the latest the days before the bull market started to enter in a wilder stage. If you don't have a plan on what to do during the bull market and when, DO IT NOW!
If you think you can make the right decisions during the bull market without a proper, cold, emotionless, plan, you are wrong. I and others are living proves of failing to make the right decisions during the bull market without a prior plan.
The plan should be very clear and should not leave much room to maneuver (something like take profit at this price level/time without waiting any longer), otherwise our FOMO may take the wrong decision during the bull market.
5. Not Executing on the Plan
If we think we know better and decide to ignore the plan, especially when we refer to time and dates, and less about price levels, which can be unpredictable, things can go pretty badly, and will turn a plan of taking profit and potentially reinvesting in the bear market into hodling through the bear market, which is another missed opportunity to apply this strategy.
Want to check out my collection of posts? (work in progress!)
It's a good way to pick what interests you.