Thousand Opportunities, Million Doubts
Crypto Enthusiasts and Newbie Investors,
I’d like to congratulate you on taking your first baby steps on this rough journey of crypto investing. Unfortunately, this is where the easy part ends.
When I was first enraptured by the fantastic world of cryptocurrencies a while back, there was nothing but passion and greed at the possibility of getting rich overnight. After all, who hasn’t heard about the miraculous success stories of young adults becoming billionaires by putting everything on the line? For me, this was the driving force pushing me beyond the skeptical thoughts lingering in my head.
High Volatility and Easy Access.
These are the two ingredients making crypto investing, whether young or old, incredibly attractive in the current society. Many years ago, buying, selling or simply trading crypto and even stocks was a true pain in the ass. Complicated procedures with uncomfortable interfaces and bunches of weird numbers. Now, everything is done in a matter of a few clicks.
Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, KuCoin…
The number of exchanges is more than I can count, but all of them have in common that they make investing and trading extremely easy. That’s why the problem comes afterwards.
Where to invest?
You have your personal wallet, exchange of choice, and a small or maybe big stack of banknotes warming up in your bank account. Then what?
Buy some Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, or one of the other hundred altcoins that show some potential. Maybe even one of the other few thousand that could be risky but immensely profitable. Should you trust in PoW or PoS? What is that even supposed to mean in the first place? DeFi, Staking, Yield Farming, providing liquidity….
The truth is, crypto is complicated. Terrifyingly so.
As a digital asset, it has so many things to offer and so many things you can do with the crypto you own. But what most people do not know is what they are actually investing in, actually buying.
It’s like they go to a grocery store to buy a pound of chicken, only to come out with two packed salmon.
It’s almost crazy how we buy a product with the sole reason of selling it later at a higher price. Though, what we often fail to consider is that the salmon might be rotten at that time.
What every crypto investor needs to do is simple.
Research.
It’s plain, simple, and frankly speaking, absolutely boring. Yet, it is essential for success. Moreover, your research cannot end the moment you make the decision to buy. You need to constantly be aware of the market every day, even every couple of hours for sudden changes to make a decision whether to hold, sell or buy more. You need to keep an eye on the project you’re investing in to see if there are news about changes or problems.
To put it simply, you need to integrate it into your lifestyle. That is, unless you go for the long-term and small dips in the market don’t bother you at all.
As a college student, I used my long summer break to get an intensive look into the background of crypto and current projects and developments. I spent countless hours on books, articles, YouTube videos, and my own analysis until, a couple of months later, I came to a conclusion.
I don’t know shit.
Even after taking a deep look into a project’s goals, developers, tokenomics, community and so much more, there is no guarantee or good feeling that a project will succeed or fail. It is speculation, really. Speculation, wavering trust, and hope.
Bottom Line
You can’t predict if a token or project is going to rise or fall, succeed or fail. There are too many factors playing into this, especially in the crypto market. Every single blockbuster in Hollywood about stock trading will tell you this. And like it or not, the majority of investors lose money trading. Of course, there are also clear ways and opportunities to make a profit. So, in order to be on the winning side, do your research, have a consistent strategy, and stick to it. Never stop learning and use your precious time to track the market. Your money depends on it.
