When I first got into spot trading, I was doing okay—but I wasn’t maximizing my profits. My results were all over the place, and I felt like I was missing something. Then I took the time to dive deep into active and passive trading strategies, and everything started to click.

If you’re just starting, let me walk you through what I’ve learned, including how charts, candlesticks, and tools became my best friends when I started actively trading.

Active Buying: The Hands-On Hustle

Active buying is all about watching the market closely and taking quick action. At first, it felt overwhelming, but learning how to use the right tools made a world of difference.

The Game-Changing Tools I Use

1. Candlestick Charts:

These charts are my go-to for understanding market movements. They show price highs, lows, opening, and closing prices in a specific time frame.

Learning patterns like Doji, Hammer, or Engulfing helped me predict price movements more accurately.

2. Indicators:

RSI (Relative Strength Index): Tells me when a coin might be overbought or oversold.

MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence): Helps me spot trends and potential reversals.

Moving Averages: Show me the overall direction of the market.

3. Trading Platforms with Alerts:

I use platforms that allow me to set price alerts. This way, I don’t have to sit and stare at the charts all day.

What Worked for Me

I started trading with coins like BTC and ETH because they’re less volatile. I’d wait for clear buy signals (like when the RSI dipped below 30) and always set stop-loss orders to protect my investment.

Passive Buying: The Stress-Free Strategy

Passive buying, on the other hand, is about consistency. It’s simple: buy a fixed amount of crypto regularly, no matter what the price is. This strategy worked wonders for me, especially when I didn’t have time to monitor the market.

Why It Works

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): Smooths out the highs and lows, giving you an average price over time.

No Stress: I didn’t have to worry about daily market movements.

Great for the Long Term: Some of my best profits came from coins I held for months or even years.

What Helped Me

I focused on coins with strong fundamentals, like BNB and SOL. These projects had real-world use cases, which made me confident in holding them long term.

How I Found My Balance

Eventually, I realized I didn’t have to choose between active and passive strategies. Now, I use both:

Active Trading: About 30% of my portfolio. This helps me take advantage of short-term price movements.

Passive Investing: The remaining 70%. This grows steadily without needing constant attention.

What I Wish I Knew Earlier

1. Learn the tools. Understanding charts, candlesticks, and indicators gave me a huge edge.

2. Don’t rush. It’s better to make fewer, smarter trades than to overtrade.

3. Stay consistent. Whether active or passive, sticking to your strategy is key.

And here’s the golden rule: Only invest what you can afford to lose.

Final Thoughts

Active trading became much easier once I mastered tools like candlestick charts and indicators. Combining that with the simplicity of passive buying helped me build a balanced strategy that works for me.

If you’re just starting, take it slow, focus on learning, and don’t hesitate to experiment with small amounts.