The 2018 crypto market has provided significantly fewer trading opportunities than the 2017 market. The market has rarely been in a period of an obvious trend to make decent percentage returns. We have basically been seeing a slow bleed out of the market for the past 6 months, with not too much volatility to play off of.
Many people have struggled with this years market conditions, since you cannot just buy anything anymore and be in the green immediately. There are numerous productive things you can do to improve your trading career and create future income for yourself. Here are 3 things you should do when the crypto market is slow.
Study Your Past Trades
A slow market gives you the opportunity to study your past trades. It easy to forget to do this when the market is hot, like it was in 2017. You are so busy trading that you don’t have time or energy to look at your past trades and refine your process. A slow crypto market means there is less money to be made, but it is also a time to prepare yourself to capitalize when the market gets hot again.
Study your win percentage and profit vs loss ratios on every trading setup you take. Eliminate trading setups you are taking that have negative expectancies, meaning that in the long run you don’t make money taking them. Study your best winning trades and figure out what they all had in common so you can make them happen again. Look at all of your worst losing trades, figure out what they common, and figure out what you need to do so that they never happen again. Analyzing your trades is an essential part of being a profitable trader. A slow market is the best time to refine and improve your trading strategy.
Explore New Projects
Despite the slow crypto market this year there is no doubt that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will be an integral part of the future. There are still so many projects out there to explore outside of the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, ect. Check this article on how to read a white paper, and this article about how to evaluate ICOs. These articles will help you know how to evaluate and explore potential projects to invest your money into, and make sure you are giving your money to the right people.
Adapt Your Trading Strategy
If you are struggling in the 2018 markets, it is probably because you have not adapted your strategy to the new market conditions. To achieve consistent profits from the crypto market, you need to know when to not trade, or how to adapt your trading strategy to the current market conditions. When the market is slow like it is now, you should not be trading if your setups are not there.
A strategy that has been working in the crypto market this year is short selling. Exchanges like Kraken allow you to short sell cryptos, you can actually make money when cryptos decrease in value. If you cannot make any money going long, learn how to short sell. You can learn the basics of short selling cryptos in this article here.
Kunal Desai is an American day trader (stocks and cryptos) and founder of Bulls on Wall Street and Bulls on Crypto Street, two online trading academies and informational publications. He has been featured in many high profile publications like Inc, Forbes, Buzzfeed, and Fortune. He has spoke at trading and business events all across the World.