There’s nothing very funny about watching your portfolio crumble
Punny article titles aside, there’s nothing very funny about watching your portfolio crumble day after day, week after week, with no sign of an end in sight.
If you, like me, are a uni-cycler (a term representing people who are still in their first crypto cycle), we have not yet experienced the arduousness of a true bear market, a crypto-winter. Chances are, at this moment you’re at least a smidge spooked (I am, too).
We all know that cryptocurrencies in particular are notorious for vaporizing wealth at merciless speeds. Take $LUNA for example, last week it was ~$87 per, floating just under a $30b total market cap. Today (not even ten days later), it has traded south of $.01- representing more than a staggering 99% loss.
Even for the most convicted cryptocurrency investors, these stories will make them briefly ponder: “is [insert your favorite alt] next?”
Depending on how well you deal with exterior stressors, this may be more debilitating than you might’ve anticipated when you saw these stories years ago; before you had skin of your own in the game.
If you’re like me, you have probably always told yourself that “you would salivate at the opportunity of a 60%-off fire sale,” or something like that. Now that the bear market is in full-swing, you may have found that buying the dip is a tad more trying than you had originally anticipated. Especially when the ‘dip’ feels more like you’re nearing the bottom of the Mariana Trench
This article’s aim is to help you establish some practices that will make this market tumble as smooth (and profitable) as possible.
Set limits, and stick to them
When I initially wrote this, I actually meant it in terms of an order.
A ‘limit order’ is something that you can do on an exchange like Coinbase Pro where you essentially say: “Hey Coinbase, I’ll buy X token at Y price, but not for a penny more.” And the purchase will only take place if and when the price of the token reaches your limit, or lower.
Typically during a steep decline, a savvy investor will place these limit orders at various points on the way down so that they can try to score a better deal than whatever the prices are right now (And maybe even nail buying the bottom!). When you place these orders, be patient!
Too many times have I placed a limit, and then moments later moved the limit up incrementally in a FOMO-filled move.
The way I see it — when you selected the limit, you were probably in a more logical (i.e. less emotional) state than when you’re sitting and watching the order book settle hundreds of transactions besides yours.
Just give it some time, it’ll fill.
That said, this rule can be extrapolated to a number of other things outside of literal Limit Orders, though. Chances are, whatever came to mind when you read the words ‘set your limits’ is limit-worthy.
Sanitize your devices
You probably have a sweet home screen setup, don’t you? Over the past few months you downloaded some cool widgets to track coin performance, portfolio PNL trackers, or maybe even a widget that displays your NFTs.
Well, that custom home screen is only making you feel good when things are mostly green. During the onset of a bear market, watching your favorite projects consistently make lower lows can really start to bruise the ego. A sea of red staring back at you every time you unlock your phone might make you start to wonder what you got yourself into.
My advice: clear out the crypto-related widgets and apps for now.
This goes for notifications too! Silence notifications from any of the crypto apps that you couldn’t bring yourself to delete — so even if they remain on the device, they won’t be outwardly beckoning to your brain for interaction. Yes, your online crypto-homies on Discord will miss you, but they’ll certainly understand you taking a step back for some mental R&R.
Make a game out of it
If you have some friends that are also into crypto, try doing a Technical Analysis (TA) competition. Everyone involved can take to the charts and estimate where they think your squad’s favorite coin(s) will be priced at in five, fifteen, or however many days.
If you want to make things really interesting, ante up with a few dollars each! The person who makes the most accurate predictions can win some money to help ease the pain of the overall bear.
I’d suggest picking 3-ish time periods so that the game can last for a little while, and it will keep people optimistic to see what happens in the future. Additionally with multiple days involved, one person won’t just get lucky once and sweep the competition.
Bonus Tip
I know I said this would be three tips, but this bonus one is both brief and important.
If at any point you feel like life isn’t worth continuing because of the performance of these investments, please talk to someone. A loved one, an internet friend, or a licensed councilor on a site like BetterHelp.
I know at times crypto can get tribal- but in the end we’re all in this together, and we’d miss you.
Conclusion
There are a number of ways that you can go about easing your mental suffering during these hard times, and this list is by no means exhaustive. They’re just some ideas from a guy who is doing his best to implement them for himself right along side you. Keep hodling, continue DCA-ing while prices are low, do not invest anything you can’t afford to lose, and remember that fortune favors the bold. Crypto will bounce back, and you’ll be glad you bought the dip.
Thanks for reading! If you are new (this is likely, as I myself am new), my name is Brandon. I write about all things blockchain, real estate, personal finance, and whatever falls in-between. Please consider giving a clap and/or a follow if you enjoyed the article!
