Beginner

Introduction:

Bitcoin and crypto is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money.

Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing
transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is
open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take
part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be
covered by any previous payment system.

Bitcoin was built with a distributed digital record in mind called a blockchain. Blockchain is a
type of public ledger -- a digital system for recording transactions and related data in multiple
places at one time. Blocks in a blockchain are units that contain data about every transaction,
including the date, time, value, buyer and seller, and an identifying code for each exchange.
Blockchain is designed to make it extremely difficult to hack the system or forge the data
stored on it, thereby making it secure and immutable. Each computer in a blockchain
network has a copy of the ledger to prevent single points of failure. If one block is changed,
then all the other blocks in the distributed ledger must be changed. Blockchain is a
decentralized technology, meaning it is not controlled by any one organization. In addition,
identifying codes make it difficult to fraudulently produce blocks.

Bitcoin is stored in a digital wallet application on a computer or smartphone. Cryptocurrency

wallets are among one of the best ways to keep bitcoin secure. There are also multiple types
of wallets. Software wallets enable users to keep only a small amount of bitcoin on a
computer or mobile phone for everyday use, with the balance kept in a separate offline wallet.
This safeguards the majority of a user's bitcoin from malware trying to intercept the
password used to access a wallet.
Offline wallets are wallet software that is installed on a USB or a live CD rather than on the
internet, so it can be kept physically secure. Hardware wallets, another form of offline wallet,
are physical devices such as a flash drive that store a user's private keys. Even when
connected to another device, the private keys are never exposed, as signed transactions are
completed on the device. Multisignature wallets require two or more private keys to authorize
transactions. This greatly decreases the chances of a wallet being accessed if lost or stolen.
One key is stored in a secure location as a backup, another is stored on the user's mobile
device and a third key can be stored with a multisignature provider.

People can send bitcoin to others via bitcoin wallet-to-wallet transfer. Bitcoin can be sent by
initiating a transfer request from a bitcoin address in the customer's wallet to a bitcoin
address, or alphanumeric string, in the vendor's wallet. Senders can select the amount to
transfer either as bitcoin or in their local currency. Each bitcoin transaction is charged a small
fee, which is paid to a bitcoin miner. This fee can vary, depending on factors including how
quickly the bitcoin transaction needs to be confirmed.
What is bitcoin mining?
Bitcoin mining is the process of adding new transactions into circulation. Bitcoin miners use
software that accesses their processing capacity to solve transaction-related algorithms. In
return, they are awarded a certain number of bitcoin per block. This entices cryptominers to
keep solving the transaction-related algorithms, supporting the overall system. The process
is called proof of work.

Originally, bitcoin mining was conducted on the processors, or CPUs, of individual

computers, with more cores and greater speed resulting in more profit. After this, most
bitcoin miners began using multi-graphics card systems, then field-programmable gate
arrays and application-specific integrated circuits. These moves were made in an attempt to
find more hash codes below a given target and use less electrical power.

It once was possible for anyone to mine bitcoin, but not anymore. Bitcoin code is written to
make solving its transaction-related algorithms, or puzzles, more challenging over time. This
means that solving these puzzles requires more computing resources. Access to powerful
computers and large amounts of electricity is now a must. In the malware world, one of the
more prevalent current threats is mining botnet infections, where user systems mine for
bitcoin without the owners' knowledge and the funds are channeled to the botnet owner.
Why is bitcoin valuable?
Bitcoin has value similar to other currencies because others are willing to exchange them for
goods, services and existing currencies. However, bitcoin's price has risen, fallen and risen
exponentially again multiple times since its introduction in 2009. Many consider the swings to
be volatile. The prices have risen and fallen in the stock market due to a number of factors,
including companies adopting or dropping support for the currency, and even what celebrities
are saying about it.

However, bitcoin's value is also derived from other sources. For example, for a currency to
be accepted, it should have some form of scarcity, divisibility, transportability, durability and
should not be easily counterfeited. Bitcoin has the following traits:

It is limited to 21 million.
It is divisible up to eight decimal points. The smallest unit, a satoshi, is equivalent to
0.00000001 bitcoin.
It is stored in digital wallets, making it easily transportable.
It is not physical, so it cannot be destroyed. However, it can be compromised if the hardware,
software or cryptographic key to the corresponding wallet is lost.
It is also prot
Which stablecoins should you use?

Fully fiat collateralized stablecoins are the safest.

USDC, USDT and BUSD

You're buying garbage because it's cheap
'Cheap' is unrelated to cost. It's a hallucination left over from your life as a poor person.The
psychological term is called "Unit Bias"

1. Cryptos are fractional, meaning you can buy $10 of BTC just as easily as you can buy $10
of XRP.

2. Price has no bearing on potential performance, 'Cheaper' crypto doesn't go up more.

The fact XRP is 'only 50 cents' does not make it 'cheap'.

A smarter investor would buy the tokens that have the high probable upside in percent '%'
terms, and completely ignore the token unit cost.

Intentionally looking for tokens which have low unit cost is like intentionally looking for trash.
You think they are 'cheaper', but only because there's a higher supply...
When you start out, start small.

If you can't make money with $100, then how do you expect to make money with $1000?

Especially in trading, don't start with a big sum of money. Trading is the most difficult way to
make money in existence. You will lose it.
Crypto investing vs. crypto trading

As you learn how to buy and sell these digital assets, you need to differentiate what is
cryptocurrency trading and what is investing in cryptocurrencies. Which one is better? No
matter the differences, in the end the goal is always the same: making a profit. However, the
expected outcome times are quite different: in investing, the outcome time ranges from
medium to long term, while in trading, it ranges from the short to medium term.

Cryptocurrency investors buy and hold their assets for a long time ranging from several
months to years. On the other hand, cryptocurrency traders hold their positions ranging from
a few seconds, to several weeks.

A - D (crypto words you must know!)

Airdrop: An event where a blockchain project distributes free tokens or coins to the
community.

Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency that is an alternative to Bitcoin.

ATH: All-Time High, the highest value reached by an asset at any point in its history.

Bag holder: A term to describe investors who are still holding certain assets that have
dropped significantly in value since their purchase price.
Bearish: When investors or traders see a bearish trend, they expect a price to decrease and
would recommend selling coins/tokens.

Bullish: When investors or traders see a bullish trend, they expect a price to increase and
would recommend buying coins/tokens.

Centralized: A system of power where a central authority has control over a project.

Decentralized: When something does not have any central control but rather operates
independently through peer-to-peer networks and algorithms instead, transactions cannot be
reversed once confirmed on blockchains that do not have any central authority or place of
residence since they are decentralized.

Dumping: The process of offloading large quantities of coins onto exchanges all at once
which drives down prices because there is more supply than demand for that particular
cryptocurrency.

DYOR: Do Your Own Research; this means that all crypto investors should do their own
research on a project before investing in it.
E-I

Etherscan/Solscan: A web tool that lets you explore transactions, wallets, and other
aspects of Ethereum's/Solana's blockchain.

Exchange: Platforms that allow users to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies for other digital
currency or traditional currencies like US dollars or euros.

Fear and greed index: A indicator that measures market sentiment.

FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out; the acronym that was coined to describe a phenomenon when
investors buy or sell an asset based on others' actions, causing them to miss out on more
profitable opportunities.

FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt; People spread FUD when they are bearish on a
Project/Coin.
Futures: A contract to buy or sell an asset at a later date with the price agreed upon.

Hardware wallet: Also known as cold storage/wallet, it's essentially a USB stick that can be
used for offline transactions and keeping your private keys safe. It's considered more secure
than most other forms of wallets since they're harder to access if you lose them.

HODL: Slang for holding a cryptocurrency long term despite market volatility.

ICO: Initial Coin/ Offering: The very first offering for public purchase and sale of tokens or
digital assets for a new blockchain project.
K-Z

KYC: Know Your Customer, which refers to the process of obtaining and verifying personal
identification information from customers for business purposes before allowing them
access to services or products.

Moon: A slang term to describe a crypto price going up astronomically.

Pump and dump: The process of buying and selling a coin on the market to raise its price
and attract other users, followed by profit-taking.

Rugpull: A fraudulent cryptocurrency strategy in which crypto developers desert a project

and flee with investors' money.

Shilling: Promoting a Coin/Project

Smart contract: A piece of code that is executed on the blockchain after certain conditions
have been met.

Stablecoin: A cryptocurrency designed to minimize price volatility, usually by pegging its

value or supply against a physical asset such as fiat currencies like the US dollar.

Transaction fee: The sum of money paid to miners to confirm transactions into blocks and
add them to the Blockchain network. Ethereum gas fees cost a lot while on Solana they are
close to nothing.

Whale: Slang term for an investor who has a big amount of a specific Coin
Intermediate

All markets are largely the same

Want to know the one thing in common between EVERY market, regardless of if it is stocks,
bonds, commodities, Crypto, Real Estate, etc

Every market is traded by humans, or systems coded by humans.

And what do all humans have in common?

All humans have the same base level programming, a set of biases, emotions, instinctual
triggers, and survival mechanisms.

This programming is what defines the majority of our decision making in Crypto. Only a small
% of people are ever able to act separate from these immensely controlling forces.

The reason our programming is so tough to overcome is because:

Humans evolved into who we are today through MILLIONS of years of hardwiring and
adaptation.

The reason we follow the herd is that those who went separate from the herd hundreds of
years ago would die.

The world was built through collaborative team effort, interconnected belief sets and
action-taking. This is the EXACT thing NOT to do in Crypto;
If you do what the majority does, you will LOSE money because the market is inherently
zero-sum

Markets are ZERO sum

Zero sum refers to the concept of one person's loss being another person'sgain.
Imagine the concept this way:
In Crypto, there is a fixed amount of capital.

Everyone in Crypto is competing for the same sum of capital.

If you make $10 profit, and you take the profit, you took $10 that someone else put in. You’ve
essentially stolen that person’s money. If you lose money, you essentially had your money
stolen by someone else.

This is why it is absolutely crucial to recognize that one day, you will need to sell, or someone
else will take your profits for you.
Because:
For every buyer there is a seller

This is similar to the previous point, and is a simple concept. Every time you buy Bitcoin,
someone has just sold it to you.
You think you’re getting a good entry, while another person is thinking they’re getting a good
exit.

Every time you enter/exit a trade, you must remember this. Ask yourself:
- Why is someone letting me enter/exit here?
- Am I potentially on the wrong side of this transaction?
- Why is this person buying/selling to me?
- Is their side of the argument more or less likely to occur?

The house always wins

‘The House’ refers to the owners of the Casino, which in Crypto are the Exchanges, Coin
creators, platforms, and anyone else you pay a fee to use their service.

In markets, and ESPECIALLY Crypto markets, the house absolutely wins.

Crypto Exchanges are making absolute BANK, much more profits than exchanges in the
traditional markets do.

Binance in 2020 alone made 900M in profit. The Crypto market cap ranged in 2020 between
120-200M+, meaning Binance took almost an ENTIRE 1% of the market cap for themselves.

The exchange owners get rich.

The coin creators get rich.

The top 0.1% of traders get rich.

Everyone is here to take your money

It doesn’t matter if the person is an educator, an investor, a trader, an NFT creator or even the
person on the other side of your order.

Everyone is here to take your money.

Now of course, some people will try to take your money, and provide you value in return.

Some give you cool art for thousands of dollars. Some give you education for your purchase
(which is a totally fair proposition)

But, unfortunately, most just take your money and give you nothing for it.

To make money in Crypto, YOU must realize everyone wants your money.

SURVIVE, so you can thrive

If you speak to most Crypto veterans from the 2018-2020 bear market, they will tell you
collectively basically the same story:

“Man, the bear market destroyed me. I was mostly broke by the end of the bear market, after
buying all the way down and holding. It was a super painful experience, but I managed to pull
some money together at the bottom, and it was that one coin I bought XYZ that took my
portfolio 100x and gave me the wealth I have today”

The experience of the successful Crypto investor revolves around five key moments:

1. They enter the space. Get rekt thinking it’s a get rich quick scheme where WAGMI

2. They lose a bit, but continue to buy lower thinking that it’s just a dip.
3. Lose more and more, until a black swan event occurs, where their portfolio turns to dust.

4. Realise the true nature of markets, and double down on research, instead now focusing on
surviving and accumulating the next big project.

5. Reap huge profits during the bull run, as their investment thesis comes true over time.

You are one coin, one bottom buy, one trade, or one NFT away from hitting it big

The problem is, 99% of these trades you think are ‘The One’, are actually the positions that
will destroy your portfolio or bring you little to no $$.

It is up to you, to learn how to spot opportunities, to preserve capital during bear markets, and
to go in with conviction when the time comes and HOLD. Because the ONLY reason we are
able to get such large investment returns, is because we also have the opposite end of the
spectrum, a dark, bleak, scary and treacherous bear market leaving everyone incredibly poor
by the time it ends.

The Bear Market

The problem with bear markets is almost no one knows it’s coming before it hits.

Crypto markets are highly reflexive, meaning, price always goes higher than expected, and
lower than expected, by a large margin.

Now, of course, SOME people see the bear market early. Infact, many of the Crypto investors
I’ve become close friends with have done well in recent months in playing the market as we
dumped 50-80% on some coins.

I’ve personally recommended everyone I know to stay away from yield farming, especially
LUNA.

Supply and Demand

Supply and demand is an absolutely crucial concept to understand in Crypto investing.

Supply, refers to the amount of an asset that people want to sell

Demand, refers to the amount of an asset that people want to buy

When you go into a supermarket, the supply = the food, and the demand = the shopper.

The changes in supply and demand are fundamental to predicting where the prices of the
Crypto market will go.
In simple terms:
Supply increasing + demand decreasing = falling prices
Supply decreasing + demand increasing = rising prices

We want to buy Crypto, when we expect demand to increase, supply to decrease, OR both.

We want to sell Crypto, when we expect demand to decrease, supply to increase, OR both.

Bear markets are caused by the demand decreasing for people to buy, and the supply of
coins being sold increasing.

And thus, vice versa for when bull markets begin.

Now, what determines the supply/demand of Cryptocurrencies?

There is a constant battle between bears and bulls

Every day, every hour, every second, there is a constant, and never ending battle between
the bulls (buyers) and bears (sellers).

Each side is either wanting the price to go up, or down.

When you look at a price chart, and see the forces at be pushing price up and down, what
you are seeing is a live display of the forces of supply and demand.

As an investor, it is your goal to identify using different tools, when it is a good time to be
buying, and a good time to be selling, using supply and demand.

Bear Market Yields Don’t Really Exist

In Crypto, you’ve probably seen the yields that are available for simply lending your coins to
others.

You put your coins on the platform, you lock them up, and in return, you receive free money!

What could ever go wrong??

Well, here’s the problem:

In the traditional world, the yield you receive is a function of the supply of money, and the
demand for that money.

In the Crypto world, this is not true!

There are projects out there, offering 20%, 50%, 200%, 500%, and 1000%+ yearly yield on
coins if you lend/stake them! How crazy.

Now, why is this an issue?

Well, this ties back into the title of this section: Bear market yields don’t really exist.

In bear markets, the demand for borrowed money is VERY low, as people don’t expect to
really make any money from the borrowed money.

An individual will only borrow money, for example at a 20% yearly rate, if they expect to make
more than 20% on that borrowed money.

In bear markets, investors don’t expect to make ANY money, and thus they aren’t willing to
pay exorbitant amounts for extra capital.

So how do these projects pay you 500% in a bear market?

The answer is simple:

Instead of taking your money, lending it, and giving you a slice of the pie, they do something
else.
These Crypto projects pay you yield in newly inflated tokens, instead of
in the interest payments from the borrowers.
For example:
Coin XYZ has a supply of 100000 tokens at a price per token of $1. 90000 tokens are locked,
receiving a 500% yearly return.

Coin XYZ prints 100000 new tokens to pay the holders of the existing tokens a yield.

Because there is 100000 new tokens added to the total supply, this causes a 100% inflation
of the market cap of the project. Everyone just got twice as rich! Yay!

But there is one problem:

Each token is now worth 50 cents, so even though you have twice as many tokens, these
tokens are worth half of what they were before, meaning you made zero dollars!

So during this ENTIRE process, you made NO money, and took on the huge risk of the
project being rug pulled, and you losing ALL your money, for zero upside.
This is why, the aim of the game is SURVIVAL, and why we say everyone is here to take your
money, because they are.

When trying to identify if a yield-bearing opportunity is a worthwhile investment, you ALWAYS

need to consider who is paying for the profits I will be making? What is the psychology of the
person losing money in this ecosystem while I am able to make a profit?
*If you cannot identify who the person is who pays for your profits, it’s YOU

The unique force behind Bitcoin’s price action

Bitcoin’s price action can be summed up into two distinct driving forces:

1. Over a longer timeframe, Bitcoin’s price is driven by investor activity and its adoption
curve. The amount of users, how valuable Bitcoin is to use/hold, as well as how developed
the surrounding infrastructure is gives Bitcoin an underlying ‘price floor’.

2. In a shorter time frame, price is determined by which direction can liquidate the most
traders on derivatives exchanges like Bitmex and Bybit.

Here is a simple illustration to help you visualise:

Reflexivity
If you only use one word to describe Bitcoin’s volatility it’s this.

Coined by George Soros, reflexivity is the theory that a two way feedback loop exists in which
investors' perceptions affect the market environment, which in turn changes investors'
perceptions.

Put simple, higher prices beget higher prices, and lower prices beget lower prices.
Why does this occur?
Because reflexivity is foundational to the nature of Bitcoin, as no other asset on earth derives
such a significant portion of its valuation from its own Network effects.

Network effect = total number of users of the network

As markets are future looking (people are trying to predict what happens) the market is
collectively deciding what the future adoption of Bitcoin will look like. But because Bitcoin’s
main use case is its ability to make money through speculation, it creates this two way
feedback loop:
This is why we get really big runups and subsequent big pullbacks. Reflexivity is like a
snowball rolling down a hill, getting bigger the further it goes, except it goes both ways.

Every indicator, tool, script, and strategy is based on the underlying concepts as discussed
above. This is the base level understanding you need to gain, with which we can branch out
from and go down the rabbit hole that is crypto!

Everyone gets what they want from the market

It doesn’t matter if you make millions in crypto, lose millions, sit at breakeven, EVERYONE
gets what they want from the crypto markets.

Some like to gamble. They’re losses are the fee they pay to play.

Some are learning to make money. They’re initial losses are their tuition fee to the market.

Some are patient and disciplined. Their gains are a result of them playing the game profitably.

Markets ALWAYS fluctuate from PEAK fear to PEAK

greed
If you catch yourself thinking ‘Is it too late to buy?’ ‘Is it too late to sell?’, you need to
recognise, that at each significant top and bottom, sentiment reached a PEAK in its fear, and
a PEAK in its greed (inflection point).

The bottom always happens upon peak fear, and the top always happens upon peak greed.

The reason the top occurs on PEAK greed, is because when the market is the most bullish,
most optimistic, most excited, most euphoric, is also the period where investors/traders are
willing to pay the highest possible prices for assets.

The same occurs in the inverse.

Imagine it this way:

Bob is SUPER bullish today to buy Bitcoin, as he sees the price moon. 10/10 bullish.
Bob 1 week earlier was sort of bullish, as he saw the price going sideways. 7/10 bullish.
Which version of Bob is willing to pay the higher price for his Bitcoin?
*It’s obviously the version thatis more bullish. The more conviction Bob gains, as he feels the
bullishness run through his veins,the less he believes his entry price is important, and the
MORE he is willing to spend.

The herd is always wrong

The tricky part with making money in Crypto is as we stated earlier, it is essentially zero sum.
Your loss is someone else’s gain, and vice versa.

It’s a competition, amongst the same pool of people fighting for the same sum of resources.

The herd is by default always wrong, as the movement of a coin up or down is dependent on
people buying at higher and higher prices, or vice versa.

The higher the price of a coin goes, the more required buyers there are to sustain the higher
price. Eventually, the coin goes so far up that we run out of buyers, as there is a fixed amount
of potential people who can buy.

Imagine there are 100 people in a room, and there are two sides to this room (Green and
red).

Green = people who have bought, and red = people who have sold.

If 100 people go to the green side, you run out of new people to continue to go to the green
side, and thus the only outcome is for people to go back to the red side.

This is how markets function. There is a fixed amount of people who can buy and sell Crypto,
and as investors itis our job to sell when the herd has bought, and buywhen the herd has
sold.

There is nuance to this though:

In this room are 100 people. But what happens when 100 new people are added to the room?

Well, this simply means that even if everyone is on the green side, there can remain
everyone on the green side for as long as there are new people entering the room.
The same logic applies to Crypto, for as long as there are new Crypto investors entering the
market, every existing investor can collectively make a profitfor as long as there are new
participants entering.

This is the one time, where the markets are not zero sum.

Shiny Object Syndrome

The probability of an old coin ‘shining again’ (outperforming the market significantly and going
to ATH’s) is less than 2%. That means, if you buy 100 old coins, only 2 historically performed
as well as the new frontier.

Why is this?

There are a series of characteristics which define the new and old projects, as described in
the table below. All of the characteristics relate back to the key concept of supply and
demand.

As you can see, all of these relate back to supply and demand.

Old coins suffer from supply issues (lots of people wanting to exit + more inflation) and
demand issues (less ppl are interested to buy)

As an investor, you need to focus on finding the next promising coins that haven’t
experienced a full pump and dump market cycle.

Experienced
The first step in cryptocurrency trading is to find a suitable cryptocurrency trading platform
and create an account. Different cryptocurrency traders have different needs and goals when
it comes to trading. Fortunately, there are a variety of trading platforms to choose from on the
internet. There are various factors to consider before choosing a platform such as security,
ease of use, number of assets supported and many others.

After selecting a reliable platform, the next step is to create an account. Most platforms will
provide you with a registration form to complete. You will need to enter a valid email address,
choose a strong password and then click register. You will then be required to verify your
account: an email will be sent to your address with a code that you use to verify your
account.

After successful verification, the next step is to deposit your initial capital and begin your
cryptocurrency trading journey. There are several methods of depositing funds such as
credit/debit cards, Skrill, bank transfer, etc.

Trading cryptocurrencies might sound simple. However, there are many factors that
determine whether you will be successful or not. Cryptocurrency trading is not a
get-rich-quick scheme, but a wealth building and income generating method that requires
discipline, patience and skills. Here are some tips to help you become a good cryptocurrency
trader:

Do your research
The crypto market is a vast market with different protocols of trade. Therefore, it would be
best if you understood the market from your point of view. Your research should include the
crypto exchanges, cryptocurrencies, and platforms for trade. Be wise to check the pros and
cons of investing in such a diverse market. Once you are convinced with the information
gathered, you can progress to trading.

Practice different trading strategies

The crypto market is volatile, and it changes daily. So there is no better way to understand
the market than to start trading the same assets. Dummy accounts help with the practice of
how the actual market operates. There are multiple dummy accounts online for different
coins. Pick the tab that best serves your interest.

Pick a cryptocurrency and start trading.

There are about 7,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation in the current market. Pick a crypto
currency based on the criteria of performance and its longevity in the market. You want to
trade a currency that will offer you reasonable returns in the long run. As a beginner, avoid
trading initial coin offerings (ICOs) because you do not know their success rate or how
legitimate they are.

Diversify your investments

As the saying goes, "do not put all your eggs in one basket" and this rule applies in digital
assets as well as stocks. Investing in digital assets can be lucrative but, likewise, the
possibility of total loss come in equal measure. Diversifying across several altcoins helps you
to cut your losses in case one cryptocurrency drops in price.

Don’t put all your life savings into trading

Like any other financial asset, cryptocurrencies can either be profitable or you can lose
money. The crypto market is risky and, as an investor, it would be wise to only invest sums of
money you can afford to lose. The current market crash was not predictable, yet it happened.
There have been other crashes before, and likely more will occur in the future. There is never
a 100% guarantee that you will get back your money's worth even if you do everything
according to the book.

There are internal and external prospects that lead to losses in investment. They include
government interferences, hard economic times, malware attempts, and hacks. In addition,
the market is volatile and easily susceptible to control. So please make sure not to invest all
your savings and your retirement plan.

Avoid fear of missing out (FOMO)

Trading cryptocurrency has become a global phenomenon in recent times. Almost everyone
is trading, and there is a human tendency to do what everyone else is doing. There is a
version of trading in crypto known as day trading which is more like the stock market in
traditional finance. If you decide to participate in day trading, watch out for fear of missing out,
also known as FOMO, as it is the fastest way to lose money. You should also avoid trading
when you feel pressured.

Keep yourself up to date with cryptocurrencies

The cryptocurrency market is evolving daily, and with it comes new aspects of the trade. To
do well in investments, you should stay up to date on what is going on. Social media
platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Telegram, as well as cable news, are excellent
channels to get reliable news. As the market changes, adjust your investments accordingly
to ensure profits.

Keep up with the latest trends

With the world of cryptocurrency business evolving so rapidly, it is critical to keep up to date
with recent developments and notable trends. It may be beneficial to have a platform where
you can collect information to make an accurate judgment regarding trends and user
opinions. For instance, it is possible to create a trading-related platform using crypto web
templates. Here, people will be ready to post comments and ideas that may be valuable to
you and all your other viewers.
Learn trading methods and staking
There are two trading analysis methods used in the crypto market. They include fundamental
analysis and technical analysis. Technical analysis shows the entire price history of a
security, for example bitcoin, while fundamental analysis revolves around the current affairs
that affect the price of a security such as news events. A combination of both methods works
best to maximize profits. You can always start staking your crypto and earn passive income.
This is one of the easiest methods to gain from crypto in the long term.

Mistakes do happen
Cryptocurrency trading is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes discipline, practice and skills
to succeed in trading. However, even professional traders at times do make mistakes while
trading and realize losses. Cryptocurrencies are volatile and risky and trading might result in
the loss of capital. As such, learning skills such as risk management and trading discipline.
And don’t lose hope when you, when mistakes happen. Learn from the mistakes.

What is an exchange order book?

An order book is simply a separated list of buy (bids) and sell (asks) open orders for a
specific trading pair. It can be identified as a marketplace that anyone can join by placing a
bid if they want to buy an asset or asking for a price if they're going to sell it.

The open order stays in the order book until it's canceled or someone accepts the bid or
agrees to pay the asking price for the specific asset in the case of a sale.

Each trading pair, like BTC/USD or BTC/Ether (ETH), will have its order book.

What are the common crypto order types?

Different order types allow traders to buy or sell a cryptocurrency with a lot of flexibility,
whether they want to target a specific selling or purchasing price or define the timing of the
transaction.

Orders can live in a spot market where cryptocurrencies are traded for immediate execution
or in a futures market where contracts are able to establish that an order is fulfilled at a future
date.
Stop orders would enable traders to choose at which price the order should execute and are
usually set to minimize losses if the price of an asset drops considerably.

Market orders
A market order is an instruction by a trader to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at the best
available price in the crypto market and provide instant execution. It is considered the
simplest and most basic type of crypto order.

Pros
Crypto market orders are perfect for traders who do not wish to wait for a target price and,
unlike all other orders, which are primarily based on the prospect that a price will hit the
target, market orders are guaranteed to be fulfilled.

A crypto market order automatically matches the best available limit order in the order book,
removing liquidity from it. Therefore, it's considered a taker order, and it's the reason why
exchanges usually charge market orders a higher fee. Since market orders are executed
instantly, they cannot be canceled, unlike limit and stop orders.

Cons
Slippage is a significant drawback of market orders. It occurs when large market orders
usually match multiple orders in the order book and may be susceptible to unfavorable
changes in price. In simple words, slippage happens when an order fills at a price lower than
expected.

It usually happens because there isn't enough liquidity to fill a large order at the desired price,
so the next available lower price will fill in. If the order value is not very big, a price difference
might not even be noticeable. However, if the size of the trade is considerable, slippage may
represent a big issue.

Exchange liquidity can be a real issue in cryptocurrency markets, which has prompted many
experts to believe that some volumes declared might be faked or inflated.

Generally, traders who would like to control their trading strategy better might consider using
limit orders.

Limit orders
A crypto limit order is an instruction to buy or sell a cryptocurrency only at a price specified by
the trader. It is best suited for the trader who can patiently wait for a price target to be
reached.

Pros
Unlike market orders, crypto limit orders give more flexibility with the asset price and amount.
They let traders set a minimum price and will only perform at that price or higher.

Investors will be able to either take another trader's open order on the exchange or place an
open order that someone else might take.
The flexibility of limit orders allows traders to have better control and minimize their risk while
granting them the option of staying away from watching the market constantly.

Cons
Limit orders are only fulfilled if the designated price is reached and, even in that case,
execution is not guaranteed, or there's a chance they can even end up being filled only
partially. Orders are first ranked by price and then on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Therefore, once the price is hit, the order might still not be executed because other previously
placed orders of the same amount are waiting to be filled.

A good practice would be to set the limit price a little above the selling price or below the
buying price of psychological levels. As others might use this tactic too, it's helpful to look at
the order books to spot the prices that do not reflect many orders to have a better chance to
execute it.

Limit orders are considered “makers” in that an open order is immediately placed into the
order book and injects liquidity into the market.

Limit order vs. stop order

A stop order is significantly different from a limit order because it includes a stop price meant
only to trigger an actual order when the set price has been reached. Moreover, the market
can see a limit order, while a stop order can't be seen until triggered.

Stop orders
A stop order is set to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at the market price once it has hit the stop
price. In that case, the order becomes a market order and is filled at the next available market
price.

This order type helps traders protect profits and limit losses. However, just like limit orders,
they might not execute even if the price target is met.
Stop orders can be market or limit orders. A stop market order is based on the condition that
a price hits a predefined target (the stop price), and in that case, it executes immediately.
Stop-limit orders are slightly more complex and require a further explanation that we are
providing here.

Stop-limit orders
A crypto stop-limit order is an advanced order type. It's a combination of a stop order and a
limit order, and it's used to minimize risk. Traders often use stop-limit orders to secure profits
or to curb downside losses.

A stop-limit order is not instantly executed and involves two layers of prices:

A stop price converts the order to a buy or sell order;

A limit price defines the highest price traders are willing to pay to buy the cryptocurrency or
the lowest they are eager to pay in case of a sale.

Stop-limit orders are similar to limit orders, but they grant even more flexibility to the trader.

In essence, a stop-limit order will buy or sell the cryptocurrency once the stop price is
reached, and the trading activity continues until the whole order is filled. The benefit of
specifying a stop price is that the order will not be fulfilled at a worse price, allowing traders to
have precise control over how their order is executed within the exchange.

For example, a stop price to buy Bitcoin is set at $60,000, which is the price that will trigger
the order. If the trader believes the price might increase, they can set a maximum limit price
of $60,100, which will be the top price the asset will be bought at. A stop-limit buy can help
traders control the price they pay once they've established the maximum acceptable price.
Similarly, let's imagine a stop price to sell Bitcoin is set at $50,000. This will be the price the
sell order will trigger, and if the trader believes the price might move down considerably, he
can set a minimum limit price of $49,500, which will be the lowest price the asset will be sold
to avoid excessive losses.

Pros
A stop-limit sell order helps traders define the minimum price they are willing to accept from
a buyer. If the entire order isn't completed, the remaining balance is then placed as an open
order at the price of $49,500.

Stop limit orders are particularly effective in cryptocurrency markets because they help
control the high volatility that characterizes them, thereby assisting the trader in mitigating
risks.

Cons
Unlike limit orders, stop-limit orders are not automatically placed on the order book. As a
matter of fact, only when a predefined price is hit will the order be placed in the order book
and seen by everyone. Just like limit orders, stop-limit orders might not execute or might fill
only partially.
Stop-loss orders
A cryptocurrency stop-loss order is an essential tool in risk management because it
automatically closes a position when the price reaches a predefined level.

Pros
Like stop-limit orders, also stop-loss orders are beneficial to the highly volatile cryptocurrency
market.

They can be particularly efficient to help manage a cryptocurrency portfolio, especially for
day-trading activities, because they allow traders to stay away from their monitors and focus
on something else. Like stop-limit orders, they have two layers of price, a stop price and a
loss one.

For example, if traders want to sell a cryptocurrency and the trends scenario is bearish,
meaning that the price seems to be moving down considerably, the stop price can be set at
$50,000 and the loss at $49,500 to contain a loss.

Experienced traders typically move the stop loss higher or lower depending on whether the
market moves up or down. Setting up their trading management structure according to how
the market behaves will help traders contain loss damages.

Cons
The downside of stop-loss orders is that their balances get automatically locked and cannot
be used for any other type of transactions or orders. Allocating some funds to the stop-loss
order and some to other operations might help to prevent this issue.

Also, since a stop-loss order is not guaranteed to be fulfilled entirely when the market order is
triggered, stop-loss orders are vulnerable to slippage, just like market orders.

Trading terms
Limit Order
placing an order to buy or sell in the future, not right away.

Market Order
placing an order to buy or sell right away at the best current price.

Stop Loss
self explanatory. On FTX you should use “Stop Market” to set this order. Make sure the box
for “Reduce Only” is checked.

Take Profit
self explanatory. Use FTX order “take profit”. Advanced users can place a “Limit Order”
instead of a “take profit” order. Make sure the box for “Reduce Only” is checked.
R
short hand for the return of a trade (Risk/ Reward). Example: If I say a trade is 2.3R that
means the Reward is 2.3:1 vs the risk. In other words, if you risked $1 you stand to win
$2.30.

Size
Also talked about in terms of R

1R = Full size (example if you use 2% of your scalping portfolio per trade, 1R = 2%)

Nuke/ Dump
Price going down fast.

Pump/ Rip
Price going up fast.

Rekt
Dead. Your trade has been destroyed/ you’ve lost a lot of money. NEVER put yourself in a
position to get Rekt.

Chop
When price trades sideways for an extended time, making bad traders lose continuously.

Sweep/ Run
Means price will go down through a low or go through a high to stop out (liquidate) leverage
traders.
Tools

https://tradingview.com/ - user friendly charting software for traders in all markets

https://coinalyze.net/ - in depth analysis of spot and derivatives (funding rates, open interest
etc.)

https://okotoki.com/ - live order books (limit orders)

https://v3.aggr.trade/ - listen to the tape (live market orders)

https://tradinglite.com/ - live orderbooks with heatmap layout

https://cryptowat.ch/ - user friendly layout of data

https://thecoinmonitor.com/ - identify abnormal flows

https://coinlobster.com/ - live combined orderbooks and flows - great for spotting which
exchange is leading price

https://exocharts.com/ - order flow, market profile, in depth analytics (requires subscription)

Final stage

Out with the old, in with the new

The Altcoin market goes through a repeating cycle during every bull and bear market,
involving 8 key steps:

1. A bull market begins. New investors enter the Crypto markets.

2. New investors bring a sea of capital looking to make money. This also brings
businessmen, scammers, developers, engineers, and more.

3. Capitalising on the boom, a sea of new projects are launched.

4. These new projects are shiny, new, and exciting, and take the attention from the older
projects, launched in the prior bull market.

5. Eventually, so many new projects are launched that it causes inflation of the total
investment pool, and fractionalisation of attention. Eventually, the new investor inflow drops
enough that a market wide decline begins, as demand cannot keep up with the inflation of
new projects being made.

6. These new projects, along with the old, all enter huge declines ranging from 60-99%.

7. Long, slow, sideways, accumulation period, where majority of projects die, and only the
strong remain. New tech is built, new industries created.

8. A bull market begins. New investors enter the market again.

Throughout the entire process, there remain two coins who have beat the test of time: Bitcoin
and Ethereum.

Crypto and Stocks are now best friends

Crypto and Stocks are besties. They go with each other, spend time together everyday, and
are doing their separate thing for not very long at any given time.

Crypto is now just a high beta stock play. High beta = higher volatility in comparison.

Crypto Whales can hold a level or area of price temporarily, but crypto's direction now
depends almost entirely on stocks.
Why is this?
- Crypto is offered as an investment option on most of the traditional
investment platforms.
- The Crypto market has entered mainstream consciousness.
- Large fund managers have allocated substantial investment capital to the
Crypto space, meaning there are large players who follow the Stock Market
and the FED very closely for buying/selling Crypto
It has never been more important to have a solid understanding of the FED, the Macro
environment, and the future direction of major US Stock Indices.

Being profitable is like attracting a Butterfly

You can't attract Butterflies by Chasing them.

Gardeners attract butterflies by gardening, allowing flowers to grow which will attract
butterflies.

Profitable trading/investing works in the same way.

Those who try to chase profits will have them scared away, for they do not deserve them.

Those who build their knowledge, and their systems/strategies, and patiently wait for the
correct setups (flowers), will be rewarded with profits in time (the butterflies).

There is no ifs or buts to the reality of this metaphor, it is absolutely true and there are zero
exceptions to the rule.

Diversification is a meme
You buy 100 different alt coins thinking that it gives you some form of edge in the market.

What you don’t realise is that diversification is smart, but it doesn’t actually exist in Crypto.

This is the ‘traditional’ advantages of diversification:

- You own projects from multiple sectors, meaning if one crashes there’s
probably another that mooned

- Diversification is typically for maintaining wealth, not creating it

- You don’t need as much conviction on certain projects, the bigger the basket
the more your return profile becomes ‘average’.

Now, the problem with this is for multiple reasons:

- We come to Crypto to get rich, not stay rich. Diversification is generally a wealth
preservation method, not wealth acceleration.

- All sectors in Crypto follow each other to a large degree. 95% of coins dump at the same
time, and pump at roughly the same time.

- Each extra coin you buy is an extra project you need to keep updated with, and track its
price performance and tech/team/community development.

The disadvantages outweigh the advantages to diversify. As an intelligent Crypto investor, you
need to make concentrated bets on projects you have high conviction in, that you can
weather through the inevitable volatility that is Crypto.

My rule of thumb is simple:

I never own more than 8 coins in my portfolio at any given time.

Crypto is Poker on easy mode

Some of the BEST Crypto speculators I know are ex-Professional Poker players.

The game of Crypto and Poker is incredibly similar because:

1. Both are negative sum ($1 in is at max .99 out as the house takes its share)

2. The 95% of losers are what enable the 5% of winners

3. The vast majority are actually gambling, only a small few ever play with a proven edge over
their competitors

4. The best Poker players have a profound understanding of human psychology

5. The key to being profitable is building a system which will make you money over time, and
STICKING TO IT.

The reason so many Ex-Poker players come to Crypto is simple:

Trying to make money in the Crypto Casino is the equivalent of turning up to a Poker
tournament against a room of amateurs.

Most Crypto speculators are genuine morons, implementing nothing more than spread
betting and wishful thinking.
The amount of money you are able to take from a market comes down to how much your
counterparty is willing to lose.

And in Crypto, your counterparty is willing to lose A LOT.

History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes
Here is a specific example:

During the 2015 bear market, investors had HEAPS of time to enter the market at the bottom.

During the 2019 bottom, everyone on Crypto Twitter was drawing fractals of the 3k price
level, anticipating 1-2 years of sideways DOOM.
Why did this happen?

Because the whole market was anticipating for a ‘fractal’ bottom and waited to buy, this
meant there was lots of future buy power that would reenter the market if we did indeed never
retest the lows.

The reason we have bull markets is because there is an underlying passive bid of bulls who
haven’t yet got into the market.

The market tops when this passive bid weakens and sellers begin to overtake.

That same concept applies here.

EVERYONE wanted to buy $3000 BTC, and because everyone wanted it, no one got it and
they were forced to chase the price higher.

Bull markets teach bad habits and bear markets

teach good habits
The problem with bull markets is simple: Unending profits blinds investors from seeing the
TRUTH of markets:

That the aim of the game is to survive FIRST, and then thrive.
HODLing a shitcoin into a FED tightening cycle is the definition of bull market bad habits
taking over a sound investment system.

But the reality is, you need to be a risk on degen in the bull market to maximise your returns.

But you also need to understand that one day, the music will turn off, and you will need to
make sure you get a seat.

You need to be perspicacious and able to operate in all phases of a market cycle.
You will never TRULY understand Crypto until you’ve experienced a full market cycle

The biggest issue new investors have who enter in the bull market is falsely believing that
they are entitled to profits simply by being in the market.

That Crypto prices just continue up into infinitum and all they need to do is ‘buy thedip! And
‘HOLD’!

There are two distinct ‘modes’ you need to operate

in to be successful as an investor:
1. Thriving
2. Surviving
Thriving is all about maximising your returns in the bull market, by understanding that prices
will go higher then anyone can imagine.

Speculators always underestimate the upside in the early phase of a bull market (disbelief),
and underestimate the downside in the early phases of a bear market (denial)

Speculators who have experienced a full market cycle will be able to identify which stage of
this cycle they’re in, and make adjustments to which ‘mode’ they should be in accordingly.
The wealthiest investors in a bull market are the individuals who implemented ‘bad habits’
early (HOLD, no profit taking, 100x, high risk, etc)

The wealthiest investors in a bear market are the individuals who implemented good habits
before they saw the decline coming, being mostly in cash, low risk, sitting on their hands, etc.
*Understand the full cycle to be able to act accordingly.
Speculators who have experienced a full market cycle will be able to identify which stage of
this cycle they’re in, and make adjustments to which ‘mode’ they should be in accordingly.

The wealthiest investors in a bull market are the individuals who implemented ‘bad habits’
early (HOLD, no profit taking, 100x, high risk, etc)

The wealthiest investors in a bear market are the individuals who implemented good habits
before they saw the decline coming, being mostly in cash, low risk, sitting on their hands, etc.
*Understand the full cycle to be able to act accordingly.
Every big losing position was small at one time, that you had the chance to cut

If you’re going to become a trader in the Crypto markets, this lesson is SUPER important.

Profitable trading comes from the minimisation of losses, not the maximisation of profits I
know many consistently profitable traders who obsess over managing risk. I don’t know any
consistently profitable traders who obsess over capturing reward.

The difference between the BEST and WORST trader in the market, is one’s ability to defend
that red line

Markets are zero sum, and the only way you can collect an edge, is to control the downside
to prevent blowups.

A losing trader does not become a loser from 5-10 losing trades, it’s the one big loss that
wipes out their portfolio.
You need to protect yourself from account wipeouts as well as possible.
Because every big losing position was at one point a small loss, that you decided not to cut.

The Devil’s Card Game

Crypto investing is very much like the theoretical game explained below.

(Make sure to read the whole picture, it’s simpler than it looks!)
The Devil’s card game is VERY much like Crypto
markets in a metaphorical sense.
The ‘2’s’ are the good investments you make, and the ‘1/2048’ is the coin that goes to zero
(an illiquid ponzi that gets rugpulled, or even a late-cycle seed round that you can’t exit)
The key to winning the Devil’s card game (and Crypto) is a balance of these factors:

- Risk per card pick (the amount you risk per investment/trade)

- The changing odds of the Devil appearing (the odds of an account wipeout)

- The modifications to your position sizing as your PnL changes

It is that ONE Devil card, that ONE Crypto rugpull, that will destroy your portfolio and set you
back to zero if you over allocate.
When you’re investing in Crypto, you must ALWAYS:

- Never have a single point of failure

- Never bet more than you can afford to lose

- Update your position sizing as your PnL changes

The last one may confuse you, but it’s for a very simple reason:

Markets are cyclical. Crazy bull mania’s, deadly bear capitulations.

Every ‘2’ you collect is a gain you make during the bull run, which sizes up your total portfolio
(If you start with a million, maybe you grow it to 3).

The reason most traders/investors lose money after a bullrun is because they are not
adapting their position sizing to the changing size of their portfolio and the increasing risk of
wipeout.

Or in simpler terms, they’re betting the same % of capital even when it grows by
20%,50%,500%, or even 2000%, and even when there is a higher chance of the Devil’s card
occurring.

Your money is made in the bullrun

And just like in the Devil’s Card Game, the longer you go without the Devil, the higher the
chance it comes in the next draw.
The longer the bull market continues, the closer you get to the inevitable shift, where ponzi’s
start collapsing and token valuations crash.
The longer the bull market continues, the more profits (2’s) you make, and the more you have
to risk if you don’t change your position sizing.

In summary: Play the Crypto game just like the Devil’s card game, adjusting your position
sizing around account growth and risk of wipeout.

Your natural instincts will make you bearish in a bull

market, and bullish in a bear market
I saw this image on Twitter and had to write a lesson on it (credit to Alpha Illustrated)
Your biological, instinctual, evolutionary programming is the biggest hurdle you’ll ever face in
financial markets.

It isn’t about the difficulty of the market, your own intelligence, the people you know, your
starting capital, it ALL comes down to YOUR mind.

Every human on Earth is born with a set of code, a base level programming that defines the
majority of the way we interact with the world around us.

One of the worst lines of programming is our desire to ‘follow the herd’. Following the herd
has stripped speculators of more money than seemingly any other long list of errors humans
can’t stop making.

Following the herd was, at one point in history, a

GOOD thing.
Society was built on the collaboration of ideas, mindsets, and goals.

The caveman died if he tried to survive by himself. This is why humans conquered Earth,
even if we aren’t the most ‘dominant’ species, it came down to our ability to work together as
a team.

But an investment portfolio is not built upon following the herd, it is built upon the
counter-trading of the opinions of the masses.

It’s literally going against the programming that has been built up over tens of thousands of
years.

Yea, so now you know why it’s so difficult!

So how does this relate to the image shared above? Well, let’s have another look:

The human mind is biased to believe that present conditions will tend to continue, and that
listening to ‘the herd’ is best.

After a bear market has occurred, every investor is now programmed to expect prices to
remain sideways, trending down, and good for shorting.

After a bull market has occurred, every investor is now programmed to expect ‘up only’ and
‘supercycle!’, and good for longing (this is what we just went through)

The reality is, neither of these parties are right, as they are too late to be bearish, and too late
to be bullish.

The BEST speculators are able to adapt to a market

which has not even yet occurred
- They implement the bear market lessons BEFORE the bear market has even begun.

- They load their bags up and HODL BEFORE the bull market has even begun

This will go 100% counter to what the masses do at that time.

You’ll be bearish against a horde of bulls, and vice versa.

The image shared shows what MOST people do, which is forming their bias for the future
based off an already occurred past:
"Yea, prices are bearish for the future because of the bad news that has happened for the
past few months"

They simply don't understand how silly that concept is, that looking into past news for
predicting the future is stupid.

TLDR: Learn to look into the future, and approach the market based upon what you expect to
occur later

The tweet basically speaks for itself.

As a Crypto speculator, and a human who loves dopamine, your natural urge is to do more
trades, buy more coins, and aim for quantity > quality.

As someone who's experienced it all, I’m here to tell you that the MOST profitable people do
nothing for 90% of the time, and take a few actions when they spot the easy money.

Our minds like to play tricks on us, and get impatient, saying to ourselves

‘You’ll never see an easy opportunity again!’, ‘You need to buy now!’
We talk ourselves out of patiently waiting for the 10/10 opportunity, and instead chase the
6/10 opportunity when it presents.

The probability of a win, and the size of a win for a 6/10 opportunity makes the endeavour a
waste of time.

If we as investors instead waited for the 10/10 opportunities, we would make MUCH more
profits, and save a lot of time.

Mistaking marketers for investors

One of the most wide spread psychological flaws of Crypto investors is their never ending
search for the ‘perfect investor’ they can follow without any critical thinking.

They hope that ONE day, they stumble across an influencer or a fund, who is SO good at
making money, that ALL they have to do is copy them to get rich.

‘Omg the fund 3AC bought XYZ coin, it’s the future of France, I need to get allocated!!!!’

‘Oh man, BitBoy is super bullish on this new coin launching on Solana, it’s gonna be huge,
this guy is super trustworthy!’

Ladies and gentleman, I’m here to expose to you the BRUTAL reality of the Crypto world.

99% of the influencers, funds, investors, traders, NFT flippers etc that you know of, are all
marketers and are very average at what they do.

There is a game theory and hustle at play here with each type of market participant listed
above.

99% of the people listed above got rich from selling you the dream, not from actually being a
good market speculator.

Here are the different hustles at play here, starting at the simplest and going to the most
complex:

1. Trader Influencers- Simple

- They create content around trading, showing the different setups they
have, and the ‘profits’ they make

- They never show their PnL, only the ‘setups’ they trade, and the
‘accuracy’ of these setups. What they won’t explain to you, is that
charting is 10% of profitable trading
- They will sell you the trading dream through their paid group. All you
need to do is join to learn how to trade and get rich!
They get rich from selling memberships, not from actually trading

2. Investor Influencers - Semi complex

- They create content around investing, going over the latest news, the charts, and all the info
around investing

- They get paid by new projects in the form of tokens/seed rounds/upfront payments to shill
their projects. They don’t disclose involvement most of the time, and use the ‘reputation’
they’ve built up to bring in retail capital.

- They dump their token allocations on their poor followers, who end up buying the top.

They get rich from the coins they are paid to tell you to buy, which they dump on you.

3. Funds/Projects (Eg Three Arrows Capital)-

Complex
Fund managers and Projects essentially work together to pump their projects as high as
possible, to pull out as much profit from their bags as possible.

Here’s how:

- Fund builds up a reputation and trust on social media, same as a Crypto influencer.

- They buy a coin at an 80% discount then use their involvement in the project to pump the
project sky high.

- They dump their coins all the way up, while telling their audience ‘SuperCycle, HODL, this
time is different!’

Fund managers sell you a product (a token) through building a reputation and dumping their
pre-sale bags on you.
The Nuance
Now obviously, the funds like 3AC do know how to trade, they’re very smart, they’ve been in
markets for years-decades.

But they didn’t get to their 8/9 figure wealth, by timing the direction of the market.

They got to these levels, through the reputation they’ve built allowing for HUGE seed raise
discounts, and the capital they brought from their online following which pumped their bags.

It’s the same logic as allowing Usain Bolt to have a 3 second head start in a race simply
because he is more famous. OBVIOUSLY he wins.
-
Now that you see how fucked up the Crypto industry is, and how most of it is a scam to take
your money, you’re now finally awake!
The terms I would use to describe what goes on above is that Retail are ‘famoosed’ and the
insiders are the ‘famoosers’

Crypto is nothing more than a retail slaughter house with the odd survivor.

It’s a process of famoosing the naive, impatient and inexperienced, and giving their money to
the marketers, developers and ‘the house’ (as we talked about at the start of this book).

But don’t be fooled - this does not mean ‘don’t play the game’, it simply means ‘understand
the game you’re playing’.

There is A LOT of wealth in Crypto to be taken from your counterparties, and with the
knowledge in this book you’ll have basically everything you need to do so.

Only the pump is real

“Only the Pump is real. Technology, hype, opinions, updates are all illusions to distract you
from the only 3 variables that matter -- the firepower of the market makers, the current price,
and the intertemporal imbalance of buyers vs. sellers”

This quote from @ActualAdviceBTC on Twitter is one of my favourite quotes of all time.

Let’s break it down:

Price very rarely actually represents the underlying value.

In bull markets, price carries a speculative premium.

In bear markets, price carries a speculative discount.

Because price is basically never at its ‘fair value’ (technology, updates, hype, adoption, etc),
this information is essentially not useful.
You need to use information that ACTUALLY can help determine what a coin is worth.

What matters is how strong are the MM’s who control price, what is the current price, what is
the current imbalance between buyers and sellers and how strong is the narrative.

ONLY THE PUMP IS REAL

Offence and Defence

Crypto is much like a game of Football:

- You need to know when to play Offence, and when to play Defence.

- When there is clear ground to gain, you take it without hesitation.

When it’s looking like the opposite, you pull back and play it safe.

In a bull market the aim of the game is to play on the Offence, and up your risk and position
sizing.

In a bear market, the aim of the game is to play on the Defence, mostly in cash with smaller
position sizes.

Before EVERY bet you make which will risk your capital, think to yourself ‘Is the market
currently in a place where I should be on the Offence or Defence?’

Flat is a position
Your brain tells you that you always need to own Crypto and not just hold USD or stablecoins.

What you fail to understand is that being flat (owning cash) is indeed a position.

Being flat gives you optionality. It gives you the ability to take asymmetric bets during periods
of distress and hysteria.

Put simply, the way cash makes you rich is by having cash when everyone wants cash.

In the raging uptrend of a bull run, everyone wants Crypto, and no one wants cash.

In the capitulatory downtrend, where price drops 20% in a day with cascading liquidations,
everyone wants cash.

Holding cash is just like water.

When everyone has it, it’s worth nothing.

When no one has any, it’s worth more than anything.

The speculator who holds cash before a crash takes place, who is ready to begin buying the
huge discounts, is the speculator who wins the game.

That is the power of being ‘flat’.

You only need 6/8th’s of the bull market to get rich

The first 1/8th, and the last 1/8th, are the two hardest periods in a bull market to predict.

There is no period of a bull trend that takes more money from speculators than the beginning
and the end.

The probability of success in the first eighth and the last eighth (buying bottom/selling top) is
around 5%, and the upside potential is lacklustre at best.

You get a slight discount or premium on your entry/exit, but take on significantly more risk.

So trying to buy the bottom, and trying to sell the top, you take on MORE risk, for LESS
return.

Who would take those odds?

Don’t be afraid if you don’t catch the bottom. It’s always safer to wait for the beginning of the
bull trend and buy then.

Don’t be afraid to take profits early. It’s always safer to exit a bull market a little early, then
getting caught holding the bag a little late.

It’s not about the amount of selling, it’s about WHO

is selling
In Crypto there is two types of market participants:
- Speculators
- Investors

The speculators trade amongst themselves with the same coins that are circulating on the
exchange. When a speculator sells, it has minimal long term impact on price because the
supply they are trading with will simply be bought back by them or another trader.

This is not the case for Investors.

The sale of coins by those who have previously HODL’d and now plan to distribute are
essentially new coins into the circulation which increase the
available supply.
The reason why sales by Investors are so effective is not because of the actual amount of
coins thrown on the market, but because these coins are a permanent load, which will not be
gotten rid of until price has suffered a severe decline.

In simpler terms, when a long term holder distributes, he does not intend to buy back at a
higher price, he will likely only reenter if the price has dropped significantly to where they
deem it again undervalued.

As you can see, it is very different from Joe the Trader who will buy/sell 100x in a day.

Lastly i have created a security checklist

I've collected the most common practices/mistakes that you should pay attention to. With
being careful you will be able to avoid most of the attacks as you won't be an easy target.

Don’t leave your computer unlocked

When you leave your computer, make sure to lock it. If you leave for longer then turn off your
laptop.

Don’t let anyone touch your devices

Don't let friends or family members let alone everyone else touch your work computer or
phone. They could accidentally click on some random links or download a malware.

Only download programs from official website

Avoid untrustworthy downloads for well known software. Always use the official website. Also
don't download random software for no reason.

Don’t share personal info unless necessary

Many programs ask for you personal info for different reasons. If it’s not crucial for the usage
of the service then do NOT provide your personal info.
Don’t click on shady links

By clicking on random links you could accidentally download some malware. If you really
have to click on something that looks fishy then use a secondary device.

Do NOT connect to public WIFI

Don't connect to public to WIFI from your work computer or phone. Only use your phone
data. If you need to use internet on your laptop then connect to your phone's hotspot.
VPN

With VPN no one can see what you do online with your computer. With VPN you can also
bypass restrictions abroad by switching your location in the app.

Passwords

Always use strong passwords that are hard to guess and don’t use the same password
everywhere. You can also use password managers but do NOT forget your master
password.

Don’t keep any passwords unencrypted on your computer.

If you write them down on paper make sure you don't lose them.
Log out from services and change your passwords from time to time.

Browsers

Use trusted browsers that work well with wallets like Chrome or Brave.

Emails

Use well known email providers (gmail)

Use private email service if you need privacy
Ignore unsolicited emails
Don’t open random attachments
Use super strong password as your email is connected to most of your other logins
Use separate personal and work emails
Never ever use your work email for personal use. Also don’t sign up for spams, coupons,
lists, etc from your main or work email.

Get software updates

As new exploits are discovered new software patches are deployed to fix the vulnerabilities. If
you update your software you can make sure that those exploits don’t happen to you. Enable
auto-update features in your OS.

Back up the data

If you have important data on your computer then make sure you back it up. If it’s sensitive
then encrypt it. Use a mix of cloud (dropbox, box, etc) and hardware solutions (USB drive,
external hard drive).

Encrypt your devices

If you encrypt your devices then without the encryption password others can't access and
read your data.

Use anti-malware software

By using anti-malware you can get rid of most of the malware but it's not a magic solution.
Check which one is the best for your device.

Erase all data and factory reset OS from time to time

To make sure you get rid of all malware you gotta wipe out your hard drive completely. Only
after that you should reinstall your operating system.