Post Menu and Details.
- Not Educating Yourself
- Relying on Emotions
- Not Evaluating Risk
- Not Diversifying
- Neglecting Security
- Final Words
Words: 1118
Reading time: ~4 minutes
The cryptocurrency market cap reached a staggering $1.83 trillion in 2021. And with the way the industry is progressing, that number is set to become much higher in the coming years.
This type of rapid growth has many investors eager to get in on the action and start reaping the returns it can offer. But, unfortunately, the huge returns some people see can be deceiving, as many novice investors face significant losses because of the sometimes crucial mistakes they end up making.
To help you avoid that, let’s look at some of the biggest mistakes you should avoid on your journey to becoming a crypto investor.
Not Educating Yourself
Cryptocurrency is a new market, so becoming a digital asset investor is something most people aspire to become these days. But this type of currency is fairly young, and there are many things we have yet to discover about its true potential.
In fact, even the original crypto, which is Bitcoin, is only a bit more than a decade old, which means that most people still aren’t even aware of what crypto is and how it will impact our future.
For most people, cryptocurrency is just a way to get rich quickly (or lose their life savings), so if you’re going to make educated decisions about investing, you need to do thorough research to find out what you are getting into.
It would help if you took the time to study cryptocurrencies and understand how they work. In addition, it would help if you also learned about investing in cryptocurrencies, as the process of trading in crypto has distinct differences from most other markets.
Only once you have a solid understanding of crypto can you start looking at opportunities with a more educated eye. This will allow you to make better decisions and learn faster, putting you miles ahead of most people that get into crypto and fail.
Relying on Emotions
It’s easy to get excited about the abundance of opportunities in the world of cryptocurrency investing. However, every smart investor knows that emotions are their biggest enemy.
Emotions cause novice investors to overspend when they’re excited and sell too quickly when they get scared. But in the hyper-volatile markets of crypto, you need to develop a calm and systematic approach to investing if you survive.
Bitcoin is an excellent example of how following the media frenzy gets people to make mistakes. Whenever there’s a dip in price, many less-informed investors start selling off their coins, which further drives down the value.
Meanwhile, smart investors buy more coins for bargain prices and reap huge rewards when the currency starts climbing again, often new record highs.
Whether it’s fear of missing out or uncertainty, you need to find ways to objectively evaluate the situation and learn to separate your emotions from the decision with the best likelihood of being right.
Not Evaluating Risk
Investing always comes with a risk. But the amount can vary greatly.
And as mentioned before, cryptocurrency markets can be highly volatile, which means that you need to be very aware of the risks that you take on when you put your money towards any cryptocurrency, even the big ones like Bitcoin or ETH.
A good example of this is the appeal of buying cheap coins. People read stories about how a coin’s value increased seemingly overnight and put their money towards worthless coins in the hopes of discovering the next big thing.
Unfortunately, unless you make these decisions after in-depth research, you will most likely end up losing the money you invest. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies you can buy today, and most of them are going to fizzle out without ever taking off.
Now, that doesn’t mean that investing in altcoins isn’t worth it, as there are opportunities out there if you can discover them. But you should always carefully evaluate how much risk you are willing to take on and be willing to accept those risks if your investment doesn’t pan out.
Whenever big rewards are on the table, the risk will usually be high as well. Only by gaining more experience and learning to recognize good investments can you swing the odds in your favour, even if just by a little.
Not Diversifying
Another outcome that comes from the crypto market being volatile is that you can’t be sure about any single investment. Most people tend to trust Bitcoin, but there’s no guarantee that it won’t plummet, especially since many already consider the technology behind Bitcoin to be obsolete.
So, if you want to mitigate some of the risks that come with buying crypto, you should avoid putting your eggs in one basket. Some people believe that only Bitcoin and Ethereum are safe investments, and there’s part of truth in that.
But over the long term, having a more diversified crypto portfolio is going to serve you well, as more altcoins are becoming increasingly popular and show signs of growth potential.
That way, you can protect yourself if one or two of your investments disappear, relying on the growth of your other assets to keep your portfolio safe and ensure good returns.
Neglecting Security
Finally, because of the unique nature of crypto investing, you do not get some of the protections afforded to you when you invest in stocks or bonds. That means that you have to secure your cryptocurrency and understand how to do it the right way.
The first step of the process is finding the right cryptocurrency wallet. There are countless options to choose from, which can be overwhelming for someone without much experience.
First, you have the “hot” crypto wallets hosted online, which is convenient and risky. Then you have desktop wallets that are stored on your desktop computer. And finally, you have mobile wallets that can be stored on your phone.
And then there are countless providers, some of which are more reputable than others. But doing the necessary research is essential, as your wallet is vital for storing and accessing the coins you invest in.
Most experts recommend storing most of your cryptocurrencies offline, ensuring that it doesn’t get accessed by others. In addition, it would be best to protect your keys with strong passwords that aren’t easy to crack.
Finally, work with reputable crypto exchanges and be careful with new companies that don’t have a strong track record yet. Crypto is volatile as it is, so you need to make sure you minimize the other risks as much as possible.
Final Words
The world of crypto has captured the imagination of investors, promising instant fortunes to those who are lucky enough to bet on the right coin. But at the same time, it comes with many challenges, making it one of the riskiest investments you can make.
However, if you avoid the pitfalls listed above, you will have a better chance of not getting burned and seeing good returns on your investment.
Thank you for reading!