New trader with 2000% unrealized gains in 2 months - how can I go further?

[t401000001]

First of all: thank you to anyone who took the time to view my post. I hope you read my story and possibly share some advice with me.

*edit*
I guess I was too vague here in the beginning but I spent these first 5 months studying **really** hard, reading every book that was recommended to me (Livermore, Schwager, Seykota, Douglas etc) and applying that knowledge in a simulated account on TradeStation experimenting with MACD, Bollinger Bands, VWAP, etc - every technical analysis tool I had read about. While also having my decisions critiqued each day by my veteran mentor. Please understand I did not just make an account randomly and start throwing everything I had in a few different coins. I worked so very hard to feel confident enough to use my own hard earned money on this.

I am a 23 year old who dropped out of college 7 months ago to chase a dream of trading full time. I spent the first 5 months learning from my friends dad who was willing to show me the ropes of the traditional market. (He started out as a broker on the floor 30 years ago and then spent the last 10 years Options trading for a few different corporations including BP) He showed me a lot but I did not like the fact the SEC would not allow me to day trade without a 25k account (I was flat out broke working odd jobs in the afternoons to afford bills). He is not involved in Cryptocurrency at all so I can't learn about these things through him either.

Flash forward to mid January and my friend told me to try trading Crypto. I blindly made my first purchase on Coinbase for $200 worth of LINK. I sold it at the end of the month for double. I was hooked. I found the newsletter Morioh and saw a recent post about HydraDX's upcoming ICO. I made a MetaMask wallet and got some Ethereum so I could participate in the offering. The gas fees really hurt my small account. It was then in early February I saw news of the Binance Smart Chain and their ridiculously low gas fees, so of course I converted my remaining ETH to BNB and even added some more of my own cash I managed to scrape together. Long story short, I spent the last two months grinding all day and night trading these obscure alt coins I would find through Telegram groups and other forum boards. I slowly took some money out along the way to buy a couple projects I considered long term holds on the ETH network.

As of right now, my Account that I funded with $1,200 is now sitting at ~$32,000. This is almost life changing money to me and I feel like most of it is just pure luck. I really want to improve myself further and meet others who share the same passion as I do. I dream about working at a Crypto trading firm but I fear I might not be able to get far without credentials like formal education.

My question here is: Is there anyone here like me? Do I stand a chance in the world of professional traders? How can I take the next step forward in terms of a better Crypto market understanding?

[mk4]

I really don't want to take away from your (short term) success, but Mark Cuban once said: "Everybody is a genius in a bull market.".

Is it the case with yours? Maybe, maybe not. All I'm saying is that don't be too overconfident yet. Just continue trading with calculated risks, and definitely without being too cocky and suddenly going 20%-100% in a single trade. If you manage to make good money consistently for more than a year, then we could probably say you're good. Bear markets are where "traders" get really tested.

[t401000001]

I really don't want to take away from your (short term) success, but Mark Cuban once said: "Everybody is a genius in a bull market.".

Is it the case with yours? Maybe, maybe not. All I'm saying is that don't be too overconfident yet. Just continue trading with calculated risks, and definitely without being too cocky and suddenly going 20%-100% in a single trade. If you manage to make good money consistently for more than a year, then we could probably say you're good. Bear markets are where "traders" get really tested.

Thanks so its still just too early for me is what you are saying. I guess ill just keep at it and try not to post again until after bear market.. haha

[jackg]

What are you actually interested in? If its just the money, you could look to try working with pension schemes or similar companies (even just for a bit of unpaid experience for at most a month if you can). If you're applying for jobs in finance sectors they're likely going to care more about how you can analyse stuff than a formal education exactly (formal education are a good point to work out how good someone is but they're not everything). If you know what you're on about or can adapt and learn fast, you'll probably get somewhere.

Lots of people in the stock market at the moment don't seem to be trading based on what companies are actually worth too so, if you're interested, that could be something to look at (dunno if you've done much on value investing - or if it's out of most people's depths?)

I'd also say, if you're going to continue with anything, save the $30k now - sell it back to cash and put it somewhere you can forget about it - like a savings account that pays 2%+ interest or if you're really bad with self control vaulted gold might be an option so you'll find it harder to sell them before you've had time to think it over.


Also was there a specific reason you dropped out of college? I've been doing trading on the side of my course and have been doing quite well with it - just checking the coins I track about 3 times a day to determine when's good to trade (but that's only about 20 pairs).


Remember: you can't predict the future but you can check your predictions from the past against what's happened with a company! Found a ratio that might be interesting? Check the last 5-60 years of data on it to see how it's played out. that's something so many people need to LEARN. You can backdate any strategy you come up with to see how it functions before you put ANY cash towsrds it. THEN and only if it works can you put a tiny amount of money behind it to see how it plays out.


Crypto firms at the moment are generally focused on asset retention - not being prone to cyber attacks - which will change in the future but for now is mainly focused on actual security of funds and less so on growth of assets held by the company.

[mk4]

Thanks so its still just too early for me is what you are saying. I guess ill just keep at it and try not to post again until after bear market.. haha

Just too early for you to make conclusions if you're a "good" or "bad" trader. It's very possible for you to make solid money for one full year and just go downhill the following months. Not trying to discourage you here, just trying to let you look at things in a realistic way.

[LUCKMCFLY]

~snip~

I have a friend who something similar happened to your situation, but at one point he made a very bad investment in several currencies believing that they were going to rise and the opposite happened, (It was when Bitcoin from almost $ 20k went to $ 10k) there He lost almost all his money and he reached $ 500k, his goal was to reach $ 1M, he actually reached $ 500k by sheer luck and he thought he knew the market, that Bitcoin was never going to go down and that cryptocurrencies were not going to go down either, nowadays. He does not have crypto, I think he trusted himself and what he lacked was to educate himself more, that is, to read books, I recommended reading books by Wyckoff and Jesse Livermore, out of laziness he did not read them and made business decisions because he believed what he thought was, and ended up losing everything, in general what I recommend is, educate yourself much more, read a lot and do not risk all your money, work a part and learn every day.

[t401000001]

What are you actually interested in? If its just the money, you could look to try working with pension schemes or similar companies (even just for a bit of unpaid experience for at most a month if you can). If you're applying for jobs in finance sectors they're likely going to care more about how you can analyse stuff than a formal education exactly (formal education are a good point to work out how good someone is but they're not everything). If you know what you're on about or can adapt and learn fast, you'll probably get somewhere.

Lots of people in the stock market at the moment don't seem to be trading based on what companies are actually worth too so, if you're interested, that could be something to look at (dunno if you've done much on value investing - or if it's out of most people's depths?)

I'd also say, if you're going to continue with anything, save the $30k now - sell it back to cash and put it somewhere you can forget about it - like a savings account that pays 2%+ interest or if you're really bad with self control vaulted gold might be an option so you'll find it harder to sell them before you've had time to think it over.


Also was there a specific reason you dropped out of college? I've been doing trading on the side of my course and have been doing quite well with it - just checking the coins I track about 3 times a day to determine when's good to trade (but that's only about 20 pairs).


Remember: you can't predict the future but you can check your predictions from the past against what's happened with a company! Found a ratio that might be interesting? Check the last 5-60 years of data on it to see how it's played out. that's something so many people need to LEARN. You can backdate any strategy you come up with to see how it functions before you put ANY cash towsrds it. THEN and only if it works can you put a tiny amount of money behind it to see how it plays out.

I am wanting to trade. Or be near someone that is. I do not have much experience away from a computer screen, I just know without a doubt this is what I will do.

I appreciate the thought of wanting me to keep my money safe. I cant deny I am young and reckless, but I have learned a great deal from the book Market Wizards and various podcasts about risk management that I do think about before each trade.

And to answer your question regarding college: 18 years of hell finally caught up to me - I could not handle the stress of studying for an office job I did not want. So I just decided to take a leap of faith and follow my passion.

[t401000001]

~snip~

I have a friend who something similar happened to your situation, but at one point he made a very bad investment in several currencies believing that they were going to rise and the opposite happened, (It was when Bitcoin from almost $ 20k went to $ 10k) there He lost almost all his money and he reached $ 500k, his goal was to reach $ 1M, he actually reached $ 500k by sheer luck and he thought he knew the market, that Bitcoin was never going to go down and that cryptocurrencies were not going to go down either, nowadays. He does not have crypto, I think he trusted himself and what he lacked was to educate himself more, that is, to read books, I recommended reading books by Wyckoff and Jesse Livermore, out of laziness he did not read them and made business decisions because he believed what he thought was, and ended up losing everything, in general what I recommend is, educate yourself much more, read a lot and do not risk all your money, work a part and learn every day.

I guess I failed to mention that the first 5 months of learning from my friend's dad was spent almost entirely reading works by Livermore, Schwager, Seykota, Rashcke and Douglas. I spent 5 months educating myself each and everyday, trading with a simulated account and reviewing my trades with my mentor at market close. I have taken this very seriously but I know I still have a ways to go. Thank you for the concern

[so98nn]

When I was reading your post, on the back of mind I started had thought, well this is lucky shot and you were at the right place at the right time. As @mk4 stated earlier everyone is genius in bull market and that’s what is true here. Honestly, every other person has made big money right now and this is happening since 3-4 months now.

We have seen enormous up surge in all the coins and even shit coins pumped more than 10-50% at any given point. So yeah it’s too easy to gain in this period.

Your true lessons will start when there huge bearish trend and you would be waiting for the bull market for months and sometimes a whole year. Crypto is too volatile market which can give you lot more than you can have but it takes back too. So good luck for the crypto trading and do read few threads which states different technique of crypto trading posted in the forum. 

[LUCKMCFLY]

~snip~

I have a friend who something similar happened to your situation, but at one point he made a very bad investment in several currencies believing that they were going to rise and the opposite happened, (It was when Bitcoin from almost $ 20k went to $ 10k) there He lost almost all his money and he reached $ 500k, his goal was to reach $ 1M, he actually reached $ 500k by sheer luck and he thought he knew the market, that Bitcoin was never going to go down and that cryptocurrencies were not going to go down either, nowadays. He does not have crypto, I think he trusted himself and what he lacked was to educate himself more, that is, to read books, I recommended reading books by Wyckoff and Jesse Livermore, out of laziness he did not read them and made business decisions because he believed what he thought was, and ended up losing everything, in general what I recommend is, educate yourself much more, read a lot and do not risk all your money, work a part and learn every day.

I guess I failed to mention that the first 5 months of learning from my friend's dad was spent almost entirely reading works by Livermore, Schwager, Seykota, Rashcke and Douglas. I spent 5 months educating myself each and everyday, trading with a simulated account and reviewing my trades with my mentor at market close. I have taken this very seriously but I know I still have a ways to go. Thank you for the concern

So I think you are on the right track, did you read or know the book "A Random Walk on Wall Street"? by Malkiel Burton, although you have a mentor who will have told you everything that happened, that book teaches you a lot and makes you grow as a trader, it gives you a broader vision of the market. If you've read those books and put your plans into action with a play money account, the money you've earned and earned is due to every transaction you've learned, I imagine you have full knowledge that every time you lose on a trade, you know why, and every time you win, you know why ... I think you should continue down that path, I will consider myself a pro when I trade at least $ 1M ... which for now, not likely, but you do take that training sure you will arrive long before me.

[Azadel]

I know this post is dumb, but you have really inspired me OP. I have been learning trading (not as well read as you for sure, but will be). I also have felt the pain of what happens if you don't learn or use Stop-Loss. I only recently came to trading but I feel this is what I need to learn. I have worked many different jobs just to feel like it was at a job I did not want to stay in.  Time to keep learning and be more patient. I will look in to all the books that you have mentioned, they must be gems because they look really old. Thank you for that. Any book you recommend to start with? Sounds like you really know the technicals of trading and have a solid strategy. Screw it get money in the Bull market and get really good at trading in the Bear market. You will do great.

[trigger1975]

My question here is: Is there anyone here like me? Do I stand a chance in the world of professional traders? How can I take the next step forward in terms of a better Crypto market understanding?

Good work so far.  Don't forget: we are in a bull market and that will for sure change sometime in the (near) future.  Work on your risk and money management, don't be greedy and continue what you've done, as it seem to have worked out for now.  Just trade responsibly and never forget to secure your trading account by good risk management so you can continue to trade the next day as well.

[Wexnident]

As of right now, my Account that I funded with $1,200 is now sitting at ~$32,000. This is almost life changing money to me and I feel like most of it is just pure luck. I really want to improve myself further and meet others who share the same passion as I do. I dream about working at a Crypto trading firm but I fear I might not be able to get far without credentials like formal education.

Yea, remember this all the time, just so that you don't actually overestimate yourself. I believe some trading firms don't really judge you of what your formal education is, though in the first place looking for a proper group that isn't a scam seems to be the more difficult part. Anyhow, don't overestimate, always assume the worst possible scenario and play around that so you're well prepared. Being a good trader takes time, just like how you learned all that stuff with the traditional market.

My question here is: Is there anyone here like me? Do I stand a chance in the world of professional traders? How can I take the next step forward in terms of a better Crypto market understanding?

Well, I'm not one but I'm pretty sure anyone can stand a chance as long as you work hard for it (and have enough capital). Studying and experience, keep trading what you can and don't go all-in with your capital at once, don't get discouraged by losses since it's always a part of trading.

[death69]

First, congrats on your success. It is outstanding. A trader like me who have worked more than 3 years with trading is not capable of making a great amount of money in a short time. I do admire your work. So much time and efforts have been made to achieve the marvelous reward. Keep going man. Do not forget to withdraw some of your profit to

My question here is: Is there anyone here like me? Do I stand a chance in the world of professional traders? How can I take the next step forward in terms of a better Crypto market understanding?

Learning and obtaining more knowledge is the best way to become equal to the world professional traders. Knowledge is likely to be produced almost every day. New trading book and new perception of trading are published often in order to distribute new information to the world. By gathering such information to yourself, I believe you can achieve much more rather than money.

It is critical to remember that, money can fly away but your knowledge will never. It stays with you till the end of your life.

[Sinjokubhi]

First of all: thank you to anyone who took the time to view my post. I hope you read my story and possibly share some advice with me.

*edit*
I guess I was too vague here in the beginning but I spent these first 5 months studying **really** hard, reading every book that was recommended to me (Livermore, Schwager, Seykota, Douglas etc) and applying that knowledge in a simulated account on TradeStation experimenting with MACD, Bollinger Bands, VWAP, etc - every technical analysis tool I had read about. While also having my decisions critiqued each day by my veteran mentor. Please understand I did not just make an account randomly and start throwing everything I had in a few different coins. I worked so very hard to feel confident enough to use my own hard earned money on this.

I am a 23 year old who dropped out of college 7 months ago to chase a dream of trading full time. I spent the first 5 months learning from my friends dad who was willing to show me the ropes of the traditional market. (He started out as a broker on the floor 30 years ago and then spent the last 10 years Options trading for a few different corporations including BP) He showed me a lot but I did not like the fact the SEC would not allow me to day trade without a 25k account (I was flat out broke working odd jobs in the afternoons to afford bills). He is not involved in Cryptocurrency at all so I can't learn about these things through him either.

Flash forward to mid January and my friend told me to try trading Crypto. I blindly made my first purchase on Coinbase for $200 worth of LINK. I sold it at the end of the month for double. I was hooked. I found the newsletter Morioh and saw a recent post about HydraDX's upcoming ICO. I made a MetaMask wallet and got some Ethereum so I could participate in the offering. The gas fees really hurt my small account. It was then in early February I saw news of the Binance Smart Chain and their ridiculously low gas fees, so of course I converted my remaining ETH to BNB and even added some more of my own cash I managed to scrape together. Long story short, I spent the last two months grinding all day and night trading these obscure alt coins I would find through Telegram groups and other forum boards. I slowly took some money out along the way to buy a couple projects I considered long term holds on the ETH network.

As of right now, my Account that I funded with $1,200 is now sitting at ~$32,000. This is almost life changing money to me and I feel like most of it is just pure luck. I really want to improve myself further and meet others who share the same passion as I do. I dream about working at a Crypto trading firm but I fear I might not be able to get far without credentials like formal education.

My question here is: Is there anyone here like me? Do I stand a chance in the world of professional traders? How can I take the next step forward in terms of a better Crypto market understanding?

A professional trader doesn't have to work for a crypto company either, but, if that's what you want, I think it's a good decision. Having a goal in achieving something, will add enthusiasm to achieve what we want. Whether you have a chance or not depends on yourself, do you want to do it or not? do you want to continue to grow or not? you want to achieve what you want not? it is all you yourself who will choose and go through every thing you want. From there you will have the opportunity, if you think you are capable, then do it, try to register yourself as a worker in a crypto company, don't worry about your education problems, because those who are more educated than you are not necessarily able to have skills like you. Believe in yourself, in the abilities you have, without exaggerating, that is who you are at this time. So be yourself, I am sure you will achieve what you want. Even if you don't work in a crypto company, you can already earn from the trades you are currently doing, so if you can't work in a crypto company, you can open your own company in the same field. Happy processing, good job!

[palle11]

How can I take the next step forward in terms of a better Crypto market understanding?

Do not allow lack of formal education stop you from achieving your dream if you have such passion and aspiration.
Take up some courses digital marketing, analysis,, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Any one that is available, just start up, if wk be useful in the field you looking at. Good luck.

I really don't want to take away from your (short term) success, but Mark Cuban once said: "Everybody is a genius in a bull market.".

Is it the case with yours? Maybe, maybe not. All I'm saying is that don't be too overconfident yet. Just continue trading with calculated risks, and definitely without being too cocky and suddenly going 20%-100% in a single trade. If you manage to make good money consistently for more than a year, then we could probably say you're good. Bear markets are where "traders" get really tested.

Everything you said plus the quote by "Mark Cuban" are very true about bull market and every expert trader knows that too. In bull market, every trader seem better in whatever strategy, it looks like every indicator spot and follow the wave at that time. But the litmus test for traders is the bear and ranging markets. At those times, you see frustration in traders faces because that is when you encounter loses more. So take your time to learn more during the bear but at this time, keep enjoying your profit.

[ReiMomo]

In my opinion, I guess, these were not just pure luck. You had your motivation and courage to start trading. You should tokenize yourself by trying. Yes, you were lucky that the bull run has come after your joined. And that makes you successful (in short term).

Possibly, almost all of the traders today have the same success. But it doesn’t mean that you just had to stop here. You still have to learn.
I would suggest, wait for the next bear market. And that is where you had to learn your skills. Cause if you survived there, you can have yourself proven.