The cryptocurrency market is growing at an astounding rate. As cryptocurrency gains momentum, more and more new investors are entering the market. With the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it’s no surprise that people are excited about them and are looking to invest in them in any way they can. However, if you’re new to the world of cryptocurrency, it’s important to understand how cryptocurrencies work and how best to invest in them.
There’s no shortage of cryptocurrencies to invest in, but if you’re new to the space, then you may feel overwhelmed with your options. If you’re unsure how to approach cryptocurrency investing, then check out these seven tips that will help you navigate the world of cryptocurrency like an expert.
Do Your Own Research
In any new market, it’s tempting to follow others’ tips and join in with a crowd. But in cryptocurrency investing, there is no security in numbers. Even if you follow a tip from a legitimate source that turns out to be incorrect, your bet could lose everything. The odds are always stacked against you when betting on anything whether it's stocks or cryptocurrency so following one tip is an easy way to watch all of your money disappear into thin air. If you want to invest safely, do your own research. It may take some time but it will be worth it in the end.
Create a Strategy
Without a strategy, you’re just gambling and your chances of investing success are close to zero. However, in order to establish a good strategy, you need to know what questions you should be asking yourself when it comes to cryptocurrencies. First and foremost: What is your time horizon? That’s an extremely important question because it will dictate which type of cryptocurrency makes sense to buy.
The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and complicated. There’s no way to predict what will happen next and every investment has a risk factor involved. Before you start, it’s important to make a solid plan that includes how much of your portfolio you want to invest in cryptocurrency, which currencies you want to buy, when you want to buy them, and what price points you are willing to pay. Then, stick with your plan as best as possible. Don’t let knee-jerk reactions or FOMO (fear of missing out) drive your decisions because both can lead to panic selling and even greater losses than those on paper.
Invest What You Can Afford To Lose
If you can’t afford to lose it, don’t invest it. While that might sound like poor advice from your grandmother, she was on to something. It’s important to keep losses in check so you don’t get discouraged or risk going into debt. Before you invest, make sure you have an emergency fund set up and that you can afford to lose what you are putting toward cryptocurrency. Having said that if you can’t afford to lose it, don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.
Investing in cryptocurrency is highly speculative, which means it’s highly risky. There are major risks involved, and those who don’t mind taking a gamble should proceed with caution. If you aren’t sure how to invest safely and responsibly, then you should invest as little as possible or better yet, not at all. Keep your investments diversified, and remember that blockchain startups are still companies (that may or may not one day go public), so if there’s a chance that you can lose money on them (as there is on any investment), keep that in mind before you buy more than you can afford to lose.
Avoid Getting Emotionally Attached
While it's natural to have a vested interest in your investments, keeping your emotions in check is crucial. Don’t make decisions when you are upset, sad or angry. This will lead to poor choices and bad investment advice. Remember that you make money because of facts not emotion. Investing in cryptocurrency is incredibly risky. Unlike a stock, bond, or mutual fund, which all provide some guarantee that your investment will be backed by real assets, cryptocurrencies typically offer no such guarantees. This means you can make money on them or lose everything if things go wrong quickly. To make matters worse, nobody really knows what a fair price is when it comes to cryptocurrency; demand moves prices both up and down and what's seen as too high or too low today may not be so tomorrow.
Start Small and Go Slow
If you’re new to cryptocurrencies, it’s important to understand that they can be volatile and unpredictable. That doesn’t mean that you should avoid them, but instead, use extreme caution and start small. Investing a large amount of money in an asset with volatile returns is not a very smart move you could lose everything overnight if it all goes wrong. Instead, use an initial investment of $500 or less as a test-run and get used to how things work. You can then add more money to your portfolio once you have a better understanding of how things operate and when you have enough knowledge and experience under your belt to weather any storm.
Learn About the Wallet Options Available
A cryptocurrency wallet is what you need to buy, sell, and secure your cryptocurrencies. With so many wallets on offer, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. For example, should you store your crypto on an exchange? In a hardware wallet? Maybe a combination of both? Start by researching and learning as much as possible about cryptocurrency wallets before making any purchases. You’ll find that some wallets are designed with different features (like security or brand recognition) in mind. By getting familiar with what each kind offers and its limitations, you’ll be able to make an informed decision when it comes time to choose where to store your coins.
Set Aside Some Extra Money (In Case of Emergency)
In most cases, you can afford to lose all your cryptocurrency investments. But it’s still a good idea to have an emergency fund just in case everything falls apart. Unless you’re investing in a variety of different cryptocurrencies, your crypto holdings should all be stored with one exchange. That way, if anything goes wrong with that one place or website (it happens), you aren’t going to lose every penny and pound of your investment. Setting aside extra money will allow you to buy back into cryptocurrency after a loss if necessary. If your goal is long-term, then you might be able to ride out a downturn without taking any action. But if your goal is short-term gains (less than six months), then set aside extra cash reserves may save you from making impulsive sell decisions during periods of low prices.