Surviving & Thriving in a Bear Market - what I learned in a year

We’re in a bear market. Not as bad as it could be, but this isn’t just a dip. It’s going to take a while to recover. While I’m fairly new to crypto (just shy of a year), I’m not new to investing. Here are some things I’ve learned which have kept me in the green and making consistent profits the past ~year. I got in at ATH around May and sustained through the July crash. I felt good through the November run and the December drop didn’t phase me. Some things I learned along the way:

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1. Start with the big boys - well known projects. I started with BTC and ETH. It’s a safe way to go until you…
2. DYOR and learn about crypto in general, the markets, the terms, the different “types” and how they interact with each other, etc.
3. Pay attention to market cycles. This is hands down my favorite video by Ray Dalio explaining how an economy works. It’s no different for crypto - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0
4. Do not trade on margin. Ever. Just don’t.
5. You can do some light leveraging if you’re disciplined. For example, you can cycle 0% APR credit cards, use the cash to invest in crypto while using the card to pay for stuff, stake the crypto and pay off the balance when the time is up. Rinse and repeat. Or just keep the balance - you can often transfer for a flat 2% fee to a new card.
6. Don’t tap into your mortgage. Ever. Just don’t.
7. Don’t take cash advances.
8. DCA regardless of market conditions. Keep some buffer to take advantage of dips (this takes discipline). I DCA less when there’s a run up, and more when we’re dipping. Of course I don’t know the high highs or the low lows, but it’s pretty clear that you’ll see multiple bull/bear swings each year, so plan accordingly.
9. Stake. FFS stake. Get off the central exchanges and stake in wallets or DEXs. There are some instances where you can stake on a CEX and get a good rate, but this only applies to a handful of assets.
10. Learn about liquidity pools. This is a bit more advanced, but really not that complicated. You can BANK even when the market is taking a dump. It’s very possible to get 1-2% DAILY returns.
11. 9 & 10 also often have a diamond hands component to them - you have (un)locking/bonding periods during which you can’t touch your funds, so you can’t sell even if you wanted to. From a psychological standpoint, this is what many people need.
12. Don’t FOMO in or out. Ever. Just don’t.
13. Diversify not only in fiat (mutual funds - stocks, bonds, REITs / 401k / ESPP / HSA), but also in crypto. Invest in a variety of projects with different market caps and different arenas - value storage, PoS, interoperability, governance, DEX, finance, social, NFTs, L2s, collateral, etc. Many of these will have low correlations to others.
14. Don’t look at charts so much - you won’t find anything of real value.
15. Multiply/compound your gains - this is where the staking and LPs come in. If you do LPs, check for pools with external incentives, do some research on rumored airdrops, etc. There are thousands given out to individuals every year just for participating in some ecosystem. Free $.
16. Most importantly, have fun! I worried a lot the first few months, but got used to the swings. You won’t learn what you need to in a day. Crypto is complicated and will make your head hurt, but if you take in a bit every day, you’ll soon have a wealth of knowledge which will help you consistently profit.
    

Cheers!