Entering the cryptocurrency world as an investor can seem challenging at first. It’s a volatile market that can provide incredible profit opportunities. However, it can also be very frustrating if you come unprepared.
You might want to directly jump in to buy SOL with a bank account or credit card, which could be a huge mistake. Unfortunately, one does not become a successful investor overnight. To achieve this, you need a well-prepared strategy before you can venture into this unpredictable market.
In this article, we explore three major approaches to investing in crypto. We will try to define each one, with its pros, cons, and main characteristics. This should provide you with sufficient information to assess which strategy might suit you best.
Mastering the Art of Crypto Investment Strategies
1. Long-Term HODLing Strategy
One of the most popular investment methods in the crypto sphere is HODLing. This strategy has one of the simplest premises. It consists of buying a small number of assets and holding onto them long-term until they increase in value.
The term “HODL” comes from a meme that emerged on the Bitcointalk forums at the dawn of crypto. Way back in 2013, a forum user misspelled the word “hold” referring to never selling his Bitcoin. The term caught on with the community and spread like wildfire in the space. HODLing Bitcoin was born, and a large portion of the community adopted the term — but also the investment strategy.
How to Identify Promising Long-Term Investment Assets?
As mentioned previously, the main goal of HODLing is to buy assets and sell them at a (much) later date for a large profit. However, this implies that the crypto assets will eventually increase in value. While this is never a certainty in the volatile crypto market, several aspects can allow you to estimate the fundamental value of an asset to increase your chances for profit.
- Study the technology behind the project. You should be diving deep into what the blockchain or dApp is offering. Ask yourself these questions:
- Does the blockchain provide an innovative technology and how does it compare to the competition?
- Does the project have competitors that are already well-established in the industry?
- Does the project innovate in a certain field, making it future-proof? (adoption, scalability, decentralization, etc.)
- Try to assess the real-world utility of said cryptocurrency. Does it have room for mass adoption?
- Consider its market valuation. Analyze its market cap, supply, liquidity, tokenomics, inflation rate (if any), etc. For example, a coin with a higher market cap will have fewer chances to fail in the long term. Conversely, a token that has a high inflation rate might dilute the value of your assets over time.
All in all, HODLing is reserved for investors who strongly believe in a project and its fundamentals.
2. Day Trading Strategy
Day trading is probably the most lucrative strategy on our list, albeit the riskiest. It involves investing in multiple coins and tokens and making profits from trading them at short intervals. Consequently, this method relies less on fundamentals and much more on technical analysis.
Day traders need to assimilate a vast number of market indicators and charting techniques to become successful in their venture.
Useful Tools for Day Trading Success
With that in mind, there are a few basic knowledge checks when it comes to day trading. Learning these will get you started on the right path.
Candlestick Charts
Candlestick charts provide the best representation of price movements in trading markets like stocks and cryptocurrencies. They offer intuitive visualization of the price movement during a given timeframe.
Each candle represents a time interval, showing the opening and closing of the price. Once familiar with their basics, a day trader can easily spot positive or negative price trends. They can also assess resistance and support, which gives them an edge in predicting the possible direction of the price.
Relative Strength Index
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a chart indicator that allows traders to assess the momentum of the price trend. It can signal overbought or oversold conditions, which, in turn, might indicate a trend reversal.
Bollinger Bands
Bollinger bands are a volatility indicator. They follow a simple moving average (SMA) line of the price, with an additional two lines that expand or contract. The closer the BBs are to the SMA, the more volatility traders can expect. This could mean a price breakout and a break in the price trend.
By combining these indicators, one can start creating trading strategies and plan market entries and exists.
3. Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) Strategy
Finally, there’s dollar cost averaging, which many consider the least risky strategy for investing in cryptocurrencies long-term. This method consists of purchasing a fixed value of an asset, at regular intervals and regardless of its price.
The main goal is to reduce the dependence on volatility and smoothen the price curve. This way, investors shouldn’t be concerned about buying at the top, as they will eventually buy at a lower price.
Practical Tips for DCA Strategy
The two major concepts that drive DCA to success are long-term vision and discipline. To achieve this, we provide several practical tips:
- Just like for HODLing, analyze the fundamentals of the asset you are going to invest in.
- Determine a fixed budget and schedule to purchase your asset, and stick to it, no matter what.
- Exchanges offer ways to automate this purchasing schedule, so take advantage of this.
- Focus on your long-term goals (accumulating X amount, reaching X profit, etc), and don’t get sidetracked by short-term price action.
Although less risky than other methods, DCA still requires a good amount of research to be effective.
Choose a Strategy to Increase Crypto Profits
Depending on your risk profile, either of these strategies could suit you. Experienced investors use a combination of these to maximize their opportunities. For instance, you could DCA a couple of blue chip coins like ETH and BTC. At the same time, you could day-trade riskier cryptocurrencies that present more short-term upside.
Conclusively, each strategy requires knowledge and experience before you begin to make considerable profits. Applying it will depend on the effort you put into learning it, your risk profile, and your commitment to remaining active in the crypto markets.
