If you have been investing in cryptocurrency for any length of time, you've undoubtedly had to be the expert in a few conversations on the topic with normal folks that really only have a vague idea what the Bitcoin is. And once someone has noticed how lucrative it is, they really don't need much in the way of advice to get started. A little Googling, filling out some credit card info and boom; a new crypto investor is born.

But all of this feels misguided if not a little irresponsible. I'd hate to see anyone I've guided into the world of crypto enter into any hardship as a result of my role-modeling (or lack thereof). So there's a few warnings:

• You will lose money either due to a trading error or some other stupid mistake. Consider the cost of education.
• You're on your own. Unlike the established financial world, this is all you. If you do something dumb, no one can save you.
• It could all go to 0%. Will it? I really don't think so. But I'm not taking out a second mortgage on my house to invest in crypto. Would it work out great if I did? I think it probably would. But the risk of losing everything is just too real.

But beyond these, there's a few pieces of wisdom that I tell myself to keep the gains coming and to minimize the losses.

The first one is to stop worrying about projects' white papers, teams, ideas, etc. This is all really interesting and investing in an alt because you believe in it is totally noble and idealistic of you. But it's a great way to lose money or at best earn you meager gains.

I have no doubt that one day, the world of ICOs and crowd-funded venture-capitalism will be the most exciting thing in crypto. But for now, it's all a total shot in the dark. It is very difficult to figure out which ICOs and low-cap alts are going to make it.

But none of them consistently outpace the Bitcoin. Which is why the #2 piece of wisdom is something so duh that it's a little stupid that it has to be said. But the thing is that everyone makes the mistake of diversifying. Diversifying for the sake of diversifying in the crypto space is stupid. Just buy the Bitcoin. And then hold it. If you must, sell small portions of your BTC position when it is clearly over-inflated. But then get back in when it corrects. And if you're not certain that it's in a bubble (like really certain), hold.

Now the last piece of wisdom should probably be enough to stamp out this next mistake. But for some reason, we all make this mistake. I think the 100+% 24-hour gains some alt coins must here and there are enough to lure us into the shitcoin realm. And the logic is sound: If I buy some random-ass coin and it spikes 150% overnight, I can sell of the profit and buy more of the Bitcoins.

Very sound logic...other than the fact that identifying which coin is about to pump is just impossible. So the inevitable result of this strategy is that you'll watch the USD value of your portfolio dwindle, meanwhile you could have that money in the Bitcoin (which as of this writing is putting up 10x annual gains). So finding an investment that's going to beat the Bitcoin? Possible in the short-term. But who could know what coin is actually going to pull it off (refer to wisdom #1).

Timing the market can be a good way to increase your position without adding fiat. Selling off a bit of your position right before a correction and buying back in is a subtle way to be slightly more than an investor (if not almost a trader). The problem is that the markets are filled with smart people like you that are looking to buy that correction also. So if the last correction was 20%, some folks will be willing to buy at a 15% discount in order to ensure they get their piece of the action. Meaning the next correction will be 10% and so on. By this mechanism, any easily identified patterns in price action will eventually self-destruct.

I’m Tyler (steemit.com/@tylr). I’m a husband and a father (of 7) working full time as a firefighter paramedic and I’m a part time graphic designer, web designer, pig farmer, crypto speculator, and writer. I love Jesus (if not religion), liberty (to a fault), education (if not the education system), big families (esp. mine), good food (and coffee), fascinating discussions (productive or not), and adventure (in strange forms). I’m writing this blog because I feel that I have a great deal of interesting things to talk about. I’ve waited longer than I should have because I’ve been concerned writing about so many topics would not work (we will see whether or not I was wrong). All of what I post is carefully created original content. If any of these topics are interesting to you, please follow my blog and feel free to make requests. Thanks for reading.