Dealing with emotions is a natural part of being human. How you feel can significantly impact the world around you, and that is an indisputable fact in life. However, the world of cryptocurrency trading can be an unforgiving place for the overly emotional. If you let your feelings cloud your decision-making, you risk selling too early, running losses, and missing out on significantly profitable opportunities had you stopped for a moment and thought the matter through with a clearer headspace.
For example, after hearing some concerning rumors, you rashly decided to empty out your XMR wallet and other crypto exchanges for fear of losing money. After some time, however, the prices bounce back higher than before, which is a cause for dismay because you lost all of your investment due to a rash decision on your part.
Hence, it is crucial to keep your emotions in check when trading. This is especially the case when you are trading in an extremely volatile industry such as cryptocurrency. The crypto market is notorious for its constantly fluctuating values and massive price swings. It can strike fear, panic, and greed in the least suspecting and cost you more than what you bargained for.
Whether you are new or experienced in dealing with crypto, managing one’s emotions is a must-have tool in your trader’s toolbox. To help you master this skill, here are some tips to keep in mind as you traverse the wild, harsh landscape of crypto trading.
Develop a Risk Management Plan
Risk management is an integral part of any kind of investment venture. You want to ensure that you have backups in place in case a situation arises that may threaten your initial investment. However, many new traders overlook the importance of considering their emotional responses and their risk tolerance when formulating their risk management plans. As a result, their plans crumble in the face of high-pressure situations.
As such, always consider your risk tolerance when developing a plan to mitigate trading risks. In fact, many trading consultants use it as a basis for forming your trading plan. By doing so, you can ensure that you are only taking on what you can handle emotionally as you work your way to reaching your financial goals. Over time, as you become more experienced and more in control of your emotional responses, you can decide to take on more risks.
Conduct In-Depth Research
One of the most effective ways to handle frantic feelings is to counter them with cold, harsh facts. Aside from your risk management plan, it is wise to conduct some research on your own that can substantiate or debunk any concerning news or rumors that might cause you to buy or sell on an impulse. For example, after hearing from another trader that one of the digital coins you invested in has died due to a lack of community support, you might be tempted to liquidate the entirety of your investment. However, after some digging, you determined that the community is still active and invested in improving said cryptocurrency.
It is also important to do your homework when picking which coins to support. Make sure to check the cryptocurrency’s whitepaper and the developers’ activities for a clearer idea of the coin’s potential. In this manner, you can feel assured that your investments have a high potential of bearing fruit in the future.
Do Not Obsess Over Market Charts
Many traders new to the crypto industry fall into the trap of obsessing over market charts. The constant flickering of colors and lights can be hypnotising to the unaware. They watch price fluctuations all day to ensure that they can take note of sudden price hikes and dips, which may lead down a path to profitable opportunities.
However, this method is not helpful to your mental and emotional health. Indeed, it can feel like an emotional rollercoaster watching prices go up and down continuously. Processing significant amounts of information for too long can wear you down over time and may instead cause you to decide poorly when an opportunity arrives. Thus, a word of advice: do not let the market chart take over you.
Take Advantage of Limit Orders
Signing into your crypto exchange after some time and learning that the value of your investment has plummeted is a reasonable fear for many traders. After all, it is not healthy to watch market charts like a hawk, and in the crypto space, so many things can happen after a short span of time. Fortunately, many crypto exchanges have stop-loss features. This is a feature that automatically sells your coins once their prices decline to a certain value. In this manner, you can feel assured that your investment remains intact, assuaging any fear or worry you may have while not on the crypto exchange.
Removing emotions from any decision-making process that you make is almost impossible. In a highly complex and volatile market like cryptocurrency, conquering your initial emotional responses and maintaining a clear head is a skill that you have to master through experience. By doing so, you can keep your eyes on the prize and trade in a manner that is most helpful to your needs.