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When it comes to the financial markets, what lies ahead is either the path of trading or investing. Both strategies are geared towards making money, but are inherently different in their approach, time investment and risk. To make it easier for you to decide what may be the best path, let’s look into each of these professions individually.

TRADING
Trading is often likened to a high-speed race. It’s quick, intense, and calls for quick decision making. Traders seek to capitalize on short-term price fluctuations in assets such as stocks, currencies, or commodities. Trading is mostly about the short term and rarely about long term. Some traders, known as scalpers, hold positions for just seconds or minutes, aiming to profit from tiny price changes. Day traders buy and sell within the same day, while swing traders may hold positions for several days or weeks to capitalise on short-term trends.
Trading cares less about long-term asset value and more about the direction of the market right at the moment. This is the reason traders strongly rely on technical analysis, which is basically the study of price charts, patterns, and the use of tools like indicators, RSI (Relative Strength Index), Candle stick pattern, etc making traders prone to market volatilily which makes trading risky. Traders need strong emotional discipline to handle the heat of making split-second trading decisions that can lose them thousands of dollars in the blink of an eye.

Additionally, frequent buying and selling lead to higher transaction costs, with brokers including things like commissions, spreads, and fees which can eat into profits. These costs can add up quickly, making it essential for traders to factor them into their strategies. There is long term and short term Traders and short term Traders are more than long term Traders. More details as you read further. Crypto Trading is much more riskier than Fiat Trading because of  it volatile nature. Crypto is unpredictable currency, mostly bitcoin while fiat currency is stable currency so traders in bitcoin can't predict the nearest outcome of the market.

Pros of Trading
1.With trading, there is potential for traders to generate significant returns in a short period of time by capitalizing on market volatily
2.Traders can easily adapt to market changes and switched between different assets and strategies as they rely mostly on technical analysis
3.Unlike investing, which relies mostly on price appreciation, trading allows for profit in any market direction. This means that even in a bullish market, traders can sell, profiting from liquidity grabs (retracement) before trend continuation.
4.In trading, there is availability of leverage (borrowed money) which can amplify traders return in a successful trade.
5. They used risk management tools like Take Profit and Stop Loss (TP/SL).

Cons of Trading
1.Trading is riskier than investing because the market is basically engineered to prey on traders. Short term positions are vulnerable to stop hunts, fake breakouts and liquidity grabs
2.Trading requires significant time and effort because traders need a deep understanding of market dynamics to monitor market conditions and actively manage trades and also stay updated on news and events that will likely impact the market.
3.The fast-paced nature of trading can take a toll on traders emotions. FOMO(Fear Of Missing Out) and greed can cloud judgement and lead to impulsive actions.
4.While leverage can amplify potential profits, it also amplifies potential losses.

INVESTING
If trading is a sprint, investing is more of a marathon. A more deliberate path to wealth, a slower path, focusing on your long-term story(the bigger picture) than hoping for a giant one-off windfall.
Investing is always about the long term. Investors purchase assets like stocks, bonds, or real estate hoping they will rise in value with time often through the sheer power of basic math: compounding. They are willing to wait years or even decades making asset owners generally less exposed to market swings and so lower risk than trading. Value investors look for stocks that are undervalued, growth investors look for stocks with high growth potential, whereas dividend investors aim stocks with regular dividend payouts.
Investments rely heavily on fundamental analysis to make decisions and they do so by digging into a company’s financial statements, evaluating its management team and it’s position withing the industry.
Contrary to trading, investors are less likely to come under pressure. What they need is patience as they know that markets will inevitably experience ups and downs.
 Lastly, Investment requires less transactions which automatically leads to lesser fees thus making investment a cost effective option for low risk takers.

Pros of Investing
1.Investing is less risky when compared to trading as it focuses more on long-term growth without fear of market volatility.
2.Investing requires less active management than trading.
3.Most investments, such as dividend-paying stocks and bonds, generate passive income streams, providing a steady flow of cash.
4.Many investments, such as dividend-paying stocks and bonds, generate passive income streams, providing a steady flow of cash.
5.Profits from investments are typically taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income.

Cons of Investing
1.Investing typically generates slower returns than trading, as it relies on long-term growth rather than short-term price fluctuations.
2.While investments are considered more stable over trading, they're not completely free from the risk of losing value when overall market conditions are poor. Investors endure prolonged drawdowns, while traders can profit from both rising and falling markets.
3.Investing involves little to no leverage which can reduce potential returns when compared to trading.

Conclusion:
Bitcoin being a digital currency in the world has been used in the trading field for a very large scale but seconded to the US dollar in general. But from the perspective of the youth, bitcoin is the highest trading currency digitally. The profit is depends on the mathematical calculation of the trading. Mostly the tools.

Investment in the area of store of value Bitcoin is the highest even more than the US dollar because it is volatile and US dollar is stable coin. But it is the longevity of the investment that determines the investor's profit. You can still make profit within a short period of time but it will not huge as the long term investment.

Unlike the fiat that relies on the central bank and governments for its stability, Bitcoin is decentralised and independent on control which is both it's strength and its weakness.

Thank you for this article.
There are people who are both traders and investors. They are able to manage and balance both and there are people who are only traders and others only investors. It is not easy do both at the same time but if that is what works for you then fine. Trading requires more skill and  commitment of time and resources than investing that all you need to do is patience. I like both but on a personal level I can only commit to investing full time as I have other things taking my time.

Yeah, I'm sure there are people who balance the two where they are both traders and investors, maybe they're good at management so they're able to do it even though it's not easy.

But for me it's difficult --- not able to do both, therefore do not want to take more risk in trading especially those that use leverage, then it's better to invest with less risk, I don't even mind about patience because it's part of future profits.

Because in trading once lost more than $2000 in the past, therefore to decide to stop and not focus on trading anymore.

For now, BTC is the ultimate store of value.

May it become the ultimate coin for other things? We will find it out in the future, but its nature dictates how we interact and use it.

It will be easier if the individual first commits to starting one first before trying to add another one. If the person already has some skill in trading and decides to add investment on top of it, doing both will not be so difficult because investment basically is not as skill or time demanding as trading, especially when there is no other commitment taking one's time.

It will be hard when one tries to do both, especially trading when they have other things taking their time already.

At least if trading has been mastered in its skills then adding investment as a second choice is not difficult, especially what you said is true, investment does not take much time but only enough to buy and HOLD.

Because for me it is certain that trading will take a lot of time especially if they focus more on trading.
But the important thing is when you are able to do good management then I think it will be easy to do.
For example, a little profit from trading to BTC investment.

You can hold some BTC and then just trade the rest. This way you do both while keep learning to trade. I think everyone is doing it because not everyone is comfortable in trading their entire Bitcoin.

Trading means you still could generate small amount every time the price moves. Depends on how big you trading capital is. What is important is you learn how to master trading.

Everyone can both trade and invest, but not everyone is capable to make it for long term. Some are just good at the beginning, but after that, they realized that trading or investing is not for them. But there are really those bright and talented ones, they really are good in both.

However, one thing is certain, both involves risk towards financial growth and security. And when there’s risk, that only means that those who have good risk management may have an edge and succeed, but those who find it hard to manage all of those, in reality they have no place in both trading or investing.

It is a great read.

I hope that most of the aspiring traders and investors will find this thread as soon as they search for some good to find article for reading.

While we're free to be on the both sides and no one can stop us. The trading part is actually brutal, you'll have to learn so many factors on how you'd be able to win against the traders.

With investing, knowing that bitcoin is one of the greatest asset for the past decade and probably century, the slow approach of many through DCA is what is going to save them from financial trouble in the nearest future.

I know a couple of people that have been able to successfully combine trading and investing and are doing well in both. How they do it is that the profits from their trade per month are invested into Bitcoin and other reliable altcoins. Through this approach, some of them are holding large quantities of Bitcoin. They protect their investment from the effect of wrong trading by ensuring that they do not touch their investment when they experience margin ball, instead the source for money from other areas to fund their trading account.

A lot of traders turn into investors after the coin they bought is constantly decreasing in price. Thus, not wanting to sell the purchased coin at a loss, they decide to hold it until the price returns to the purchase price. And it happens that it takes several years to do this.

Okay what if they don't make any profit from their trading during the month? Although there might be another source whereby the person that implies the both can get money from to be use for investment, but IMO don't think it's proper to hope on the profit you make from trading to be use for investment because trading is not always profitable.

As a trader you don't have to run from trading to investment and all what you have to do is to pause the trading at the time and use another funds for the investment because if you used the coins which your were using to trade for invest, it might affect you because by the time you want to go back to trading and the price at the time is very low and the time to trade at the moment is good then you will still at the losing side of the investment so it is better to do the two at the same time if there is money to balance the equation.

Thank you for this highly informative article OP. However, for us to achieve financial growth, we don’t need to chose any of this that will suit to us. If we can be a good and reliable investor, then it would be easy for us to become a well-trained trader in the long run. It’s actually an edge for us having these two careers in life, but these should be done with proper knowledge and guidelines on how to make them right and profitable. Consistency on learning and experience is the key. And with patience, we can do great wit them.

Investing and Trading are two pathways to improve your finance but Investing is safer and easier pathway to succeed.

Trading is more dangerous than Investing and it's not a recommended pathway to succeed in improving your finance. With trading, you can have short term profit, get it very quickly and even very high ROI but in mid-term and long-term, your ROI will be smaller a lot or even your ROI will be negative (means loss).

Trading if you choose it, is very risky so you must use stop loss order.
One of best weapons in trading. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5173189.0)
https://github.com/SpiralDevelopment/Awesome-Crypto-Trading
https://github.com/learn-crypto-trading/learn-crypto-trading.github.io

It was great to see the post because here are some new investors or trading who want to join. This post is extremely helpful for them. Here is a very nice comparison between trading and investment. Many think trading and investing are the same thing but not in reality. If you read this post, he weill get the right idea. If you want to set the right path for yourself, the ability to help your vacation must be you investing time and attitude towards the market is very important. Although trading is risky, it gives quick profits, especially short-term market fluctuations. But it requires more time and attention and often adds to the emotional style of emotion, while investing focuses on long-term success and low-risk path. So if you want to invest long term you must have a lot of patience and gain through it usually grows slowly.

You did clear the air that both trading and investment are geared towards same purpose which is to make money and inherently different in approach. Yes, trading is far risky but quick in profit and that is one land mark for a risky adventure. If you want to aim for faster profit then trading is the angle to look towards not investment because it is a gradual accumulation either through dollar cost average or any other means you invested in but you have to wait for a certain time for it to yield profit. Like if you are hodling bitcoin during the bear season, then you need to be patient till the halving and bull season for your investment to mature for your set profit. Having said that trading is faster in both, you have to learn trading otherwise you end up losing. It requires more knowledge than investment in bitcoin which is know the time of buying, hodl until profit and sell.

I find it very hard to put the 2 side by side. Trading is quick growth at a much lower probability of success, and in my experience on this forum and in crypto trading, its the path to quick loss.

Sorry OP but I can't see any correlation for comparison. Within investing you have just so many ways as well, that has enough correlation for comparison. But trading as a way for financial growth? No man, not right.

Most people will agree with you that long term investing is safer and simpler than trading, including me. But I don't think we should be against trading for this reason and advise people to stay away from it.

Just because we don't make money and lose money in trading doesn't mean others will fail like us. Everyone has their own abilities and strengths, we should let them choose freely instead of imposing our thoughts on them. If someone likes trading and wants to make short term profits, I will support them as long as they are happy with their choices. I will not impose my thinking on them that they should choose long term investing over trading.

Hmm, thanks for a great topic for discussion, I've checked the topic on the forum ALTT, I would love to see what other think about the path the've chosen and why, currently I'm following the hybrid path there are some investments in my portfolio and some part of my portfolio is active in trading.

Such Quality topics and discussions are needed here in this particular section.

There are lots of store of value and some are also good not just Bitcoin but each has their own advantage and disadvantages. BTC is highly volatile and this can be its disadvantage when it comes to store of value because our money can go down easily but because it is highly volatile, it can also recover very quickly. BTC is the ultimate coin here in the crypto industry because it is first and the most decentralized but again like I said earlier, it also has its laggy which must the reason why alts and tokens are invented. It is not the nature of BTC but it is our nature on how we interact and use it. Like for example, my nature is I like to use Bitcoin regularly like a typical currency. I know for some it was the opposite. They only HODL their BTC, hoping to earn more profit out of it.

With this point, what this is supposed to tell you or anyone that wants to choose between the two is that investing is the best way to go and not trading. Many people will be interested in trading because it is going to give you profits quickly but things that comes quickly do not use to last that long but anything that takes its time before it comes, it would not just go without giving you time to be able to recover or prepare for its departure so you can stop it from happening and that is what investing in Bitcoin is going to give you. It will help you to build yourself and be receiving good profits longer than trading will ever give to you. If you have the privilege to be capable of doing the two, that is your luck but always know that investing is better than trading.

That's correct. Most people that I know who started with investing in bitcoin and decided to go into trading along side it maybe because they thought that have become competent and can manage the two usually end up giving one more attention than the other and they will eventually, give up one to focus completely on the other. And more often they leave trading to focus on investing, the safest option.

Where there is safest and less stress option, that would be where investors and traders stick to. And obviously, that’s not trading but majority chose to stay hodling. Although we can find reputable traders here and made huge profits there, but that does not change the fact that they are still hodling for their future profits.

Personally, I'd say trading is for people who have more time (and experience preferably) to analyze and stuff and investing for people who have a regular job and just wants to grow their money passively. There may be differences in rates of growth in investing but that's what makes it a great thing imo for financial growth/

It's just a riskier option vs a stabler option. Strictly speaking it's more like a job than financial growth really since rather than letting time make your money be richer, it's you yourself making decisions to make it richer so I guess it's no surprise you don't think it's a way to financial growth. Just that compared to regular blue collar jobs, it has a higher ceiling since, well, the ceiling is pretty much whatever your captal is for the most part.

Gambling is a riskier option vs a stabler option then if we use this comparison. Honestly, financial growth gurus who see trading as an option must be living in a different world.

If you're talking about capital being the most part, well, isn't that true for any investment, any business venture?

Still can't believe people here think of trading like this, but I guess thats the reality of crypto especially. The exchanges won :)

Actually, this is not a problem if you are a profitable trader. When you trade a lot, it can also count as wagering in certain exchanges and the more you wager, the more rewards and VIP treatment you get, so, this is actually good.

No risk, no reward! Crypto trading is risky but the reward can be a goddamn good. Bitcoin is really superior to fiat, you can buy it and relax, you are almost guaranteed that this currency will grow further because countries plan to create a Bitcoin Strategic reserves. Some US states already approved to save up to 10% of their treasury in Bitcoins.

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Overall, everyone should use the strategy that they succeed the most but to my mind, steady growth is better than quick moves for the highest percentage of population. You can make lots of mistakes during day trading because we are humans, have emotions and it's hard to not sell your coins when the price is going down. In the end, slow and steady wins the race!

Don't let "No risk, no reward" pulling you down to the mud of loss because trading is really hard to manage and get profit. You must be so knowledgeable, experienced and professional to get profit in trading.

If you don't want to take very high risk with trading, and also know about fact that most traders are losers in the market, you will not want to do "Take risk, take reward". You can try with very small capital for trading, but afford to lose it and make sure you don't want to revenge the market by increasing your trading capital time to time.

You can try for several times and if you still fail, forget trading and return to investment that is safer and more easily get profit.

There's trading and also investing in the market. We do the examining research and choose the path to follow in our quest for financial growth. I'm sticking to investing because it comes more with different sectors and we can maintain our sanity in the space. Unlike trading that can cause confusion, we often doubt our own principles and trading strategies because the market moves against our angle. We tend to know what's best for us the moment we enter the market, we know ourselves vividly and wouldn't lie to ourselves.

Everyone trades and invest because nobody is been reluctant not when the market have provided every means of making it to the very top. Then why sit around doing absolutely nothing? Trades can be open and close depending if it favors our very selves in the market.

Everyone? You trying to say that everybody does both? Or you trying to say that those who have money do both? Either you're a spammer or you really believe that all people who have crypto because they're investing are also trying to trade.

You want to know who sits around doing absolutely nothing? Very rich people who don't trade and only invest.

I dont think the dichotomy is that clear but it is indeed overlapping. Traders are also investors and those who invest also trade at certain points of their journey.

Essentially we can break down trading based on the duration of orders being kept open as
1. Short Term Trading
2. Mid to Long Term Trading.

The second one is close to Investors. But I guess we put the term more commonly on the people who are into lower risk assets for a long term period.

You are right and it's just like having it coming true so quickly and having it coming slowly, and of course those who are that mindful on how they risk would go for mid or long term trading but this also depends on the level of their equity to hold on long position.
For spot trading then I see no much difference as it's investment.

All matters on how you would be that able to make out adjustments on which it will be neither choosing up one or you would really be that doing both. It doesnt matter on which one because these things will really be leading out into that financial growth on which this is something that you must really be that needing up to consider on which path you would really be that taking. It all matters on how you would really be doing out such act because people do usually easily gives up when they do experience few failures on which this simply means that you are the ones will really be that making up that kind action on which you do know that this will really be that giving out that chance for financial freedom once you do able to have that grasps into it. Trading isnt easy, investing isnt easy but if you do able to have that kind of grasps then you will be able to have that kind of opportunity to have a life on which it is something more better than before.

It is really just that basing up on how well you do get involved and learned up these things accordingly and not really just that easily gives up when you do face up challenges. It will really be depending into someones sustain and perseverance.

That is a sure that there are certainly people who basically focus on investments while some others are rested on trading. It is just all about where they feel they are better off and also considering the risks of their financial managements and funding of the resources.
To me I think anyone who can trade can actually invest because trading has the utmost risk taking while investment is just of patient which can be a course of mere adaption (patient) that can't be compared to trading with the involvement of skills with a highily technical knowledge.
So I think there are also people who can navigate between both sides of investing and trading. It will just be matter of source generating the funds for the trades and also investing.

It’s really a great practice if one decides to invest and then later on start to risk in trading as well. Both can bring massive profits in the near future. However, not everyone has given the talent and ability to trade and endure those trading losses.

Some may be good on investing alone but have no sufficient knowledge and interest to continue with trading. I am talking on the newbies these days, as they rush on trading without long term preparation and end up leaving trading because they can’t bear with their losses anymore.

I think it's fine to trade as a side income as long as you don't get too aggressive because the risk here is too big, which is a concern where they want to chase losses like gambling sometimes there are also traders who have this kind of thinking.

So just focus on one of them --- investment --- is much safer and risk-free if we don't sell it.

For those that really have a professional skill in trading, they surely make more money more than investor but like you have already explained it, there's risk attached to trading and also to invest. In trading, you are not getting a passive income because you are working, making analysis, looking at the screen for long hours so that you can come up with good trades, but if you invest, you just site back and relax while your profit  is automatically growing. The waiting time might be long for you to get a certain profit but at least you are not stressing or doing any work to get your return on investment.
It's also possible that one can do both of them and management them efficiently, for example, someone can be a trader and at same time, investing and holding Bitcoin.

And the important thing is they have a will to learn more details about trading and investment, if they want to do both. But if they think trading is so difficult for them, they don't have to force themselves and it is better to select investment. Most people leave the learning side without think that is the important thing.

I always suggest my friends who want to involve in Bitcoin by investing especially using DCA because that is not too difficult. But many of them interest with trading and try to learn it although I already tell them that it is not easy to have skill in trading. But they still want to try so I just let them know by themselves.

We need to strike a balance between the two I think it is easy to make money if you have good trading skills and understand the signals but it is true that trading is much more risky than investing because short term market changes and volatility can quickly lead you to financial losses. Successful trading requires in depth knowledge of technical analysis market trends and strategies. It can be time consuming and a bit complicated also both trading and investing have their own advantages and disadvantages if you want quick profits and are ready to take risks then trading may be good for you. And if you want long term financial stability and growth with low risk then investing may be a good option but it requires patience and a long wait.

Everyone want to shine at every possible methods to maximize the chances of multiplying their money which means everyone opt for both trading and investing but time will push almost all of them into investor category over the time. People with enough knowledge on money management turn into investor just after one or two attempt of being a trader and all others must be still trying out with their committed/disposable capital even after third failure. I mean, even basically we want to be both investor and trader, the market volatility never let anyone to remain a trader forever.

Even in spot markets, I could not sustain in trading; I could not image about the state of my capital with leverage. Patience is key everywhere, not just in investing, we could expect a cow to milk from day one since its birth.

can somewhat agree with this, too much people stuck in the same place with trading while btc holders are multiplying their capital by just doing nothing.
like CZ has stated, literally Bitcoin holders are the most profitable people right now by doing nothing compared to people who try to outsmart market, trading alts hoping the volatility can give them something but always got wrecked by unexpected event like tariff and so on.
investing, is the genuine way toward financial growth, trading is the way to go too, but with prerequisite that you're a genius ;D.

CZ again, well, he knows best how to make money by evading the law and going to jail for a small settlement. Business genius is a prerequisite for business.

Prerequisite for trading success I think is just a lot of luck. I'm simplifying it for sure but for most people, and I mean 99% of people, you find their luck is what made them rich. Like all these project devs of memecoins. They were lucky to be early crypto adopters, selling ETH and all shitcoins at the top.

I think the long term trading is essentially what is called investing. I dont see much difference which is the crux of this discussion.

Short term trading ends up being the "trading" that we commonly abhor, including day trading.

Compare what bitcoin being in the 60k USD range and today being the 85k range brings back to the trader? 25k USD/BTC of unrealized profit. That is a good number to cash out even if the market at the current state is sideways with unpredictable downtrends almost every few days.

Profitability will be basing up whether you do hold up your Bitcoin or would be trying out to trade it on active manner. There might be some differences in terms of the numbers because there would be factors that profits will be basing up.

1. The amount invested
2. The price on which you had made out such buyback
3. DCA
4. The amount on which you have decided to sell

We are all that trying out to deal up into something on which it doesnt matter whether its trading or investing on which in overall where we do share up on the same goal or target on which is to make money.
These factors above mentioned that totally affects on how much you could potentially earn. The time that you do keep on trying out to mind about others profits will be just that making you that getting stressed because you've been trying out to chase on what others been trying to make or totally that getting not contented on what you do have. Always stick into your trading or investing plans and wont be trying out to make those changes or alterations just because other people had been doing up something. If ever you do have such that changes according into your analysis then its  considerable but if its basing up into others analysis or whatever words that you have heard then its not recommended at all.