Five New Year’s Resolutions to Improve Your Crypto Life in 2019
December 30, 2018 by Jon Southurst
How was 2018 for you? Think you can tweak your life to make 2019 better? We here at Bitsonline are no self-help gurus — you won’t find any fitness tips, diet or relationship wisdom, or coke-induced affirmations here. But we can throw out a few suggested new year’s resolutions for 2019; tidbits of useful advice on how to improve your bitcoin and crypto-holding existence over the coming year, and further into the future.
Also read: The Three Watershed Moments in Crypto in 2018–And No, They’re Not What You Might Think
Subscribe to the Bitsonline YouTube channel for great videos featuring industry insiders & experts
Argh, New Year’s Resolutions Are Stupid!
Yep, it’s that time when we use some arbitrary number on a calendar to reflect on the year that’s ending and make grand plans for the next, most of which we’ll never keep. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t — a year is still one complete Earth rotation around the sun, and most people get fewer than 80 of those. Arbitrary number or not, we can still put that cultural signpost to good use by looking at the bigger picture.
So here we go — five new year’s resolutions you can make for better living through cryptocurrency. We’re not saying they’ll make you rich or more attractive (hey, same thing) but you’ll probably end 2019 closer to crypto-nirvana than you started.
1. I Won’t Lose Sleep Over Daily Price Movements
This one’s an old chestnut, isn’t it? And also the resolution we’re most likely to break. Sure you could profit on daily (or hourly) price fluctuations — if you knew exactly when they’d happen. But no-one ever does, and you can easily lose big by panicking, overreacting, or being hasty.
Even not trading on the latest price movements can be anxiety-inducing, especially if you feel you’re missing opportunities. Our advice is to leave 24/7 chart-watching to the pros (many of whom will also blow up at some point) and keep a more casual eye on price movements. You may not cash out at every high or dodge every train wreck, but you’ll probably live longer to enjoy what you have.
This lifestyle choice is sometimes called “Hold and Forget”. That doesn’t mean forget completely though, so read on…
2. I’ll Keep a Better Eye on Projects I’m Invested in
“Hold and Forget” is good advice if you want to reduce your daily stress levels, but warehousing your stash with no maintenance at all can be costly too. At times we’ve bought into a blockchain project with a promising vision and talented team, only to find out too late that its price has imploded. Some fatal flaw in the concept revealed itself; that talented team splintered in a hellstorm of differing visions and social media attacks; a new regulation squashed most of its use-cases; something better came along with better marketing or technology, etc.
So it certainly helps to monitor current developments in any project you have a stake in. Keep an eye on the crypto news, look through your project’s Twitter feeds or hashtags, find out where the most relevant discussion on the project is happening. It could be Telegram, Twitter, Reddit, Slack, or even IRC. Also remember that you can miss good news just as easily as bad — missing an opportunity to capitalize on a sudden price jump.
On a similar note…
3. I’ll Be More Rational About the Coins I Buy
This one’s common sense, but who really has as much of that as they think? Mr. Spock was pure rationality, but he was also only half-human. So remember, every time you’re getting excited about buying into a particular blockchain project, that you’re not Spock and probably don’t want to be. You’re a human who’s going to make irrational choices without realizing it at the time.
One prudent resolution would be to become more aware of common hype signs. Does a new coin have a charismatic celebrity promoting it? Do articles on it use the word “revolutionize” a little too much for comfort? Do its promises rely too heavily on dislodging powerful behemoths, or on gaining mass appeal before working at all? (Building a better Facebook is easy, but getting billions of regular people to use it is less so.)
Be aware of your own limitations too. What seems like a hot new idea could simply be an old investment scam, with blockchain. If you’re not an experienced investor, one version of this resolution could be to study it more. In 2019 you’ll have a whole decade of cryptocurrency news to read — and some of it is gold. We recommend looking back through those years of everything from Ponzi schemes to real expert predictions, if you want a laugh at others’ expense.
4. I’ll Stop Listening to Mainstream Media About Crypto
OK, we’ll admit a bias here. And we’ll also caution that even “independent” and specialist media sources aren’t inherently free from hyperbole or vested interests. But how many times have you seen some mainstream media report proclaiming some coin as a “bitcoin killer“, gushing over yet another teenager who became a multi-millionaire thanks to bitcoin, or warning you that cryptocurrencies are doomed to fail because they have no intrinsic value (whatever that is) or are only useful to criminals? (If something’s useful to criminals, it’s probably useful to others as well.)
After all these years, 99bitcoins’ “Bitcoin Obituaries” is now an institution in the community. Compiling mainstream media pessimism about Bitcoin and crypto, it reports in December 2018 that Bitcoin has now “died 337 times”. Notably, 2017 saw the most obits — proof the media loves to peddle fear and drama, even in the middle of a mega bull-run.
The “MSM” doesn’t always cover complicated topics in enough depth. Its global, mass-produced message must satisfy corporate backers, politicians and advertisers — whose interests often run counter to the anti-government, anti-central-banking spirit that created Bitcoin in the first place. While there are definitely some insightful commentators who happen to work for large news outlets, they often take a back seat to the more drama-prone hype/crash producers, who only care about how many people are watching.
5. I Won’t Sit Too Hard on Any Fork Prongs
Uh, sorry… what?
Let us explain: say your favorite cryptocurrency has just hard-forked. Contentiously. There are now two versions of the coin competing for market value (congratulations) and attention. As a fan, the temptation is to pick a side, take up a pitchfork, and fight for what you believe is the worthier version. Oftentimes, this will involve attacking people who chose the other side, whether they be its corrupt leaders or clueless fans on social media. By showing them to be the morons they are, your side will win. Right?
Don’t be one of those people. Not only are you unlikely to convert others, you’re likely to drive away curious outsiders who want to learn more about cryptocurrency but find only bickering and trolling over points they don’t understand. They’ll walk away or choose some other crypto-item of value, reducing the value of both fork “prongs” in the longer run. Rather than look like noble warriors, you’ll end up looking like the proverbial two bald men fighting over a comb.
Flame wars, like twitch-trading, will also likely impact your mental and physical health over time. Just as literally sitting on a fork will cause much butthurt and little pleasure, so will fighting too fiercely for your favorite blockchain. Prefer one fork prong over another? Better to vote quietly with your money — if you’re right, you’ll still win.
Do you agree with our new year’s resolutions, or do you have some better ones of your own? Let’s hear about them in the comments.
Images via Pixabay, KnowYourMeme.com, CNBC
