🔎How to start crypto from zero today
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GM friends. Here’s what I’ll cover today:
🔎How to start crypto from zero today
📊 Crypto chart of the week
🗞️ The latest DeFi news
🔎How to start crypto from zero today
Over the past few years, I have heard this question many times:
If you had to start crypto from scratch today, what would you do?”
Overall, I’m extremely grateful for my journey in this industry.
But I’ve made many mistakes, and there are some things that I wish I had done differently, so I thought writing an article on this could be helpful.
Here are five things that I’d do if I were to start all over again:
Find something you’re passionate about and specialize
My advice for everyone new to crypto is to specialize in 1-2 sectors.
For me, the thing in crypto I’m most interested in is DeFi. I’ve been a DeFi power user for quite a few years, and I actually really enjoy researching new protocols, investing in DeFi projects, and farming yield opportunities.
DeFi helped me make a good amount of money. But if I had chosen to specialize in another sector that I’m not very interested in (e.g. GameFi), chances are my profits would have been drastically smaller.
If you’re new to this space, try to experiment with as many things as possible and find something you truly enjoy. Then specialize in that niche.
There are countless ways to make money in this space:
But the key is to combine hard work with passion.
Prioritize income generation over investing
Yes, I know that this is unpopular advice.
But if you want to turn 3-4 figures into $1 million solely via trading, the harsh reality is that statistically, your chance of success is close to 0.
If you have some free time available, what I’d do is to focus on increasing my income and search for a stable source of income in crypto first, then worry about trading later.
You like writing? Start creating content on X or try to become a ghostwriter.
You like coding? Search for a smart contract developer job.
You’re good with people? Apply for a moderator job.
Why would you work in crypto? One reason is that if you live outside very developed countries like the US or countries from Western Europe, chances are your local average salary is much lower than what you could earn by working online in crypto.
Now, I’m aware that this is much easier said than done. But there’s one thing you can do to increase your odds of success that I know has helped a lot of people.
That is to give value first before asking for something in return.
To give you an actual example, if you want to become a Discord server moderator for a certain project, try to be extremely active in its Discord server first.
Don’t engage in cringe conversations. But try to answer the questions of the people who just joined the server and aren’t very familiar with the project.
Show the team how you can be valuable before asking for a salary.
This doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the job when you eventually apply. But it drastically increases your odds of success.
Adjust your risk tolerance to the value of your portfolio
Let’s say you have a $1k portfolio.
Then, if you want to have a real chance of success, you need to be willing to take way more risks than a person with a $100k portfolio.
For instance, instead of buying 10+ coins, pick 4 high-conviction bets.
If you buy BTC or ETH, you might do a few Xs in the long run, but that won’t be enough to change your life. That’s why I’d pick only altcoins if I started again with a small portfolio.
Be aggressive and bet big early, when an uptrend just starts, and sell into euphoria. Sounds like basic advice, but the majority of people do the opposite.
Don’t seek confirmation from Crypto Twitter. By the time everyone on CT starts being bullish on the same project, you’re certainly not early anymore.
And as your capital grows, start to diversify and gradually reduce the risks you take.
The goal is not only to build wealth, but to also keep it.
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Work on your network and make new connections
I’ve actually done an interesting calculation recently.
I went through my biggest wins in the past years, and realized ~30% of my net worth comes from opportunities that were brought to me by people from my network, and I probably would have never discovered otherwise.
Simply getting to know the right people in this industry can help you progress in your journey way more than you might realize.
How to make new, valuable connections in this industry?
I’d say that one of the best ways is to grow your social media presence and share interesting thoughts on X. This will drastically increase your chances of being able to connect with other ppl you look up to when you send them a DM.
But I get that this isn’t for everyone.
Another way is to provide value first, like I also mentioned before.
For instance, let’s say you’re a graphic designer and you want to connect with someone active on CT who doesn’t have a great X banner. You can send a DM to that person saying you want to create a new banner for them for free.
Or if you’re a gem hunter, you could try to share some “alpha” that you think could make them money with the person you wish to build a connection with.
Little things like this can help you build many valuable relationships.
Remember that patience is more important than anything else
I’ve seen this proving true so many times.
I actually have a friend who’s been in crypto for over two years.
For a year and a half, everything he tried didn’t work out. He spent a lot of time being active in this space, but barely made any money and considered giving up many times, thinking that crypto might not be for him.
Yet recently, he stumbled across an opportunity that increased the value of his portfolio by 3x within a few days. This is how this industry works.
Crypto will test your patience countless times before it lets you win.
But if you don’t give up, keep grinding, learn from your mistakes, and constantly try to get better, the effort will pay off at some point.
Crypto chart of the week
Hyperliquid surpassed Robinhood in trading volume
Crypto Meme😂
The latest developments in DeFi
Aave launched Horizon, a new RWA market on Ethereum
Jupiter Lend went live on Solana
Resolv launched a token buyback program
Hyperliquid announced plans to increase buybacks to up to 99% of protocol revenue
Avail has acquired Arcana Network, a leading chain abstraction protocol
Google Cloud announced the upcoming launch of its L1 blockchain for institutions
Portal to Bitcoin announced that Sept. 3 will be its TGE date
Pantera Capital announced plans to raise $1.25 billion for a new SOL Treasury Company
MetaMask enabled users to create and recover wallets via social login
DeFi App started buying back 150% of the HOME token emissions
Huma Finance released the claiming portal for the Huma S1 airdrop. LPs, HUMA stakers, ecosystem partners, and yappers are eligible
Caliber established the first-ever LINK treasury company
Euler Finance introduced EulerEarn - a product enabling users to earn passive yield
Hyperbeat released tokenized delta-neutral strategies on Hyperliquid
Sonic announced the Sonic mainnet 2.1 upgrade, which introduces compatibility with the Ethereum Pectra Upgrade
Stargate DAO has approved LayerZero’s acquisition of Stargate
Ethena Risk Committee approved BNB as an USDe backing asset
That’s all for this week!
Until next time,
The DeFi Investor
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