Investing in crypto is not for the faint hearted. My journey only began in February this year and I have already experienced many dips, rises and sideways action that could swing widely from one day to the next. It's not easy, watching the market swings +20%/-20% in one day. Either way makes me uneasy. +20% and I'm thinking about how I'm too late to the party, the ships have sailed. -20% and the FUD starts to creep up slowly, whispering in my ears as I try to decide whether I should BTFD ("Buy the F#$%ing Dip") or not.
Throughout it all, I'm proud to say that I have not sold any of the crypto that I've invested. I have sold some free crypto that I've earned through various platforms like Alien Worlds, but never back into fiat, I simply convert to more crypto that I believe in. I keep stacking my sats, as they say. I realised that as I ventured further in the crypto rabbit hole, the only thing I could do was to BTFD. I finally did it! I finally managed to forge my Diamond Hands (metaphorically).
I wanted to share the below which helped me keeping it cool no matter what the market is doing. Of course, this is not financial or investment advice, just simply what I found to be useful for me personally. Feel free to leave in the comments as well if you have any other strategies you use as well.
- Have an open mind
- Have a plan
- Have conviction
- Don't compare yourself to others
- Don't put yourself in a position where you have to sell
- Put your crypto to work
No. 1 Have an Open Mind
Everything in crypto will shatter what you think you know about the world you know. It expands your universe and constantly pushes the boundary of your comfort zone. Having an open mind is critically important. Listen to the critics, the maximalists, the minimalists, and everyone in between. Don't dismiss anything but don't believe everything either. Having an open mind is what got me into crypto. I got my first free Satoshis from signing up to an exchange. There are also a myriad of ways you can get into crypto for free before you make an investment. I even wrote about it in my first ever post on Publish0x. Don't knock it 'til you rock it, especially if it won't cost you anything.
No.2 Have a plan
You need to have a plan and stick to it. Unless the plan doesn't work then you can and should change it. Decide early on whether the plan is to trade crypto and chase those 1,000x gains or being the slow and steady wins the race type. Coming from the ETFs space, you are right to say I was the latter type. I just knew from experience that trading would be too much of an emotional rollercoaster for me to endure. From the outset of this I decided that I will never sell my crypto (unless my life depended on it urgently), not unless it was going to be life changing (like paying off my mortgage). Every month I'll Dollar Cost Average part of my salary from fiat to store of value assets and projects that I believe in. Maybe this is a dumb idea, and maybe I'll cry if the market craps itself, but this is the plan I'll be sticking to.
No.3 Have conviction
Sticking to the plan is easy if you have conviction. Diamond hands can only form when one has a diamond brain. Educate yourself about crypto in every way possible. My morning routine has become listening to either a podcast about crypto or a book about crypto (currently listening to The Bitcoin Standard). I did this every morning to work (and still do) because I felt like I had limited time to decide whether this whole thing was a scam or the most genius idea of the century. To start, read the Bitcoin Whitepaper (the OG of crypto) and always read [Insert Crypto You're About to Invest Into] Whitepaper. Read The Bitcoin Standard. Listen to podcasts. Learn about economics and finance. Read, read and read some more from free online resources like Publish0x, Leo.Finance, or Read.Cash. You can even enrol into a free online course like from the Saylor Academy.
One of the reasons why I didn't get into Bitcoin or crypto in general earlier is because I listened to the mainstream media. I was lazy and didn't bother digging below the surface and decide for myself before I dismissed crypto completely. Something about crypto is just so divisive that you have to have conviction in what you're investing in because otherwise you'll fall into the trap of mainstream FUD.
No.4 Don't compare yourself to others
I read somewhere that "Comparison is the thief of joy". This is especially true in crypto because of the large swings in gains and dips that people love to say things like "If only I invested in x, I'll have y" or "If only I listened to x, now they have y". Don't compare yourself to others in general and especially in crypto because it'll only get harder. Everyone has their own path whether they started 10 years ago or started just now. Stick to your plan and tune out the noise.
No.5 Don't put yourself in a position where you have to sell
Everyone's heard the golden rule of crypto not to invest what they can't afford to lose. For me it meant that I: 1) Buy within my means and HODL, 2) Build up an emergency budget and 3) Diversify. In the times when the market tanks, I am not forced to sell my holdings because I've taken on risky leveraged positions. I have a day job and if the economy tanks, I have an emergency budget to make by. And although I truly believe that crypto is where life changing gains can be made, I am also diversified into real estate and ETFs to not have all eggs in one basket. I make sure that I can get by despite what the market does.
No.6 Put your crypto to work
I love putting my crypto holdings to work because it helps with my diamond hands. If my crypto is locked up in staking or savings accounts, it deters me from having any thought about selling. Everyday I'm earning more passive income by hodling and enjoy the fruits of compounding. What makes this easier is also the transaction fees makes it hard to justify sending my holdings on and off the exchange for staking / lending rewards. There are a lot of Defi or Cefi platforms out there that could accomplish this and personally have my holdings currently diversified in CubFinance (Defi) and Cefi platforms such as Binance Earn, Blockfi, and Celsius. I'm constantly updating my knowledge in these areas to ensure that my funds are in safe hands.
Closing Thoughts
Again, the above is just me trying to sort out the methods that I've used that helped me with my Diamond Hands. It's not intended to be financial advice and always do your own research and find ways that suits you. For me, I will be hodling until it becomes life changing. Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. But I'm definitely enjoying the ride so far.
How has your journey been? What has helped you hold through the bear markets? Please let me know in the comments below.
As always, keep stacking.
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I totally agree with you here, and I’d also had have a long time horizon! Don’t be a shit coiner looking to flip a profit in a few days or weeks, in the end HODL’rs win
It’s so simple and obvious but it’s not easy to HODL everyone feels they must trade or be active to be winning but Bitcoin is about prudence and the shitcoin casino is there to test your resolve
Definitely difficult times ahead I would say, but I find myself reading more and learning more every day and finding my conviction so it gets easier, even if momentarily we're in the red
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