Thoughts from a newbie to the market. (Fear, Stupidity, and Observations)

[hotmetaldobermans]

Hey.

Holy hell, what a time to finally enter the market for the first time.  I've read about it for years, but never brought myself to dip my toes in.

Like many of you, I've been watching Bitcoin by the sidelines for years. Years of "coulda, shoulda, woulda" turned into me finally setting up platforms last week, and buying in for a couple hundred dollars.

I live in China, but am American, and have a bit of money each month to burn, so I figured now is the right time.  No problems with internet usage with my multiple-VPN solutions.

My first transaction went through, as I signed up for Coinbase / GDAX, Bittrex, Polo, and got a decent wallet.

Shortly after, the fall began.

For 48 hours, I watched it plunge.  I had funds at the ready for my first decent entry to the market, 1/3 of a coin.  At the peak of the dive, $2,900, I waited.

I guess that was my first lesson learned.  Don't wait too long.  Within an hour, it was back up to $3,700.  I cursed myself, and waited.

Hoping for a creep back around the low 3's, it didn't quite happen, so I finally dove in at $3,450.  I'm happy with that.

This probably won't win me any brownie points, but I must say: BTC BOARDS ARE A TERRIFYING place!  So many pure guesses, emotional baggage, and blind stupidity masquerading as fact.  I watched as this board, and Reddit, melted down as it dipped.  I watched people state IT CAN'T DO THIS THING, followed by it doing exactly that thing.  A good lot of you have no idea what the hell you are talking about, and these public forums can be a very messed up place for newbies to dig.

This may seem obvious, but I plead with newbies to :  

Take everything read on here, Reddit, your choice of research platforms, with a grain of salt.

Do a ton of research on your own, and avoid knee-jerk reaction.

If you tell yourself you're going to do something, then DO IT!  FOMO is real, but in my case, an entry at $3,000 would have been great.  I hesitated not knowing how low it'd dip.  I guess that's the game, though.  

An hour can make all the difference.

STOP MAKING YOURSELF LOSE MONEY!  Easier said than done, but jesus.  Aside from protection (from yourself, security and monetarily), rule number one should be BUY LOW, and SELL HIGH. The amount of people who bought in at $4,900 and sold at $3,000 is goddamn terrifying to me.  I get fear and panic, but christ, if you already put that much in, just wait.  Again, I suppose, easier said than done.

Trust yourself.

So far, I think I've got a good entry to the market.  Crept towards .4 BTC.  A dozen or so shares of NEO.  A touch of ETH.

Going to wait until the dust settles on all of this.

It's my hope, we hit some more serious dips on 9/30 and 10/30 as China breathes its last gasp of major control, and I edge my way to a full 1 BTC, and finally have some decent skin in the game on this.

Poking around in ICO's.  This ICON thing looks pretty decent, and I'm keeping an eye on some good ICO entry points to try and maximize profits from the get go.  I'm in this long term now.

Anyways....I could go on, but...that's my 2 LTC.

Cheers, and HODL strong

- HMD.

[TheGodson]

HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT PEOPLE HAVE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE. WE FORUM PEOPLE ARE PERFECT. WE WORSHIP BITCOIN. WE PRAISE THE BITCOIN GOD ALMIGHTY. HE SPOKE TO ME LAST NIGHT AND TOLD ME WONDEROUS THINGS. SHAME! SHAME ON YOU!

 


No, you're right. There is a lot of stuff where people are like "bitcoin is unstoppable", "I'm in love with bitcoin", "bitcoin will reach $10,000,000 in 2 years", and lots of other things. Buy low, sell high is a good idea. However, it is not easy to see what is high and what is low until after the fact.

[HabBear]

Welcome owning bitcoin!

Great summary here, all newbs should read it. You speak a lot of truth. One of my favorite bits of wisdom from you "A good lot of you have no idea what the hell you are talking about!" So, so true. Once you can see the few gems among the trash it adds an element of humor to being here.

Buy low, sell high is great but often unrealistic, particularly at the point when you have to click "buy!" So instead of stressing on the right price, you should focus on investing smaller amounts more often. Buy a bit more 'coin every paycheck, whatever amount you can afford. It'll be a higher price some weeks and a lower price other weeks, but you'll average your cost.

Finally, be careful with the ICOs. Lot's of rubbish out there. I'd love to know which are catching your eye!

[erikmatik]

haha, feel you bro. Buying your first bicoin and watching the market makes its rises and falls makes you so nervous you might want to withdraw the same time you see that the price dips. That's one risk, bicoin is highly volatile. And with what is going on now with the major country players like China makes bitcoin investing a roller coaster ride. Just stick with it and believe, you can learn along the way. Just read, read, read and educate yourself. There are tons of useful ideas and learning materials out there beaneath on what you call "rubbish" opinions". Just seek, there is money on garbage haha!!!