Understand your risk appetite before investing
When crypto is crashing, someone who’s been intrigued from the sideline might think this is the time to get in and “buy low.” But King recommends asking yourself two questions before deciding to invest in bitcoin or other cryptos.
“Consider whether an 80% to 90% down move in your crypto holdings would cause you to lose sleep at night or sell,” he says. “If the answer to either of those is yes, don’t invest.”
“Any asset has ups and downs — cryptocurrency has more ups and downs because of the amount of hype and FOMO involved,” Danial adds, alluding to a fear of missing out, “and the fact that people actually don’t know what it is. They buy it because they heard somebody talk about it … they are taking unmeasured risks.
“Ask yourself what amount of money you can actually afford to lose, because any investment has inherent risk,” she says. “If you are selecting your assets wisely and you have concrete reasons why you’re investing in it, you shouldn’t be swayed when the markets drop, and you will stay the course.”
Single investments should flavor, not dominate, your portfolio
Crypto experts suggest refraining from “all in” moves when deciding to invest. “Avoid buying large amounts of cryptocurrency all in one shot,” says Jake Yocom-Piatt, co-founder of Decred, a cryptocurrency with a $1.5 billion market share. “If you buy a whole bunch at once and the price drops, psychologically that’s very difficult for people.”