Here's to Glorious Mistakes

Keep Calm and Hodl On.jpg
I am one of those people who bought Bitcoin near its recent peak (I bought at $19,100 to be exact) during the December 2017 mania on the advice or rather tip of a friend who like me is new to cryptocurrencies and who like me is also new to trading. The alarm bells should've gone off. Now a week after the slump and no end in sight, Bitcoin's current price is hovering around $11,000 today. Which means I have lost almost 50% of my money - on paper at least because I am still hodling the bag.

Now that sounds like an epilogue but it is actually how I got my start in cryptocurrency trading. Exactly like a deer caught in the headlights. But instead of running for the door, I've launched myself into understanding this market and acquiring trading skills. Call it taking revenge if you will. I wanted to redeem myself.

My mistake wasn't really buying at peak but more so buying something I didn't understand just because everyone around me was getting into it. I got caught up in the mania. Whether hodling onto the bag is also a mistake remains to be seen. A trader would say it depends on your trading profile.

I have since bought more Bitcoin. And have been trading it and Ethereum as well as altcoins over the last month with some success. As I trade and learn technical analysis, I continue to make glorious mistakes. Before you think me an even greater fool for saying that, let me explain. The beauty of making mistakes is twofold. One, it drives the lesson home especially when you have skin in the game. Two, you recognize what a mistake looks like and can soon enough spot it from a mile away.

Glorifying mistakes aside, there is plain and simple stupidity. Like me buying on a whim. Or not asking a more experienced person. Or not educating myself about this market and equipping myself with the right skills before diving in headlong. That is plain and simple stupidity. In comparison, a mistake is not following an established method because of greed or FOMO and then not honoring take profit levels or on the other hand stop loss limits so as to contain losses when the trade doesn't go your way. One is an educated guess. The other is not. Both can burn you equally well. You can and should try to avoid either as much as possible by simply seeking out and listening to somebody in the know.

Now the challenge is finding these people who are not only smart but have integrity. In this environment, that can be hard to do. On my month-long expedition into cryptocurrency land, I've found several that cut through the crap.

Let me begin with the YouTube guys. And in another post possibly cover other noteworthy sources.

4 YouTube Channels to Follow in Cryptocurrency

The Chart Guys

Dan who is the face of The Chart Guys has 7 years experience in trading and is currently trading cryptocurrencies himself. He does live trades, has beginner videos on trading cryptocurrencies and is big on diversifying his portfolio and managing risk. He usually signs off on his videos with "Do good things". Thankfully, I stumbled onto his videos early on in my trading education path instead of falling into a scammer's trap. He speaks quite fast but you'll get used to it eventually. If you're into day trading cryptocurrency, he's the one to watch.

Beginners try this test: Watch his "Introduction to Trading Cryptocurrency" video first. Follow his daily videos for a month. Learn and practice trading as you go. Then go back to the "Introduction to Trading Cryptocurrency" video. If you can follow that without a hitch, you're golden.

Boxmining

Behind Boxmining is Michael and though not a day trader himself, he is invested in cryptocurrencies and consults on cryptocurrency projects. He was a speaker at the recent Blockchain Revolution event in South Korea and is an active leader in the community. He tirelessly puts out video after video and live streams covering interviews with prominent cryptocurrency figures as well as news and issues in the space. He is currently keen on focusing on due diligence of ICOs.

Beginners can learn more about the wider cryptocurrency space beyond the latest coin to buy. And also be warned about any FUD, scam, rumour or hacking incident. There is technical jargon in the videos and in the interviews especially but he does a decent job of explaining them to non-techies.

DataDash

Nicholas Merten aka Data Dash has the largest following in the cryptocurrency space on YouTube and has recently been on the conference circuit around the world speaking about cryptocurrencies. Beginners can learn cryptocurrency trading from his Trading Tip videos. His top coins selection videos are also quite popular.

A few weeks ago, he owned up in one of his videos to getting payment for endorsing the Substratum and Syndicatum ICOs on his channel. Details aside, him owning up, finding a way to make up for the mistake and apologizing speaks volumes about his character. He continues to be a passionate advocate for cryptocurrency adoption.

Doug Polk Crypto

Last but not least, Doug Polk. Doug is the resident funny man in the YouTube cryptocurrency space. With a clever twist, he provides cryptocurrency news and information and comic relief in one punchy package. He is also the owner of coincentral.com where you can go for news, reviews and guides.

He's entertaining and engaging. You won't miss his videos as his thumbnails are loud and clickbait-y. He is not a day trader but is invested in multiple cryptocurrencies which he shared in one of his videos. He is quite the personality and you either like him or you hate him. He's the guy who says what people are thinking of but are afraid to say out loud. And that's one of the reasons he's on this list. If only to be the proverbial child who points out that the emperor has no clothes.

At this point, it's worth saying that I am not affiliated with any of these individuals. These views are my own.

In the last month gorging myself on everything cryptocurrency, I admit I have barely scratched the surface of this behemoth. It will take months to catch up and I may never will and that is where the excitement lies.

As far as I can see, it is like a coin with two sides - the technology side and the commercial side.

Being a Computer Scientist by education, the technology side is absolutely intoxicating to me. There are a myriad of applications of this technology and the problems are deliciously intricate and hugely satisfying to solve.
On the other hand, being a management consultant by profession, the commercial side has me thinking of the impact to consumers and merchants to institutions like banks and governments and the challenge of achieving wide-scale adoption.

But definitely, it is more than a disruption (an overused term BTW that connotes a temporary inconvenience). It is a fundamental paradigm shift on 1) how we store anything of value - be it money, agreements, identity, location, etc. and 2) removing our reliance on third-party intermediaries. Essentially removing power from those who may and can hold hostage whatever we value most.

On a lighter note, let me close this my first post on Steemit with a riddle:

A computer scientist, a management consultant and a trader walk into a bar.

The computer scientist and management consultant are arguing about cryptocurrency adoption. Both have convincing points for and against so they couldn't come to a conclusion. They decide to settle the argument with a coin toss.

Who wins the coin toss?

Meanwhile, the trader prepares to hedge his bets.

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