Once you enter the Bitcoin world, you'll be faced with a choice. Stay a trader or become a Bitcoin HODLer no matter what. Initially, your first purchase of Bitcoin will be for the lure of gain. So you'll be more on the side of the traders.
You will probably make the mistake of trying to time the market to generate more and more profits in fiat currency. At this stage of your progress in the Bitcoin world, you will not yet have grasped the why of Bitcoin. Once you do, you may still have that feeling of greed guiding you, but you will be looking to accumulate more BTC instead.
I'm guessing you've already had that little voice inside you that says:
“If I sell my Bitcoin now, and if the price drops, then I can buy more back down, so I'll have more.”
Unstoppable! Except that you can't effectively time the market every time, and once the price of Bitcoin drops, at what point will you re-enter? Will you be able to do it?
Second, why sell an asset that you believe in for the long term? It doesn't make sense if you step back and analyze things without letting greed cloud your sense of judgment.
Even so, you're unlikely to understand any of this directly. You will want, like everyone else, to make your own mistakes to see for yourself. You always think you are different and necessarily stronger than others. And then the reality sets in: we are not better than others at timing the market.
That's when you have to take advantage of the greatest natural advantage nature gives you: the time you can HODL Bitcoin no matter what. For you should know that all the people who have had HODL Bitcoin for more than 3 and a half years are in profit so far. This should encourage you to get on the right side of your financial health: the HODLer no matter what.
Looking closely at the most common mistakes, I see at least five that you might make. Fortunately, for these five mistakes you might make, I have the solutions to offer you. What I am proposing here is simply to move from losing Bitcoin Trader to winning Bitcoin HODLer.
An essential change that will allow you to take full advantage of the Bitcoin revolution in the future.
The 5 mistakes you will make as a losing Bitcoin Trader
After buying Bitcoin for the first time on the exchange platforms, you will quickly be tempted by leverage trading. It is in the interest of the trading platforms to offer this constantly because the majority of users are losing money, which is very profitable for these platforms.
That's why I told you a while ago about the Swan Bitcoin buying platform that offers you to accumulate BTC without implementing a sell button on its platform. A bold choice that shows that Swan Bitcoin is all about you getting the most out of Bitcoin. Indeed, the more transactions you make, the more money you make for the platforms via the fees you pay.
So Swan Bitcoin has no financial interest in not offering a sell button. It's just that Swan Bitcoin wants to move the Bitcoin revolution in the right direction.
As I explained to you after the leverage flush on December 3 to 4, 2021, leverage trading is too risky for at least 95% of the people in the Bitcoin world.
Beyond leverage trading, there is the mistake made by those who wish to do intraday trading in an attempt to time the market. By doing so, you will be in direct competition with traders who are much more experienced than you are in the field. You will sooner or later lose a lot of money. You will be in a battle that will take away your peace of mind daily and you will lose anyway.
Secondly, I see a lot of people following influencers taking all their words as gospel. As I tell you every time, never take for granted what the experts on Bitcoin or other markets tell you. That includes me, of course. I am only sharing my opinions after analyzing facts, data, and charts.
I can be wrong like everyone else. When I am wrong, I am the first to admit it. I'm more willing to share different scenarios as I was able to do for the price of Bitcoin in 2022, simply telling you the scenario I agree with the most.
But at the end of the day, it's still your money at stake. It's up to you to decide after incorporating all this information into your thought process. You will have no regrets if you decide to do what you want. Even if you make a mistake, you will know deep down that you made the best decision for yourself with the information you had at that moment.
Mistakes are then used to learn how to do better the next time.
One piece of advice I frequently give is to always define a strategy. Then stick to it whether the market is up or down. This will prevent you from giving in to FOMO or FUD feelings. You will have your plan, and you will stick to it. Some people follow this advice a little too literally and find themselves paralyzed when the market doesn't do what they had hoped. Paralysis in the face of unexpected and damaging situations is a mistake to avoid. I will explain in the following what I recommend to prevent this.
Finally, you must be prepared for the unexpected. Anything can happen with a free market like Bitcoin. The best according to your interests, or the worst. In either case, you need to avoid a psychological breakdown. Toughen up so you don't let your emotions get the better of you.
The 5 solutions you can apply to be a winning Bitcoin HODLer
The first thing you need to understand is that leverage trading is not for you if you want to profit from Bitcoin safely. It's not for you. There is no need to explain the risks in detail here, I have already explained the mechanism here: "Bitcoin Leverage Trading 101 – Everything You Need To Understand What Happened on December 3, 2021".
Intraday trading is overestimating yourself by thinking that you will be able to do better than traders who are in the business of trading. Day trading requires specific skills that I do not have, and that the vast majority of participants in this market do not have. There is no need to take risks.
Instead, use your greatest natural advantage: the time you can HODL Bitcoin no matter what. I invite you to redefine your time horizon when you buy Bitcoin: "On Redefining Time Horizon With Bitcoin".
This will help you understand that you absolutely must zoom out. Learning to see the bigger picture is the key because patience is always rewarded with Bitcoin.
As far as influencers go, listen to what they have to say, but simply feed off their ideas and opinions while remembering that everyone suffers from bias. Whether I like it or not, I may be too Bullish in some cases, or too Bearish in others. I tend to be Bullish on Bitcoin, but I try to give you the arguments from both sides to help you see things more clearly and make up your mind.
This is essential to never have regrets about investing.
Then, when an unexpected disaster occurs, you need to be able to react. That's why you need to define several plans within your strategy. One plan if the market is Bullish, another if it is Bearish, or yet another if everything collapses. Will you be able to withstand a Bitcoin that falls below $4K like in March 2020?
For me, the answer is yes. I had taken the opportunity to accumulate more BTC. But that may not be the case for you. So you need to plan what you are going to do in any type of situation. I consider Bitcoin as my exit plan from the fiat system. But again, this is just my strategy. You can very well define other exits plans that better fit your profile and interests.
Everyone should do what is best for themselves and themselves alone when it comes to investing.
Finally, no matter how much you may fail with Bitcoin or other investments, never get so discouraged that you give up. Remember that life is a marathon, not a sprint. Your mistakes, no matter how big, must simply be used to do better. To do this, you must take ownership of them and learn the lessons there are to learn.
Once you have made the necessary adjustments, you can continue without ever giving up or losing your enthusiasm. This is how great successes are built, as Winston Churchill said:
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Final Thoughts
Taking full advantage of the Bitcoin revolution is not difficult as long as you understand why it is happening. The hardest part, in my opinion, is understanding the why, and more importantly, the inevitability of its success. Once you have reached this level of awareness with Bitcoin, you will know that your best option is to become a winning Bitcoin HODLer, rather than taking unnecessary risks as a losing Bitcoin Trader.
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