Cryptocurrency Education: Learn The Future of Money
Welcome to the disruptive revolution of money. The meteoric rise and adoption of cryptocurrency over the past year has been astounding. Just look at the surge in 2017 alone:
Bitcoin is up 1,452%, Ethereum up 4,680%, Litecoin up 2,072%, and these are just the most mainstream cryptocurrencies. Here’s the incredible thing…it’s just getting started.
Looking back just a few years, it was nearly impossible to get your hands on any Bitcoin unless you knew someone involved in mining the coins. Today you have online exchanges and even smartphone apps that allow you to buy, sell and trade dozens of cryptocurrencies.
There are also devices called “hardware wallets” that allow you to move your cryptocurrency off of your computer and off the centralized exchanges. This way you can store them in perfect safety. You can literally carry millions of dollars in your pocket to use anywhere in the world or slap your hardware wallet in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box.
So if you have been sitting on the sidelines and looking on where exactly to go from here, we sat down with Cecil Robles, Chief Investment Strategist from Infinitus Investment Research, a cryptocurrency investor education organization, to share his insights on the future of cryptocurrency investing.
Matthew Loughran: What are the top 3 mistakes you see new cryptocurrency investors make?
Cecil Robles: First, many people coming into Cryptocurrencies are starting to see what Nobel Prize winner, Professor Milton Friedman calls “The Swarm” taking place, and they are rushing to get in. In their haste they don’t take time to learn the very basics of how cryptocurrencies work. They don’t take the time to learn about wallets and how to properly store coins. Also, I’ve seen other people say, “I’ll just wait until Bitcoin pulls back some and then I’ll buy.” What if it doesn’t pull back until it hits $20,000? With Wall Street and the CME getting involved in a few short days, that’s very likely. We’ll likely never see Bitcoin at $7,000, much less $4,000 or $5,000. So you need to take action, but you also need to take the time to educate yourself. Lastly, most new Crypto investors don’t have a plan. Are they going to only buy Bitcoin or are they going to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum and why? Are they going to buy altcoins or invest in ICO and why? Is it because their neighbor or brother-in-law told them he’s made a 300% return in a month? That’s a very poor way to invest in a market. You need to have a system. I use one that I call C.L.U.E.S. where each letter stands for something that I look for in a cryptocurrency before I invest in it. One thing I look for is community and communication. What is the community like around that particular Cryptocurrency? Also, is there a lot of communication about it on forums and social media and is that communication good or bad? I also, look at the long-term mission of a particular Cryptocurrency. What does that mission revolve around and what big problem does it solve or innovation does it bring to the table? These are a few of the questions I ask.
Matthew Loughran: Why is cryptocurrency education so different compared to mutual funds and ForEx?
Cecil Robles: Mutual funds and even Forex have been around for such a long -time. I actually started trading currencies back in 2002 when the online brokerages first started to come on. So these are markets that are established. They’ve long outgrown their growing pains. The Cryptocurrency market on the other hand is only 7 years old. It’s changing daily. How you access trading platforms, the various blockchain investment opportunities, and the legalities and Tax issues of Cryptos are constantly moving and shifting. So, for us we feel like you have to be fluid with your education. You can’t say this is set in stone forever, because it very well may change tomorrow. You also need to find people who specialize in these different areas and follow them. Or, even better, if you are a tax specialist for example, start to educate yourself on Cryptocurrencies so you can help the droves of people who are getting in. There are so many ways to jump into this market and it’s exciting.
Matthew Loughran: In your opinion why are so many investors flocking to the cryptocurrency markets?
Cecil Robles: Right now I believe they are flocking to the markets because they are seeing the enormous growth and the relatively easy profits that people have been making. People want to jump in. It’s exciting and it’s new. We haven’t had anything with this much disruptive potential since the tech boom and the dotcom era of the 90’s. It feels electric and revolutionary, and I think people are starting to awaken to that. At the same time, it’s easy to see only dollar signs and you have to be careful to keep your “greed glands” in check. A mentor of mine used to have a saying he’d tell me from time to time. He’d say, “Cecil, opportunities are limitless, your capital is not, therefore always protect the capital.” I believe people would be wise to heed this advice when approaching the cryptocurrency market. When our company makes a play into a new cryptocurrency, or Blockchain tech company, we never go “all in”. We use risk capital and a small percentage of that risk capital on each play we make. This way if we have a loss it is a small loss and we live to invest another day.
The investment landscape is changing for both retail and institutional investors with the cryptocurrency revolution. You would be wise to educate yourself on the nuances of this industry so you can reap the rewards in the years to come.
Originally published at www.huffingtonpost.com on December 7, 2017.
