How To Trade Cryptocurrency
Many investors like to trade cryptocurrency because it’s an extremely volatile asset. If you can time the market right, trading crypto can give you much higher returns than traditional investments.
Cryptocurrency traders often have one of two goals: to accumulate Bitcoin or make a profit in USD. In a crypto bull market, it’s pretty easy for your portfolio to increase in USD value, but it’s more challenging for Bitcoin value to increase. To track your portfolio’s Bitcoin value, you can trade altcoins against Bitcoin on exchanges like Coinbase Pro.
By actively trading your cryptocurrency, you risk losing your crypto to the market. Since cryptocurrency prices are so volatile, it’s not uncommon for traders to lose money quickly trading cryptocurrencies. This is why so many crypto enthusiasts just HODL their Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency Trading Steps
Take a look at the 5 steps to trading cryptocurrency.
Step 1: Make a cryptocurrency brokerage account.
Unless you already own cryptocurrency, you’ll need to make an account with a crypto brokerage. Coinbase, Gemini and eToro are among the best crypto brokerages on the market. All 3 of these options offer a simple user interface and a variety of altcoins to choose from.
To make an account, you’ll need to provide your crypto brokerage with personal identification information, similarly to opening an account with a stock brokerage. Some common information you need to provide when setting up your account includes your Social Security number, address, date of birth and email address.
Step 2: Fund your account.
Once you’ve signed up with a crypto brokerage, you’ll need to connect your bank account. Most crypto brokerages offer bank funding through debit cards and wire transfers. Wire transfer is typically your cheapest option to fund your account –– it’s free on Coinbase and Gemini.
Step 3: Pick a crypto to invest in.
Most active cryptocurrency traders allocate most of their capital to Bitcoin and Ethereum. These cryptos move more predictably than smaller altcoins, so trading with technical indicators can be easier.
Many crypto traders allocate a portion of their capital to smaller altcoins. Although small mid-market cap cryptos are riskier than large-market cap cryptos, they offer higher upside potential. Many small altcoins have risen over 1,000% in a matter of months, making them attractive investments for risk-tolerant investors.
Step 4: Choose a strategy.
There are a plethora of trading indicators to choose from, and most traders take multiple factors into consideration when buying and selling cryptocurrency. If you’re new to investing, you may want to consider purchasing a cryptocurrency trading course.
Asia Forex Mentor is a popular choice that can teach you how to invest in foreign currency along with other items—including cryptocurrency. The One Core Program has been featured by several financial information sites, and it is a favorite of Benzinga. Check out a review of the platform, consider signing up and change your approach to trading.
If you’re an experienced trader, you may already have a strategy you use to trade stocks. Stock trading strategies are also commonly used for cryptocurrencies. A personal favorite trading strategy that many traders use is Elliott Wave Theory. Elliott Wave Theory focuses on the psychology behind the market sentiment, so it works particularly well for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies.
Step 5: Consider automated crypto trading.
When you seek out a crypto trading strategy, you might try automated crypto trading with a platform like Coinrule. Trading bots enact a strategy that is intended to give you the best results given your investment goals. Because automated trading can provide you with a conservative, neutral, or aggressive method, you can make money quickly, hold your coins or diversify your portfolio.
You might also consider actively trading cryptocurrency on some platforms while using automated trading with others.
Step 6: Store your cryptocurrency.
If you’re actively trading your cryptocurrency, you’ll have to store your funds on the exchange to have access to them. If you’re buying your cryptocurrency to hold for the mid to long term, then you should get a cryptocurrency wallet.
Cryptocurrency wallets come as software wallets or hardware wallets. Both are secure, but hardware wallets offer the best security, as they store your crypto on a physical device, offline. Ledger is a great hardware wallet brand many investors trust to store their crypto assets on. If you’re looking for a software wallet, there are several options on iOS, Google Chrome and Android that are free to use.
One of the best software wallets available to cryptocurrency traders is ZenGo. The mobile wallet uses secure 3-factor authentication to protect your digital assets, offering comparable security to other wallets on the market. Plus, ZenGo lets you buy, sell and earn interest on digital assets directly from your wallet.
Best Cryptocurrency Brokers
There are a ton of options when it comes to cryptocurrency brokerages. For new investors, Coinbase is a great option. Coinbase has a free cryptocurrency conversion feature where you can trade your crypto for any other token supported by Coinbase.
Other crypto brokerages that are solid options for intermediate traders are eToro, Binance and Gemini. Robinhood also supports certain cryptos but the platform only supports trading for 5 altcoins.
Tip From A Pro
We’ve got top forex & crypto trader Ezekiel Chew, who makes 6 figures a trade and trains the bank traders behind the scenes, to share with us about crypto trading and what exactly it takes to be successful in it.
Ezekiel believes there are three key aspects to successful crypto trading:
1. You’ve first got to learn how to read the charts. And one of the best ways to learn this is through price action; the technique that the majority of professional traders use. Once you have learned how to read the charts, you will know why the market is going up, down or sideways and then will you recognize which strategy to put into play in that direction.
2. Trade with a proven trading strategy or a combination of strategies. A proven strategy is one that is comprehensively back-tested and has been shown to work consistently. It is only in this way that you will have the confidence to stick with it during the lull periods.
3. Have a solid trading system. One that is defined not only by the technical aspects but also the business behind trading; a proper structured trade that is in line with the overall trading plan that has been proven to work. In contrast to what most new traders think, trading is not just about strategies, but the system itself also contributes greatly to becoming a successful trader.
Most of all, Ezekiel has a famous trading mantra – “Win big, lose small” that he and his students abide by.
“Trading is all about having an edge in the game and knowing the mathematical probability behind each trade”. By winning big and losing small, a single win can potentially cover 3 or more losses. If you apply this methodology in the long run, you will be a winning trader.
To learn more about Ezekiel’s method of trading backed by mathematical probability, you can check out his one core program.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Although there are many different types of cryptocurrencies, they all have one thing in common: they operate on blockchain technology, making them decentralized. Decentralization of financial operations through cryptocurrencies has several efficiencies over the traditional financial system, including:
Cuts out almost all the overhead costs associated with banks
Less expensive transactions that can be sent and received internationally
Inflation or finite supply that’s written into code — no need to trust the Federal Reserve
Financial derivatives like trading strategies and loans can be coded directly onto certain cryptocurrency blockchains, replacing the need for financial intermediaries.
The largest cryptocurrency is Bitcoin and it’s used as a “digital gold.” Essentially, Bitcoin is a commodity used as a store of value. Ethereum is the 2nd-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of 0 billion. Developers can develop smart contracts on Ethereum’s blockchain to create decentralized alternatives to traditional banking functions, like lending and trading.
Selecting a Cryptocurrency
There is no single best cryptocurrency, but there are best cryptocurrencies for certain use cases. For example, Bitcoin is the best cryptocurrency to use as a reserve asset because it has the most widespread adoption and a finite supply.
Most of the best cryptocurrency projects are in the top 50 market capitalization of cryptocurrency. Most small market cap cryptocurrencies have questionable use cases or have underdelivered on their promises. Small market cap cryptos are generally riskier than larger market cap coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
It’s important to invest in cryptocurrencies that have a solid team backing the project. To get information about a cryptocurrency, it’s best to read the cryptocurrency’s whitepaper. This will give you an idea of how the crypto works and what its intended use is.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptocurrencies are some of the hottest altcoins of 2021. Altcoins are a general term for any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. DeFi tokens are typically built on Ethereum’s blockchain and replace traditional banking functions with code. Popular DeFi tokens like yearn.finance, Compound and Uniswap are up over 500% in the past 6 months.
Here are the top 5 DeFi tokens ranked by market capitalization:
- Uniswap (UNI)
- Aave (AAVE)
- Synthetix (SNX)
- Maker (MKR)
- Solana (SOL)
Non-DeFi altcoins have also seen a significant increase in value over the past year. Ethereum, the largest altcoin by market cap, has risen from $90 to over $1,800 in less than 1 year. Ethereum has gained a lot of interest due to the variety of financial applications being built on its blockchain.