Battling FOMO: A reflection on my NFT trading journey
FOMO, the fear of missing out, is a big deal in trading. It’s the question I ask myself every time: Would I miss the deal? Or, is it just a trap?
It’s like a tug-of-war between taking a chance and falling into a bad situation.
Heaven or Hell
I used to trade NFTs. There were times that I’d give in to my impulses and rush into decisions for FOMO. As you would already expect, most of the time, I ended up buying at its peak. And, this happened nearly 90% of the time.
It taught me a tough lesson: acting on impulses in trading leads to unfortunate results. At least it was what I experienced. It’s important to stay calm, think things through, and not let FOMO push you into making hasty choices.
Discipline is the key to making smarter and more profitable trades in the long run.
To the Moon?
Taking Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) as an example, I came close to persuading my friend to buy one for the blue-chip title it had in 2022. The price was higher every time I opened OpenSea the next day.
It was such a great temptation.
Should we buy or just watch it skyrocket while having a chance to own it?
Well, we didn’t buy it anyway.
Now, let’s take a look at its current price. At its peak back in April 2022, the total trading volume was 29,458 ETH and it’s only 2,133 ETH as of Oct 2023, which signifies a huge drop of around 93%. Not to mention, most of the NFT's value has almost gone to zero.
What could I do better?
I read ‘The Psychology of Money’ recently, and I love one of the quotes.
Doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave.
Morgan Housel, ‘The Psychology of Money’
Same as trading. We can learn trading techniques, but trading is a game of risk and luck, which depends very heavily on how we make decisions quickly during critical moments.
When is the right time to cut losses? Is it worth holding out? Should we buy in as the news is out?
Earning on paper VERSUS earning in reality. Your profit isn’t really secured until the moment it’s realized. Safeguarding those earnings, be it in either stable coin form like USDT/USDC or even saving them in your bank, is important.
If I were given a chance to go back to 2022, I would tell the naïve self that nothing is static. Crypto is volatile. Getting that damn profit safe in a hard wallet should be the top priority.
The End
Your earnings are always someone else’s losses.
Now, read that again. And I guess that makes a great conclusion.
