Since we’re smack dab right in the middle of a Crypto Bear Market, what better time is there to talk about some of the mistakes that traders make during what is supposed to be a huge buying opportunity? Still, inexperience and bad decisions among the many will reign supreme and cautionary tales have to be acknowledged.
Over the years I’ve seen some people make massive blunders that have wiped out their portfolios, and while some of the errors I’ve outlined below are not so dire, they represent missed opportunities to accumulate during a time when you’re supposed to be accumulating. And, if you’re not doing that, you’re wasting your time.
So without further ado, here are 4 big mistakes that you may be made in a Bear market.
* Note that I am not involved in Margin Trading — the following article is related to spot traders*
1. They Don’t Let Their Crypto Work For Them
Grow me Dammit!
You’re holding strong and you’re feeling good about it. Your crypto portfolio is down by 90% but it doesn’t phase you — people around you are losing their heads. You on the other hand? Ice cold. What you do know is that you won’t sell and give these damn whales satisfaction. Great. That’s the right attitude. Except, what‘s your crypto doing for you while you continue to hold through the long Crypto Winter?
If you’re just holding your crypto and nothing else, you’re losing out. Put it to work! A lot of exchanges have to stake programs that lock up your crypto for several days usually 30/60/90/120 and you gain a specified Annual Percentage Rate (APR). You’ll wanna go with projects that give the highest possible APR. The point is since you plan to hold long-term, let your crypto earn for you in the meantime. Don’t just keep it in your wallet and sleep on it.
But, you have to keep in mind that locked staking does come with risks. You could be staking X coin for 30 days and its price could increase or decrease, and since your crypto is locked, you won’t be able to sell even if you wanted to.
A good practice is to determine a price target you’d only sell at for each coin and a time estimate on when you think that could happen and just stake accordingly.
For example, Think that that X coin might reach $500 in 120 days. Stake it for 90 days or less just to be on the safe side. I’ve bought a lot of Crypto so far with the money I’ve earned staking. Not letting your crypto work for you during a Bear market is simply wasteful.
On the other hand, if having your crypto locked up for a set amount of time doesn’t sit right with you, you can always choose the savings option. The APR is much less though, but your Crypto can be redeemed any time in case you wanna sell, and at least you’re gaining something during a long hold.
2. They Take Profit Too Early
I can’t wait to take profit early and fill you up so I can be rich.
Coins losing 80–90% of their value does not come around every day. It’s an opportunity to buy very cheap coins and flip them later for huge profits.
And while people do recognize these opportunities and buy, they then turn around and sell for meager profits just as prices start moving up again — Big mistake!
Again, ridiculous discounts don’t come around often. If you sell too early, know that Bull Markets like Bear markets can last for months/years and the opportunity to buy at such a low price may not present itself for a long time.
For example, If Coin X was previously trading at $900 before it crashed down to $50, and you managed to grab a bunch. Selling and taking profit at $100 is would be leaving a lot of money on the table.
There are exceptions, of course, you could sell, take a profit and enter a more lucrative position that would have a better ROI in the long term or sometimes life just throws curveballs where you need the cash. But, in general, it’s best to hold on for bigger profits with coins that are oversold.
3. They Allow Themselves to Be Manipulated By Liars
Trust me, bro, sell. I care about you and want what’s best for you.
It’s one of the dirtiest tactics you’ll see in any crypto-related social media setting. Prices crash and lose 80–90% of their value and you’ll get an army of manipulators coming out in droves to create FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) and get emotionally reeling, inexperienced traders to save their Fiat and sell their Crypto because the project is unlikely to recover.
Over the years, I can’t count how many times Bitcoin was pronounced dead only to shoot back up again.
Check out a lot of charts and you’ll see a ton of projects which seemingly looked dead shoot right back up.
The main idea behind this manipulation is to stir up the fear and amplify it so that more and more people continue to sell and Fudders would take advantage of even lower prices.
Always keep this in mind. Most people in the Crypto space, don’t give a shit if someone else is making or losing money. They’re concerned with themselves. So having several do-gooders pop up on the Telegram chat you frequent all of a sudden to advise you to sell because they care about you and don’t want you to lose your money, is laughable. Don’t fall for it!
4. They Sell Their Crypto In a Crash
This could be you if you panic sells during a crash.
Unless You’re adept at TA (Technical Analysis), and you know that when a crash happens, you will be selling your crypto at the right time so that you can use that same money to buy bigger amounts later, don’t even try to attempt this.
Massive crashes can happen so fast and they’re absolutely brutal. If you don’t have the nerve which comes with experience to stay calm during the turbulence, you’re jeopardizing yourself big time by hitting that sell button.
What can happen is right after you sell into Fiat, there’s a rebound and prices start going back up again, leaving you stressing to get back in again and eventually buying back fewer amounts of the same coin you owned before — Had 30 Litecoins before? Well, now you bought back in with 20 Litecoins. Excellent!
Learn to not react when blood is flowing in the streets and everyone is losing their heads. Look at crashes as an opportunity to buy. Never sell what you already have, and just deposit new money to the exchange and buy with that.
5. They Get Desperate To Profit and Make Bad Decisions
Well, that didn’t work. Maybe I should invest in Concoin as Bob advised.
Let’s get one thing straight — holding and trading in Crypto is a long-term battle of wills. If you wanna make money, the biggest asset you have as a trader is patience. I can’t emphasize that enough.
You need to have patience and an iron will to succeed in Crypto otherwise desperation and frustration start to seep in. Many of the big players can throw obscene amounts of money on coins and just wait months, sometimes even years to make big profits.
The average trader doesn’t have that luxury, they’re caught up in the idea of getting rich as soon as possible or earning a salary from trading, and when reality sets in and they see straight-line markets for the longest time, they get angry and frustrated and that’s when the emotions start to take over.
They start looking for any way to profit. They’ll get involved in bullshit Pump and Dump groups. They’ll continue to trade when there isn’t much volatility. They’ll listen to horrible advice and buy shit coins that may end up being rug pulls (scams). They see some coins getting pumped and they sell some of their cryptos and buy in only to have the price crash and they get stuck holding some shit coin for the longest time. There’s a plethora of bad decisions just waiting to be made by the desperate when the chips are down.
Always keep a cool head and know that by entering the Crypto space be ready to have your emotions and patience tested. Know that if you do act on a whim, you’ll likely get wrecked. Always try to rationalize and think through what you’re doing in terms of decisions made cause you’ll be making a lot of them.
In the end, It’s natural to make mistakes, that’s how we learn. Just make sure they do not end up wiping your portfolio out.