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We are now in the slightly euphoric stage of a bull run, and it feels good to be part of a huge upswing after a long long crypto winter. However, with all the new people coming on board thinking that crypto will turn them into millionaires overnight, or at the latest in a few weeks things are starting to get a bit hairy. There are people chasing three letter tickers that they have no idea about other than the fact that some YouTube influencer shilled it (and is now dumping on them...), there are exit scams as copycat projects are set up overnight with profit being the main driver instead of boring things like security or use-case. Governance tokens with little to govern are all the rage...

In this market, anyone can make a profit against fiat just by using the tried and true face-roll on the keyboard method... however, lasting value will be measured more in the gains against BTC or ETH or some other similar "ancient" crypto! Plus, it will matter whether you start measuring your worth in Bitcoin or if you are always going to reference against fiat... you will see that lots of people who love to publicly post about their gains or crazy APR/APY will generally be talking about the mad gains against fiat and not so much against BTC/ETH.

Of course, I still think that there is a bit more left in this bull market... but it is time to reflect on some boring level headed ideas before the eurphoric phase kicks in and you start second guessing your decision.

Set an Exit Strategy

Now, I'm not saying that you need to completely and utterly exit crypto 100%, but you should be starting (or have already) to develop some targets in which you will sell some portion of your portfolio to fiat or BTC. The trick to this is to write it down, and set milestones or trigger points at which you will sell a percentage of your holdings.

So for instance, if BTC hits 100k, then sell 10% and another 10% at 150k.... you will want to hold some in reserve, and what you end up doing with the profit booking is really up to you. You could hold it in reserve or diversify into other investment sectors, like superannuation, stocks or real estate. I wouldn't spend it frivolously though... something that is long term and potentially life changing for future you! or you could also hold some in reserve in case you want to buy back in...

You could set group targets for the whole portfolio, or individual targets for each crypto in your holdings... whatever works for you, just that you have a plan for selling off some!

It would be prudent to not sell everything off either, but maybe just a proportion of the total... the rest is the moonbag, or the part that you hold in reserve to hedge in case crypto becomes the dominant form of storage of value. Remember, despite crypto having a really nice run and the fact that I'm also personally optimistic about the future applications of crypto, it is still a technology in its infancy, and there is no guarantee that the crypto of today will be the crypto of the future!!

If you haven't done this, it is probably a good idea to sit down and talk it through with a partner, or just sit down and think it through for yourself... because when the "top" comes, you will be too scared to sell and you will hang on just a little bit too long! You've heard of DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) for buying in... this is the similar thing in reverse. You will NEVER catch the top!

Slow and steady

There are lots of overnight crypto launches that all promise the moon... and most of them achieve the rug. Keep in mind that if you are impulse buying something based on someone else giving you a tip... it is quite possible that you are going to be dumped on. There is no harm in taking a little bit longer to research and learn about the actual project, and to research how they fit into the wider ecosystem. Sure, the price might swing against you over that time... but, if the project really is that good, then a day or two won't make a difference in the long run!

That said, I do prefer to avoid the flash in pans... I like the slow and steady approach of projects that are really building something, rather than those that are filled with buzzwords and hacked on attempts at catching the latest trendy thing in crypto. Most often, you will find that some of these fast projects have really very little in the way of actual use or are just duplicates of a million other projects.

I am reminded of the way that some people drive. There are those crazy people who will weave in and out of lanes, expending lots of energy and effort to at best get a couple of cars ahead... or sometimes several cars behind! Slow and steady will get you where you want to go... generally at the same time (sometimes ahead) with much less effort and flailing around. Even better when you can just make a few considered strategic choices to get that extra boost!

It is a matter of thinking about strategy and not tactics! Lots of action doesn't always convert to lots of result!

Moonbag

However much you think that a particular crypto is useless, don't sell to zero. Sure, follow some sort of exit strategy... but you never really know when it might pop up again for some reason that you never would have thought about! The space is still new, and rational impulses are not the things that drive most of the price action at the moment. Especially when people are flooding in hoping to get rich fast instead of taking the boring route!

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.