I first got into cryptocurrencies when Bitcoin was near its peak in 2017. Just as soon as I bought Bitcoin, I watched the price go down. The next few years were painful as the price kept decreasing.

Some people who I knew invested in Bitcoin, they lost the love for it. They weren’t used to the price going down. They quickly lost the love for Bitcoin and digital currencies in general.

Investing is not an easy game. You have to do your homework and understand the signs that come with investing. Additionally, you need a strong stomach to handle the pressure of the price going up as well as down.

Your emotions will tell you to sell, but your brain needs to kick in and tell you to be patient. Without patience, you won’t survive in the cryptocurrency world.

This isn’t like winning the lottery. You need to be prepared to wait several months, or possibly years to see a return on your investment.

Fortunately, investing was not my first go-around with cryptocurrencies. I have seen the worst in the stock market as well as real estate. Having made some mistakes, I learned from them to prepare me for the run in cryptocurrencies. It truly is a different game compared to the other asset classes.

Recently, I made a move that went against what I normally did. Usually, I like to buy and hold or in the cryptocurrency world, HODL (Hold On For Dear Life). Making this move went against my principles but I was willing to take a chance. The move I made is paying off.

Don’t fall in love with a cryptocurrency

“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”

Warren Buffett

Just as in real estate, when you go out to buy a house for the first time, you can’t fall in love with the property. You may love how the house looks, the kitchen or the bedroom. When it comes down to it, you have to love the numbers. The numbers have to make sense.

The same holds true for cryptocurrencies. It’s easy to fall in love with a cryptocurrency and the possibilities that digital currency can bring to your life. That digital currency can change your life forever.

There are a lot of cryptocurrencies and it is easy to fall in love with them. They have a lot of potential. Many cryptocurrencies are still evolving today.

Ethereum’s whitepaper was released in 2013 and this cryptocurrency is evolving into Ethereum 2.0 eight years later.

So much growth in the cryptocurrency world continues to happen every single day.

As an investor, you may have made your mistake by falling in love with a project. Don’t worry because I have to. It is easy to get enticed by a cryptocurrency but sometimes it’s best to stick to the basics.

My playbook

“Learn every day, but especially from the experience of others. It’s cheaper.”

John Bogle

For the past few years, I owned Bitcoin but also wanted to see a cheap altcoin pay its dues to make me rich. I fell in love with Tron (TRX). This cryptocurrency showed a lot of promise as well as hype from its founder Justin Sun. I guess I fell in love with the hype.

Justin is very charismatic and not afraid of the limelight. He used social media to share his thoughts and ideas.

Tron’s price showed promise to reach new highs but over the years the price still didn’t materialize. During this past year as many cryptocurrencies started to move, Tron’s price moved but not enough.

In November, I sold half of my Tron for Ethereum. Ethereum was showing a lot of promise along with the price. Eterheum was around $90 a year ago, and now it is $1,643 at the time of this writing.

When I exchanged Tron for Ethereum, the price for Ethereum was around $300 to $400. Since then, I continued to buy Ethereum instead of Tron. Ethereum was the cryptocurrency that was showing significant gains.

Part of me thinks I should have kept Ethereum instead of trading it for Tron. I would have a lot more Ethereum than I do now. Sometimes you have to make changes to your investment plan. The past few years were brutal for cryptocurrency investors if they held on. It just took me a little longer to make the change.

Falling in love with penny cryptocurrencies is good, but then you need a lot of faith that the cryptocurrency will skyrocket one day. I do have my share of penny cryptocurrencies but the main portion of your assets should be in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Bitcoin has already gone on a good run this year and most likely it’s not done. Ethereum is now playing catch up.

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Tom Handy is a top writer on Medium, former Quora writer, and father of two kids. He retired from the Army and sits on several non-profit boards. You can find him on Twitter @tomhandy1 and Life is Like a Game.

This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions.

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