How to NOT lose all your hard cash on Bitcoin

Bitcoin has made a lot of noise in the news and on social media and it seems like everyone has become a professional in the last couple of years. So I did as much reading and studying on the subject as I can and finally decided to invest in some Bitcoin. One suggestion I heard from a few bitcoin veterans was “don’t invest more than you are willing to lose” and I am glad I stuck to this rule during my learning curve.

Now before we start I want to make clear that I don’t have a degree in economics or finance, everything I explain in this article I have learned trading and by trial and error (lots of it) so just like I was told not to spend more money than I can afford to lose, I also tell you “don’t invest more than you can afford to lose” day trading is essentially a gamble.

So to make this as easy and clear as possible, I have broken this tutorial in to steps. Let’s start with Step 1, find the right Cryptocurrency.

Step 1: Choosing a Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is often being used as a term to describe Cryptocurrencies, there are many Crypto’s currently in circulation. An estimated 1400+ Cryptos are available to date and more are being released. Therefore it is very important that you research the Crypto you want to buy in to. There have been known Cryptocurrency scams such as Biconnect for example who promised a guaranteed daily ROI of 1%. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is, the CEO of Bitconnect disappeared with hundreds of millions dollars and euros and is currently at large with a bounty on his head.

So how do you choose the right Crypto? Do your research, check how long the Crypto has been around and read posts, tweets and news about the Crypto you are interested in. Some new Crypto’s are very cheap with a huge potential of growth, however the potential of failure is even greater. So as the reward increases so does the risk. Personally I have been trading with Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin, the reasons for me are that these coins have a good history and are all tradeable on a single platform.

Step 2: Choose the right Trading Platform / Brokers

So you have decided to trade or purchase some Crypto’s and have to choose where to deposit your hard earned money. With a massive amount of websites offering Crypto trade with and without fee’s it can be hard to choose the right one. The key points to make a decision are the following:

Reputation
- Just like any other business, reputation and customer feedback can give you a very good insight in what to expect once you join. Check reviews, tweets and online articles about the potential Index you are considering before signing up and providing your personal information and money.
Payment Methods
- Check how you can get your money in and out of the exchange. Some sites might only have specific payment types like: Bank Transfer, Paypal and Credit Card. Each of these will have a fee associated to the payment.
Trading Fees
- Many Trading Platforms charge transaction fees every time you buy or sell a crypto. If you are trading with small amounts this can really diminish your profits. Make sure fee’s are clear and check the impact on each transaction.
Downtime
- There is nothing more frustrating than seeing the value of your Coin’s rise or drop when your exchange is down. Usually newer exchange platforms suffer from downtime during spikes or drops as these see a massive increase of users and their servers simply can’t keep up with the demand.
Transparency
- How transparent is the exchange about the storage and transactions of your money. Here is another example of Bitconnect stealing millions as people blindly trusted the company.

Some of the most trusted crypto exchanges are: Coinbase (gdax), Etoro, Binance and BVC. That being said there are many other trusted trades, just make sure you do your research.