Author: Toon Pierre
The world of cryptocurrency is a great avenue to make much profit, but it’s full of risks. Mistakes have been made both by newbies and advanced traders, which proved to be very costly. Let's go through the top 10 mistakes that lead to losses with crypto, but most importantly, how you can avoid these pitfalls.
1. Failure to Do Proper Research
Probably, the biggest mistake would be investing based on hype and not really research-based. Blindly following social media influencers or friends’ advice can lead to costly decisions.
➔ How to Avoid: Do your homework long before investing. Understand what stands behind the basic principles of the crypto project: what problem it solves, who works on it, and what market it may get. Useful insights with CoinMarketCap and whitepapers will help.
2. Falling for Scams
Crypto scams take every shape and size - from fake ICOs to phishing attacks, Ponzi schemes, and pump-and-dump groups. Even worse with most of them is the assurance of unreal returns so as to make their future victim fall into a trap.
➔ How to Avoid: Beware of schemes that sound "too good to be true." Do your homework on any platform, wallet, or exchange in advance. Never click the links from suspicious emails. Always validate the URL to control for authenticity.
3. Neglecting Security Precautions
Probably, hacking and theft are among the most widespread things in crypto space. Performing transactions with unsecured wallets or weak passwords and using open Wi-Fi can lead to losing all of your funds.
➔ How to Avoid: Use hardware wallets for longtime storage and at the same time enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all accounts. Never share private keys or seed phrases. Install antivirus protection on your devices.
4. Overtrading
The majority overtrade, thinking that the more frequently they trade, the higher their profits. More often than not, those traders will come out to be the loser due to fees, bad timing, and emotional decisions.
➔ How to Avoid: Dabble with a well-thought-out investment plan that could be dollar-cost averaging or perhaps even swing trading. Never commit to rash and undisciplined behavior.
5. Not Paying Heed to Risk Management
This can lead to serious losses either through the inability to set a stop-loss or through over-investment in a class of assets. Crypto is one such class of assets where one needs to be super disciplined while taking up the risks.
➔ How to Avoid: Diversify your investments and never invest more than you can afford to lose. Use stop-loss orders to minimize losses in case the market moves against you.
6. Giving in to FOMO
Actually, most investors succumb to FOMO (fear of missing out) and start buying at market tops only to see steep drops not long after. This usually leaves them in the red due to such emotional responses.
➔ How to Avoid: Never make uninformed decisions based on hype. Wait for corrections, better entry points, and focus on long-term potential instead of short-term gain.
7. Not Accounting for Taxation
Most crypto traders remain oblivious to the consequences of their actions in terms of paying taxes. In case there are going to be fines or penalties by the tax authorities, those are going to be really huge.
➔ How to Avoid: Learn the taxation laws in your country; keep a book of all the movements. Leverage crypto tax software to lighten calculations and keep compliant.
8. Over-Leveraging
Leverage allows traders to borrow funds to amplify their trades, but it’s a double-edged sword. Market volatility can quickly wipe out your account if trades go against you.
➔ How to Avoid: Never use leverage except in the case when you have extensive experience and understand all the possible risks. Move with low-leverage ratios so that you do not get overexposure to the market.
9. Chasing High-Yield Investments
Good-looking returns from yield farming, staking, or lending platforms are highly inviting, but most of them come with immense risks in the forms of smart contract vulnerabilities and liquidity gaps.
➔ How to Avoid: Deal exclusively with reputed platforms and projects - at least those that survived the test of time. Never invest your money without weighing the risk-to-reward ratio in some aspect, and never invest in something that is too complex to be understood.
10. Panic Selling
The panic of the market compels the investors to sell off their portfolios at losses due to investor panic. Panic selling is more emotive than analytic.
➔ How to Avoid: Do not get carried away by ups and downs in the market. It is the long-term value consideration of the investment that matters - not the short-term volatility. Having your goals and strategies clear keeps both feet on the ground.
Final Words
Crypto trading has turned out to be an interesting no-man's land, wherein it is a dream for some while others' nightmare. Indeed, huge potential is realistic, but huge risks too. Being well-informed cushions your investment and helps you maximize success by understanding a few of the very common mistakes one is better capable of avoiding. Greatness in crypto shall all be about research, discipline, and vigilance.
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