Cryptocurrency — Do you gamble, or do you trade?

The transition from speculator to a seasoned trading veteran is well trodden. Along the way you will come across over excited ‘newbies’, the jaded, the unlucky and those that just flat out quit. The few that come out the other side are a breed of their own.

As with any endeavour, a good trader has learnt valuable lessons, both good and bad along their journey. The best traders keep emotion in check and try to learn from their own mistakes. The elite traders learn from others prior to replicating common pitfalls.

I like to challenge anyone who discusses cryptocurrency trading with me to be honest with themselves. Self-appraisal is surprisingly hard; but a very valuable tool to possess. What I think you should concentrate on is:

• Do I have a strategy?
• What are my strengths?
• What are my weaknesses?
• Do I have a solid understanding of cryptocurrency and the market in general?
• Do I completely understand the specific market I am entering when making a trade?
• Do I record and assess my previous trading action, and do I look where I can improve?
• Do I make informed decisions based on logic rather than emotion?

Once you have answered these questions, you can truly start to shape whether you are only gambling, or if you are pushing towards a more professional outlook. Knowing your strengths will assist you to choose your strategy along those lines. Knowing your weaknesses will enable you to work on them, or to avoid situations that allow your weakness to prevail.

I always advocate a conservative approach to cryptocurrency trading, particularly whilst adoption is still essentially in its infancy. As a trader or investor you can grow into your portfolio and manage risk longer term. What is frustrating is the enthusiastic and supportive people that come into the space and lose a lot of money or confidence due to not understanding their position in the market.

“Education and encouraging small initial steps can go a long way to avoid our community losing the valuable contribution from these new enthusiasts”

Education and encouraging small initial steps can go a long way to avoid our community losing the valuable contribution from these new enthusiasts.

I know when I first entered the space I was overwhelmed with the amount of data to consume and I believe it has only become harder to navigate. I implore all veteran’s of the crypto space to add education and assistance to their skill set so we can grow our sector. Remember teaching is one of the best ways to consolidate knowledge and who knows, maybe you will learn something new too.

To all the newer traders, please exercise caution until you are very familiar with the cryptocurrency world. I want you to learn from others mistakes first and think like a trader, not a gambler.