Hi steemit.
I have been into cryptocurrencies for 7 months now. I usually post travel and food blogs on steemit. There have been good gains and also some losses, but the most important thing is i learned a lot from these experiences
Bitcoin
The first coin i bought was Bitcoin, i think most people started with Bitcoin. I have been watching videos on Youtube about bitcoin a few times and i just couldn't understand and hesitated to invest in it. It was when "Bitcoin was as good as gold" that triggered me to buy my first bitcoin. I was more worried to miss out on the gains than to lose and only put spare money i was willing to lose. After that first step, I was just that much more interested in cryptocurrencies and have been into it ever since. So when i try to convince someone to invest into bitcoin, my advice is usually "just put 10 dollars in it".
Bitcoin vs altcoin
As i was quiet late into bitcoin and have missed out on 1000 fold gains, i got greedy and tried to find the next 1000 x gains from new altcoins. I watched some youtube videos and tried to find the "most undervalued cryptocurrencies of all time". And i bought many different altcoins, and the result was :
Only 1 altcoin outperformed bitcoin which is vertcoin
Maybe the hype is real in vertcoin to be the next litecoin. I am not trying to recommend vertcoin to anyone, please do your own research
6 altcoins have outperformed fiat but not bitcoin
7 altcoins have lost money in dollar terms
So in conclusion i would have been better off holding bitcoin only, and plus the free bitcoin cash we received few months ago, which i have sold. But it might change in the future
ICOs
I have also participated in some ICOs. It was really exciting , and all ICOs look promising and profitable. Beware some ICOs are scams, some were not planning to scam people, but fundraising didn't go too well and something went wrong with the team and then suddenly you never hear from them again.
One of the ICOs i invested in has been doing very well since it got listed on an exchange, one successfully raised the money needed and waiting to be listed on an exchange, and the rest are still in ICO stage or no news from them.
Things i learned from ICOs are
Do not buy just because someone recommended it to you
it's easy to get excited after watching a video about an ICO and then some people just contribute their valuable Ether or bitcoin in. Which i did a few times without doing much research and later regret this decision
Some ICOs are very long
Some ICOs are a few months or even 1 year like EOS for example. During this few months, how much gains you could have made in bitcoin instead of waiting for the ICO to finish
Conclusion
In the future i will be very careful before investing in an ICO. I would prefer a company that has proven records and would like to expand their business through an ICO or a well know team of developers that have been successful in the past, and always check what other people say through Slack or Bitcointalk or steemit. A coin with good community is usually a sign of good future.
I will also do a lot of reserach before exchanging my bitcoin into an altcoin, as some altcoins are pure speculation and might not be around in the future. If i cannot find an altcoin i like then i would just be happy holding my Bitcoin, i meant HODLing :)