Investing in cryptocurrency is a mechanism for building wealth, but it is not only for the wealthy. This is why our community is growing. Anyone can get started investing in crypto, and various options (BTC, ALT Coins, ICO’s) make it easy to begin with small amounts of fiat and add to a build a portfolio. What differentiates investing in crypto from gambling is that it takes time! There is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
The Definition of Investing is, “The act of committing money or capital to a venture with the expectation of obtaining an additional income or profit.”
Legendary investor Warren Buffett defines investing as “… the process of laying out money now to receive more money in the future.” The goal of investing is to put your money to work in one or more types of investment vehicles like cryptocurrency, in the hopes of growing your money over time.
Remember we invest so we can “work smarter and not harder.” If you are like me, you work hard at your job. It doesn’t matter whether you work for a company or own your own business. We all work long hours which requires sacrifice and adds stress to our lives. Using some of our hard-earned money and investing for our future needs is the best way to make the most of what you earn. Pay yourself first by investing.
Investing is also about setting priorities for your money. Spending is way too easy and provides instant gratification. New clothes, exotic vacations, fancy dinners and flashy sportscars are wonderful and make life more enjoyable. However, investing requires prioritizing the needs of our financial futures over the wants of our present desires. Investing in cryptocurrency is a way to set aside money and put that money to work for you so that you can reap the rewards of your discipline in the future. This is how you receive a solid future.
There are several different ways you can invest in cryptocurrency, including putting money into coins, tokens, ICO’s, Bounty Campaigns, etc. Every investment vehicle has its positives and negatives. There are no guarantees of making money, but a little work on your part can increase your odds of being successful. Analysis, research and even just plain reading up on crypto can help.
No one investing strategy or approach fits all. Every investor has different reasons for investing, different goals, different time horizons and varying degrees of comfort with investing. It’s important to define and articulate your own parameters.
You must set goals. What do you want to achieve for the money that you will be investing? Is safety of your investment with some level of return sufficient? Are you trying to grow your money for a longer-term goal? You will even have different types of investments for different goals. Before you decide to invest any money into cryptocurrency it is imperative that you understand why you are investing and the result that you desire. Goals should never be created in a vacuum. You also need to know your risk tolerance and your time-line as part of the goal-setting process.
Risk can mean a lot of things. Investing in cryptocurrency means you have a risk of losing money. Your money invested can decrease in value, possibly to zero. ALL investing involves risk in one way or another. Stocks often can go down in value over periods of time, just like crypto. Do you remember what happened in 2008? The S&P 500 dropped by 37%. This decline in the stock market was one of the worst in history. Severe market corrections are not uncommon, especially in cryptocurrency!
How much of a drop-in value for your investments can you tolerate? Your tolerance of this risk is a function of when you need the money. This is your time horizon. Usually, the younger you are the less thought you give to fluctuations in the value of your investments. This is the volatility of an investment. You should align your investments with your time horizon.
How long are you going stay in an investment? Warren Buffett rarely sells a stock he owns and doesn’t get rattled by market fluctuations. This is generally known as a “buy-and-hold” strategy. There are extreme traders who buy and sell cryptocurrency daily. This is fine if you are a professional but is rarely a good strategy for the average investor. I am not saying that you need to hold an investment forever. Things change, and you should analyze your individual holdings on a set schedule to ensure they are still appropriate for your situation.
Some crypto-investment vehicles require sophisticated knowledge and monitoring. Others are more set it and forget it. Your individual investment decisions should be based on your comfort level and your willingness to devote time to researching your choices. An easy route is to choose a variety of cryptocurrencies. A diverse portfolio of BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH. Crypto investors with more knowledge and experience might consider ICO’s. It is important that you understand what you do know and don’t know. You should never be talked into something that you don’t understand or are uncomfortable with.
This is very nice to know. People always invest on something and wants a quick return without even having a study about that and end up crying about it if it fails.