In defence of trading - the "other" way

I was just reading about someone who has deleted all of their apps because watching crypto became a time sponge and increased stress. They recommend everyone do the same. Being sensible for a moment, can I also add that this isn't the only way. I know DCA and HODL are widely recommended, and if you have spare cash that you want to put into crypto, then it's probably a good way to gradually build up a big portfolio. If you're into, say, BTC, and eventually it goes back to ATH from here (about 3x) then you will have made massive gains. Three problems, though:

(1) You have to sell at some point to realise those gains (stressful to "time the peak")

(2) You will get, at most, the multiple of what you've put in (this is an obvious statement, but bear with me). So if you could afford to put in, say, $5,000 over 5 years and it goes 3x, you've made $10k profit minus any taxes, fees etc. This, of course, is nigh on impossible in any other legitimate way unless you get very lucky indeed on stocks.

(3) Even checking once per week seems to freak a lot of people out. Their number of BTC is the same, but the value might have plummeted. Some panic sell, some throw extra at it, etc. It's not as fire-and-forget peaceful as is often made out.

However, if you don't want to continually put more cash in, for whatever reason, then don't let people put you off trading. The only way I could get life-changing sums from BTC in the next few years is to put in probably $500k. I really, really don't have even a tiny fraction of that to risk on any investment that is not secured. And, of course, if I had started 3 years ago with a strict DCA I'd probably still be at a loss right now.

So yes, I trade. I try to buy low and sell high, then buy back more with the proceeds when it drops back. I trade on a system with no fees and I use automated tools so I'm not always checking everything. The tools are not as effective as doing it by hand, but I have a real job to do, so can't spend every minute setting and resetting orders. The tools keep things ticking over, probably breaking even most of the time.

Does it work? Like I said, if I'd DCAd and HODLd I'd be down a lot right now. I'm still down, but nowhere near as much. The money I haven't put into crypto has been working on m mortgage, in savings, and paying for life as a parent. Yesterday's action increased my BTC holdings by nearly 10% because my tools caught it right.

tldr; If you want to trade, trade - there is no shame in it and it can be fun.

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