$ME Many first-timers, so sharing some tips I learned the hard way over the years

1. Most retail investors are rookies who freak out on retracements. They might get lucky a few times, but eventually, they end up buying high and selling low. Keep that in mind and use panic and hype as proxies.
2. Invest less than the max you can afford to lose. A clear mind keeps you from becoming part of point 1.
3. Buy low, sell high. When everyone is doubting, remember points 1 and 2. If people are crying on Binance, it’s often a sign to start looking for buy positions.
4. Consolidations take time. Pumps happen, but market makers and bots won’t let it run before they fill their bags. They also ladder sell-offs. They helped to ramp up the price, sold before the dump started. Dump is mostly from rookies. Invest 1-2h to study price movements and what the volumes behind mean in crypto, lots of good content on youtube.
5. In a bullish market, remember point 4 assumes higher moves are coming. Be patient, or you’ll end up chasing the next moonshot and losing to FOMO - most people lose their money this way. Monitor market stats like the fear and greed index to time bull runs for BTC and altcoins.
6. A lot of folks posting here have no idea what they’re doing and just use ChatGPT for “technical analysis.” Learn from mistakes, filter info, and fact-check not to ape in.
7. TA is useful but not gospel. You can fit any narrative with the right cherry-picked chart. Use it as a tool, not a crutch. Random lines and patterns without context will get you liquidated.
8. Be realistic with take-profits. Nothing goes up forever, and corrections are healthy—but choose your battles wisely. Avoid selling at lows, but don’t stay stuck in multi-year corrections. Ladder your sells like market makers to counter own cognitive biases like FOMO and loss aversion.
9. Swing trading longer timeframes is less stressful. Day trading is a fast track to getting wrecked. If you wanna day trade, learn algo trading, but don’t expect crazy gains on average.
10. If you’re new, stick to spot trading.