January 1, 2018

After a blast last night, I woke up this morning to tons of New Year wishes on WhatsApp from friends & family, some of whom I don’t even have in my address book. I couldn’t recall their names, even after looking at their DP. Messages from the ones whom I know, for sure, made me realize one thing that I haven’t spoken to a lot of these friends and relatives for months now. Well, I can easily blame it on my recently acquired hobby (you know what I am talking about) and move on because…. I am loving it!

As I continued through the rest of my morning chores, thinking about the year that went by, I decided to pen down my thoughts. And while I was scribbling and retrospecting, I recalled all those questions that are frequently asked to me. So here I am, sharing with you all how the crypto bug bit me to make it immutable and transparent…ha ha ha some practical use case based thinking on the lines of blockchain, other than just buying and selling tokens of those companies, claiming to be ‘blockchain ready’. Well, I am 1000% sure it is here to stay so don’t get me wrong!

My Lessons Learnt in 2017

Here are my lessons learnt from trading in crypto markets so far and how am I going to ensure that I don’t commit the same mistake again in 2018.

1. Avoid Impulsiveness:

I have been at times impulsive about certain trades just because of a short-term spike but the companies which are working to solve some real-world problems and have been transparent about their roadmaps and challenges have only one way to go…up North! So, my first lesson learnt is that I will do my due diligence, study the fundamentals, markets and participants before/after investing and realign if necessary.

2. Dont get stuck with trades; move on quickly

I got stuck with few coins even after a downside of more than 50% because I didn’t want to book a loss on them…eventually they recovered but what I lost was that ‘time’ when I was stuck in those trades. So, my second lesson learnt is to make a trading strategy, trade that strategy and most importantly, adjust according to new developments every 2-4 weeks.

3. Stop loss is the key

My third most important lesson learnt is to always put a STOP LOSS (follows from my previous point of not getting stuck to a trade just because it went down sharply). If you have a strategy in place, apply it and decide that you would exit the trade if it goes down by let’s say 20% and re-invest that amount into some other trade. You can always come back to the same coin and buy back at a lower price once you have caught the downtrend clearly. Similarly, for the upside you should have strategy that you would square off the trade if you think the charts have been indicating an oversold status for few days now.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

I will not put all my eggs in one basket, even if my closest trader friend tells me that there is an upside of 1000%+ on a certain coin/token. Unless there is an insider information into a trade, the chances are very high that he is just betting on speculation and/or his vested interests in that coin/token. No offence to my trader friends here but it is my hard earned money and I will decide what to do with that)

5. Build your portfolio

I will build my portfolio in 2018 with the following split

i) 40-50% spread into large caps (top 10)

ii) 10-15% in ICOs (Study about team, product and roadmap before investing)

iii) 35-50% in market recommendations/spot/short term volatile trades (after all, the essence of crypto trading is still going to be on speculation and fundamental news)

iv) Also, re-align my portfolio according to market dynamics (corrections or developments) every 2 – 4 weeks which is highly recommended for crypto markets.

6. Bookmark your information sources

Since the crypto markets are still very much fundamentally driven, I will build a list of my trusted information sources which includes information about the following:

i) Government regulations around crypto markets (this is quite important unless your grocery store starts accepting tokens instead of fiat). There are only a handful of countries that have adopted the use of crypto currencies while others are still sitting on the fence watching the markets

ii) Product roadmap releases including forks (well fork means free money and potential spike up in the price of the base coin/token)

iii) Global events & meetups where the big giants are announcing technological developments that have an impact on the crypto markets

iv) ICO Calendar so that you don’t miss on the discounts on the prices on your picks.

Just to summarize

I hope with all these check boxes in place, 2018 would be much better for all of us. Mind you, being a crypto trader is not easy, it requires a sharp mind, a healthy body and a calm heart. Create your trading schedule, adhere to it religiously. Sleep & wake on time, eat healthy, exercise regularly.

Respect the rules that you set for yourself, be disciplined and manage your emotions. Don’t forget to reserve time out with your family and friends, as they are the ones for whom you are going to spend the good and bad times with!

Happy Trading!

Once again, wishing you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

This was originally posted by me on http://CoinScenario.com