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Do the opposite of what the market says: How to become a full-time crypto trader — complete guide

Andrew Zhoao

News editor

Aug 2, 2022 at 03:50

Reddit user Foxxinator37 shared his story of how he became a trader. He reached his goal after six years and ended up being a day trader. Here’s his strategy. Maybe it’ll work for you, but remember that this is not financial advice. Do your own research, guys! 

Fundamentals principles with crypto 

The author initially decided to share his crypto trading fundamental, which he built up over the years. 

  • research every project you invest in for three months before you invest;
  • don’t touch leverage ;
  • you have to be sure you have the keys/control of your crypto;
  • never FOMO fear of missing out is the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could make one’s life better;
  • never buy back in higher than you sold for, even if that means holding fiat for months/years;
  • stick to your strategy;
  • don’t get worried or panic that the price goes the wrong way: you don’t aim for 100% perfection;
  • never sell at a loss;
  • don’t trade emotionally;
  • do the opposite of what the market says — check the fear and greed index. 

It probably wasn’t easy to get it right, and it all started with a mistake when the author was advised to invest in XRP. 

First big mistake 

The mistake was that, according to the Foxxinator37, he started to buy in on the way down around $1.09, and the price never recovered. After that, he decided to buy XRP “every damn month without fail.” And by the beginning of 2019, his portfolio looked something like this. Based on the DCA strategy a strategy where you invest constant amounts at regular intervals, his portfolio value increased and just about made it to a goal of 100k XRP. Here’s what it looked like. 

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Pumped portfolio
Pumped portfolio

After such success, the author gets rich but continues to DCA into XRP. As for BTC and ETH, Foxxinator37 decided not to get involved because he did not want micro capital with super high risk. That’s why he chose something simpler from the top 30 cryptocurrencies. 

“I was looking for something that would still be around in 3–4 years and the potential for more explosive gains. For me, it seems less likely that BTC would go x10 compared to Monero, which was ranked 16,” he said. 

So, the author spent most of 2019 researching projects and getting to find their project communities. But he advises not to rely on crypto news outlets or YouTube shills to give you your crypto news. It’s second-hand information, and you also receive info after other people have bought in. 

Changing the strategy 

In short, the strategy change was to switch from XRP to ADA. Why Cardano? The author says that: 

  • It seemed to him like a well-funded project that was things the right way, and he had confidence they would be around in 3–4 years, and the risk vs. reward looked actually in his favor.
  • Cardano has a great PoS model that seemed much fairer than PoW and much more energy efficient.

The portfolio was growing. The price was also increasing and ended 2020 at around $0.2. 

ADA to XRP chart
ADA to XRP chart

Day trading strategy

What is day trading?

Intraday trading (Day trading) is short trades on the exchange, which are concluded and closed during one trading session. They are conducted during one trading day and are not prolonged to the next day, whatever the result. The trader or the broker (on request of the first) ensures that the exit is completed before the end of the session.  

This method of trading bets not on essential price fluctuations but a considerable quantity of various changes in it. For this reason, the number of transactions of the trader who uses the intraday strategy may exceed a hundred. 

Compared to other strategies, day trading is more sensitive to market changes — news, political circumstances, reports, and statistics. These and other factors’ influences may affect intraday traders’ psycho-emotional state. 

The same assets are chosen for day trading as for other strategies. They must be distinguished by volatility and high liquidity. Usually, intraday trading supposes using shares of leading issuers, futures on various assets, and currency pairs.

How to start? 

The author decided to dabble with day trading for the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Then the moment came he could trade his own money. He says it is psychologically a significant barrier to overcome and will test your nerve, but you need to have the stone-cold killer mindset. So, after that, he compiled the day trading principles. 

  • you can only day trade when the market is volatile;
  • sell into pumps — market-wide pumps or project specific is fine;
  • set yourself a maximum amount of your portfolio that you will cash out into pumps;
  • check the volume and order book for your project on your exchange;
  • do not try to time your back in to be perfect — you won’t catch it at the fullest extent of the dip;
  •  build yourself a tracker in Excel where you can track your trades and give yourself some perspective on how you are getting along;
  • make your trades only manually when you awake (meaning don’t set limit orders);
  • always have a small % of fiat available to buy if there is an unexpected dip.

In 2021 the author managed to execute his exit strategy and buy himself a lovely house and car. He cashed out 50% of his stack and continued to stake DCA and day trade. 

You can read more about his strategy here. Where do you think he can improve it?

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