The Real Secret to Becoming Successful in Bitcoin and Crypto
In the crypto market, there is a huge misconception that many people often have about those who have become rich from crypto. That in order to become successful with crypto, you need either be a great trader, or find the next hidden gem altcoin that is about to go up by 1,000x. While it is true that if you're able to achieve those two mentioned methods, it could go a long way towards changing your life financially. But the truth is that this isn't the way that most people become successful in crypto.
After having been in the market for several years now, there are often two traits that keep jumping out at me when I do see the people who have made it in this market. Thankfully, these two things are traits that anyone can pull off, and require very little skill, unlike the methods above. As we have entered the bear market and could be there for several months. This is a perfect time to review the fundamentals that are vital to becoming successful in this market.
Time
Those who have been in the market for a longer amount of time, have a much greater chance of having transformed their lived financially. It really is that simple. Having the persistence and patience to survive the different market cycles is what will give you conviction in the coins that you are purchasing, and also being able to better sort out the projects that have great potential, and those that are most likely scams. While the market is young, and history never repeats exactly the same. But the crypto cycles have rhymed very closely. Being in the market for an extended period of time will allow people to fully take advantage of all of the large price dips to help build up their portfolio. Those people who accumulated Bitcoin or Ethereum after the last bull cycle ended in 2018, or during the covid price crash in March 2020 have been able to do very well for themselves. If they continued investing during those periods, it's very likely that those were portfolio defining moments for them.
The same could be said for now. While it is too soon to say whether Bitcoin's price has already bottomed out, or if there will be further dips. The truth of it is that Bitcoin has dipped more than 70% below its all-time high price of $69k. Which means that Bitcoin at $21k is a great buy. The same could be said for Ethereum, and other well-trusted projects.
Time is your friend. Not only does it allow you time to accumulate, but it also allows you to take advantage of compounding interest. While I wouldn't recommend doing it today, due to the chaos in the crypto markets. But, lending out my Bitcoin at decent interest rates for a few years, allowed me to significantly increase my holdings. Always remember that there is a risk factor that does come along with lending out your tokens. A safer option would be staking, which most proof-of-stake chains allow you to do. By staking your Ethereum, Polkadot, Cardano, you would be able to take advantage of time and increase your holdings.
An important trend that I have noticed, is that people who are in crypto for the long-term, tend to make better sound decisions. Which leads me to my next point.
Don't Be Your Own Worst Enemy
While time in the market is your greatest asset to increase your holdings, making emotional and poor decisions is the quickest way to lose them.
This includes a variety of different ways that people in the crypto market, actually become their own worst enemy. The first is that people tend to think that they are smarter than the market. That other people made a lot of money by investing in a low-cap coin, and so I need to find the next hidden gem altcoin. Becoming heavy speculators, rather than investing in great projects. More often than not, those projects tend to trend towards zero.
And then there is trading. There is a reason why so many of the crypto YouTube influencers are sponsored by, and shill leverage trading services to their followers. Think of them as a rigged casino, where the casino almost always walks away with your money. And that is why they pay those influencers so much to advertise for them. The influencers become rich by leading their followers to their financial graves.
Something that I see time after time is new people to the market not having patience. They will often see someone else who has gotten rich from crypto, and they want the same result. Even though, those other people have already been in the market for years. And so they become aggressive with their trading, or the coins that they are buying. They are trying to make up for lost time. Perhaps thinking that since they didn't get into Bitcoin or Ethereum early, that they need to go even harder now. That is when things usually go poorly for them.
The last crypto mistake that I see time after time is panic selling. The whole famous process of buying high, and selling low. Bitcoin prices can plunge quickly, and when it does, these people begin to panic and then sell their coins. These same people will FOMO back into the market when prices begin to recover. Resulting in them paying more for less coins. Often these people have investing more into Bitcoin or crypto than they are willing to lose. This is perhaps the most important thing you need to take away from this article, never invest more into Bitcoin or crypto than you are willing to lose. If you have invested accordingly to that philosophy, then those huge price drops will not effect you quite as much emotionally. Allowing you remain calm, not sell, and perhaps even continue to accumulate.
Bear markets can be difficult for all of us, but especially for those who are experiencing it for the first time. Survival and maintaining your portfolio needs to be your top priority. If you are able to survive the bear market by not being your own worst enemy, and continue to accumulate over time. Then you are already on track to have success with Bitcoin and crypto.
How about you? What do you think is the most important thing to become successful in crypto? Have you made any self-induced mistakes?
As always, thank you for reading!
I think you have definitely covered the "bases" here. I have to say I do always enjoy your perspective, and when offered, your take or analysis as a whole. It helps me to form my own judgements on what the "next best step" should be, especially considering that my 30+ years of investment experience has been considerably difficult to translate to the crypto markets, which operate significantly differently than other investments I am accustomed to.
Keep the commentary coming. It is digested and enjoyed thoroughly.