The bitcoin industry is an industry unlike any other other. There are a multitude of reasons for why person may want to invest into this market. A few of those reasons might be for the technology, freedom, cheaper remittances, making money and much more. As with most things in life, you will often find that the strongest motivator is caused by making money and that is also the case with bitcoin. A large portion of the people in this industry are hoping to make profits that can eventually change their lives, and the great thing is that this is very possible with bitcoin. Not only is it very possible, but I would argue that it is very likely. While this may sound like a perfect scenario, there are still negatives that come along with this situation. A shockingly large amount of people want instant gratification, and by that I mean they want the money as fast as they can get it; not caring about the process it takes to obtain those gains. After you have been investing into bitcoin for quite a while, you will begin to see many of the same patterns. History doesn't repeat, but it sure does seem to rhyme quite often. The most dangerous or perhaps riskiest part of investing into bitcoin, is the investor themselves. They are their own biggest weakness and get in the way of their own success. Not realizing it takes literally hundreds of hours of research or studying before you can even attempt to say that you know what bitcoin is.
Today I will be going through the things that I did in the past, and continue to do up until now to stay on top of my toes in the bitcoin world. All of which helps to give me the largest chance of success.
But, before we talk about the things that I would recommend you to do, I think that it is perhaps even more essential to talk about the things that you shouldn't do. As I mentioned above, most of the harm comes in to play by someone taking the wrong actions. If you are able to prevent yourself from doing those actions, you have just won half of the batter.
The most crucial advice I can give is to never take all your information and make opinions from just one source. This is for all sources, but I would stress this fact even more from YouTube influencers. You always need to be aware that sources most likely have their own motives. It could be that they are getting paid from the coin founders to shill the coin. It could be that they already have a large portfolio of said coin and are hoping to do a pump and dump. It could be that they have biased opinions about their sponsors. Or it could be that they are willing to say just about anything to have you sign up for their paid group. There are a few good cryptocurrency YouTubers out there, but much less than you would think. The shocking thing is how little some of the most popular channels actually know about cryptocurrency. Just because they have a large channel, doesn't mean they actually know what they're talking about. Be careful out there.
Taking all your information in from one source can make you quite biased and miss opportunities. I always call myself somewhat of an "open-minded bitcoin maximalist." While most bitcoin maxi's can be closed minded and swear off anything that isn't bitcoin. I choose to be open-minded, and always be on the look out for new opportunities. While 99% of the time I come to the conclusion that bitcoin is better and I would rather just invest into that. If you only watch DeFi YouTubers, than all you will know is DeFi. Same goes for bitcoin only content; you would only know bitcoin and nothing else. While I will be honest that a majority of the content that I do watch is bitcoin only, I do watch/take in other information as well. It's important to know the entire market to insure your success.
Okay, so now we have covered what you shouldn't do. Now let's talk about what things that you can do to become knowledgable, and prevent mistakes. These are things that I do or have done, and have helped me immensely. It is by no means a perfect list, and there will be things missing that could help you a great deal as well. But I do believe it is a good starter list.
Read the bitcoin white paper. This might seem like a boring or basic choice to some, but it's essential to begin to understand bitcoin, it's goal and what it hopes to achieve. We have come a long ways since then, but it still is the starer place that I would recommend to begin with.
After that, there are a variety of books that I would recommend reading. Some of these books deal only with bitcoin, and others deal with finance. For me personally, learning about bitcoin is extremely important. But it is also very important to change your thinking about how finance and the world works as well to understand why it is so important. You need to begin having a bitcoin mindset. Books that I have read and found incredibly important in not only my bitcoin journey, but also financial journey have been the following; The Bitcoin Standard, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Price of Tomorrow, The Sovereign Individual and many more. I would argue that these are a great starter guide to not only any bitcoiner, but any one who is wanting to change their life financially as well. I highly recommend them.
Next, Podcasts. I am an avid podcast listener. I would much rather learn and listen to something I am passionate about rather than listening to music. Just like I mentioned before, be careful not to take all your information from only one source. Remember these podcasts can be just as biased as you'll find some YouTubers to be, and they can shill just as much. I will listen to as many podcasts as I can, but at the end of the day I make my own decisions. Here are a few that I would recommend and the reason for it. What Bitcoin Did, while the host isn't technically knowledgable about BTC, he does come at it from a beginner mindset and therefore it's a good point for new people to begin with. Tales From the Crypt a bitcoin podcast. This podcast goes more into the technical and privacy side of things. While this show is quite biased in the bitcoin maxi side of things, it is a nice option if you want to go more into the deeper side of bitcoin. We Study Billionaires podcast. While this is a general investing podcast, that as you guessed studies billionaires. They do have bitcoin featured episodes once a week. I enjoy this podcast quite a bit. To keep things balanced, I do listen to an ethereum podcast as well called, Bankless. Which as you guessed, it covers all things ethereum. While I enjoy learning about bitcoin the most, I also love learning about the entire market.
Then we have YouTube. I watch very little TV, but instead find myself watching Youtube, and it almost always has to do with investing, bitcoin, and cryptocurrency. I tend to think that people who have their own channels are either very biased, paid shills or sometimes aren't knowledgable about what they're talking about. That is why I stay away from YouTuber's like Bit Boy Crypto, or Chico Crypto, JRNY Crypto or anyone like that. I prefer channels that either a daily news channel, interviews, or learning channel. For daily news I like The Modern Investor. While he can be quite biased or overly bullish; I find it entertaining to watch. Every once in a while we all need our entertainment. For interviews I scour all the channels, but I often like the Pomp Podcast channel and his new show The Best Business Show. While the host is biased to bitcoin and you need to be careful that he is also extremely biased towards his advertisers and wanting to make money, I do find him quite knowledgable and has good interviews. As I mentioned above, taking information in from many sources and make your own decisions.
Lastly, using the internet. This is perhaps my favorite of all of the things to do. Scouring the internet, reading forums and message boards, reading all the latest information, learning about what is coming in the future. There is no end to the power that is at your fingertips. But again, always be careful out there. One of my favorite news sources is actually Twitter, following the right users can be an extremely powerful tool. Of course I also go to a large amount of crypto news sites and am a frequent user of Reddit as well. If you search long enough, you will find the place that works for you.
As for me, I do everything listed above. There is no right answer that is the perfect way to learn or become successful. But you will find out more often than not that the people who put in the most time and hours, are often the ones that become successful. In the beginning I did these things because I wanted to become more knowledgable about what I was investing into. But it has since evolved into my greatest passion, and I look forward to do them each day. My journey in learning about bitcoin is a never-ended journey, one that I am excited to see where it takes me. We are on the edge of the greatest wealth transfer we have ever seen, I hope that you are taking the steps to be involved in that transfer.
How about you? What are your favorite ways to learn and research about bitcoin? Which things would you recommend people to avoid?
As always, thank you for reading!
bitcoin is good for long term