Thank you everyone, for your advice, it is of so much help to me on this stage of my journey. Please find my replies to each poster below (sorry if it's long but I have learnt so much from your advice and I've been reading and absorbing it within the last week):
@Dunamisx - When you mention major assets I assume you mean all of the crypto I would potentially own if I had a lot for example (i.e. a significant sum). I read that traders shouldn't keep their funds inside Binance as they can be stolen at any time. If I buy a cold storage crypto wallet, I'm assuming I can leave most of my crypto stored there (obviously if I follow the stringent safety rules to keep the crypto in cold storage as safe as possible?) and just trade with a smaller amount for that day in Binance, then when I'm done, either convert to fiat or store back in cold storage?
The part you wrote about needing to study and speculate well is so true, as when I'm performing small trades, I've noticed that I'm finding it difficult measuring all of these rates in my head and the commission fees (i.e. I put GBP into Binance, they take a fee, then I may earn whatever percentage points on a trade, then convert to another currency or draw it back out, it's all commission each time, and I'm trying to convert all these commission rates and crypto coins into GBP whilst they're fluctuating, to see if the extra money I've made on the trade is covering them, and I'm getting a headache! I'm trying to find tutorials on this too. Would a trader have a percentage in mind that he/she would need to earn on the trade that would cover the commission of going from fiat to bitcoin then back to fiat and withdraw for example? I guess if people are HODL'ing this matters less. I really do fancy trying my hand at scalping though, I like the way those trades work.
I guess scalping obviously works better when trading higher amounts, as the trade (if successful) easily covers the platform commission. I'm probably better off trying swing trading for now. I did leave a small amount in Ethereum and BNB inside Binance 4 years ago and it's worth £200 now so I can play around with that to get started again (maybe add another £100) and try swing trading.
@Jackg - I think I'd probably like to convert my profits back into fiat whilst I'm learning, then obviously as my experience starts to grow I would look at keeping stablecoins. When you mention higher interest on the exchange do you mean those savings-type vehicles that I see on Binance that a trader can put their funds into as a form of HODL'ing?
@The Cryptovator - Thank you for this knowledge about BTC pairs, I wasn't aware traders did this (I am reading a lot of tutorials but they seem to keep to the basics and they don't go into the things that very experienced traders pick up on the way along). I am very concerned about volatility (being a beginner) and yes, I will probably choose a stablecoin for a portfolio, if I was going to keep a portfolio, and not convert to fiat after each trade.
@BitMaxz - I think I was worried about Ethereum due to the volatility - because in my first few trades (when I am literally just trading with a very small amount to get used to performing a trade in the order book without looking at overall prices too much) I would add in GBP, convert to bitcoin, trade in bitcoin, and then look at the other coins (such as Ethereum) and think 'oh no, they're going down quickly, I need to withdraw my funds' because bitcoin was going down too. It was just based on that particular day I was trading.
I need to get used to the difference inbetween the different coins and how stable each one is, and as a forum member said, convert back to fiat whilst I'm learning. When I was trying trades 4 years ago it was difficult to convert back to fiat, because what I had to do was put GBP into coinbase, then convert to Bitcoin (I think they'd only allow me to convert the GBP into a few coins), then add Bitcoin into Binance, then either trade bitcoin or buy another coin in Binance, then back into Bitcoin, send the BTC back over to coinbase, convet into fiat and out into my fiat bank account. The withdrawal process conversion alone from altcoin (inside binance) to BTC, then move BTC over to coinbase, convert to GBP and withdraw to fiat account took half an hour, and sometimes the price would drop a lot! I appreciate that is not happening now, because Binance accepts fiat.
Thanks for the advice about the top ten coins on Gecko, I will follow that.
@Fatunad - I'm still working on my preferences and I guess I will be able to tell what my preferences will be once I develop more trading skills. I've got £300 to trade with, most of it is money I earned from ETH and BNB. I'm at the stage where I'm formulating what goal to have in mind, and what strategy to develop. I do like spending time on the charts and following the markets, I am very interested in it and enjoy doing this. I would like to increase slowly, incrementally, taking some calculated risk where possible.
@hugeblack - I would prefer to minimise risk as much as possible so it would probably be to withdraw in fiat until next trade, then start swing trading with stablecoins when more experienced perhaps. I wonder if this is what people tend to do when they are starting with small amounts when they are learning. I will probably take more of a calculated (as much as possible) risk later on as my knowledge grows.
Yes, I noticed that with Ethereum (that it returns to previous levels) after myself leaving a small amount in Binance - it's gone up significantly in the 4 years since I left it in. I didn't realise that stable and alt coins have different withdrawal rates, thanks for the heads up. I wonder if this applies to Binance in particular, I will research this, it's very helpful. The reason why I was concerned about accumulating BTC is the recent downturn it's had, obviously it may go back up to previous levels.
@rhomelmabini - this is great advice to me, I think I have been researching too much into things and trying to do things that are too much for me at the moment, like looking at too many coins, trading between too many pairs, converting etc. Basically I just needed to do a few trades with a good pair and engage mainly in DCA with the most popular coins as they increase in time anyway. I remembered waiting for a while for Ethereum to go higher on one of my trades when I was trying to convert back into BTC and withdraw in fiat - I'm better off trading with a little more, keeping it and seeing if it will go up over time and adding to it with DCA. I'm thinking I should buy a cold storage device to do this, is that what traders commonly do? When I research this there are so many different avenues and everyone does it differently, but I need a 'no frills' approach just to get me started in trading again I guess (and I can always calibrate what I'm doing later on).
@Ararbermas - Yes, this is so true, it's the volatility that concerned me a little, which is why I'm going slowly (a bit too slowly atm!) the volatility of recent markets has been worrying too, hence me wanting to get things right before I launch back into it.
@GatotKaca - Great advice, I can see what you mean about scalping, however the main reason why I was doing this was I only have £300 to play with (it's not money I would miss as I've already earnt most of that in Ethereum & BNB going up over the years), and I was going to scalp to increase this each day in increments until I get more, I understand it's difficult though (I did find it tricky when I did it). I guess I need to make more money quickly and then keep trading that until it's a better lump sum, then HODL some of that and keep trading with a little extra to keep my skills and knowledge up. I wouldn't like to put my own money each month into BTC or ETH in case it crashes completely, as I will lose a significant portion of my monthly income (I can't afford to part with much, but if I make money from the trades I do with my starting £300 I can keep doing DCA with this money? I'm only putting in what I can afford to lose, basically. I've kind of got an idea that I'm only going to put in traded money into and not my own money. I wonder if there are traders who do this as standard.
@Amicable55 - This is great, thank you! Looking at the candlesticks each day for my portfolio would show when to sell etc. Obviously there are no stop limits inside cold wallets so it's comforting to know I can look at the candlestick charts to see if I need to sell or not. I think Binance fees have gone much lower than they used to, and I do know that they lower them if I am trading a certain quantity, I will ask Binance the commission fees on the different currencies today.
@crwth - Yes, you are completely right, I am developing my 'will' and 'why' in the form of I'm going to invest £300 into trading and day or swing trade to build it up a little, then DCA with the majority whilst I keep trading with some of it. I don't know whether that's the correct thing to do, though, as I only have £300 to trade and I need to make much more in order to try other things such as scalping. I think this is why I'm best trying to find a crypto trading teacher who I can ask these things, so I can crystallise what I'm doing.
@AicecreaME - Great advice about ETH following BTC, I will keep that in mind. I had heard of futures, I have taken all of the trading tutorials over at IG and looked at leverage which is really high risk isn't it. I think I would only try this if I was an expert perhaps.
@YOSHIE - completely true, focussing on what I already understand is better. I have learnt so much from my post on this forum and I have already calibrated what I am doing, and I'm going to begin trading once more next week! Probably swing trading, waiting for the price to increase once I'm pretty sure I've read the charts correctly, and being mindful of stop limits etc. I do actually hold the majority of my current coins in Ethereum.
@sheenshane - That's great, I practised scalping in IG demo platform using leverage and it was really difficult. Obviously this was when I was getting into trading as a whole. I knew I wanted to get into crypto but I signed up to a few other platforms to practice in demo form.
I do want to do DCA but I'm wary of investing my own funds initially, as I don't have any to lose, even though I know it may go up. I'd rather use what I've got to accumulate more, then as I'm accumulating, syphon some of it off into DCA, although I need to ask a crypto teacher/course these things I guess, as general tutorials on the web don't go into such abstract terms.
@agustina2 - Very good advice, thank you. I was reticent to do this as I thought I was too unskilled to do it, but I just need to dip my toe in as it's the only way to learn!
@Franctoshi - Thanks, I'm trading to pay bills at the moment and I can't afford to lose extra or to do DCA at the moment, from reading everyone's posts here scalping won't suit me at the moment with my little amount. Brilliant advice about converting my successful trade into stablecoin until I see a coin that will increase that I can invest in, this may actually be the key to my trades as I was worried about severe fluctuation in prices which is why scalping wasn't suiting me (even though I enjoyed it).
- Once again, thank you all for your advice, I have a much clearer strategy now, my next step is to begin trading next week and in the meantime I will watch the markets. Does anyone know of any resources for new traders such as pairing up with a more successful trader through a trading school to navigate my way through? Or a teaching course that has an available teacher to ask questions? The reason I ask this is because I just went on an accredited course (at a local college) and the teacher was absolutely invaluable, I could run all my daft questions past her and I gained information in leaps and bounds very quickly. I thought if I applied this to crypto trading I can find an answer to a lot of my abstract questions (and those questions have been stopping me getting on with trading for a while).
