One thing I can see about myself as I look back on my journey in the Cryptosphere; the more I learn, the better at trading I seem to get.
After earning my first crypto on that previous blockchain, I looked to diversify my Hodlings. Not knowing much about any other tokens besides BTC, I went with one that was popular on-chain at the time.
BitShares
That token was BTS, or BitShares, and I still use the DEX today. That's correct. BitShares is a token but it's also a DEX (Decentralized Exchange).
Unfortunately, the DEX doesn't have anywhere near the trading volume it used to. It also appeared that at least some of the Pegged Assets had become invalid.
Despite these concerns and the fact that BitShares as token has fallen considerably since those days of $0.52, it has kept a steady value for some time. BTS has also seen some incredible trading volume across other exchanges of late.
Back on the BTS DEX, there are still some trading options that see enough volume to earn some tokens. Also in development is BTS 4.0 protocol. The TestNet has been up for about a month and the MainNet is scheduled for July 30th.
Taking My Lumps On The BTS DEX
Here's a part of my learning experience that ought to get a few laughs. Pegged assets such as BitUSD means that you can borrow BTS and go short or long. If you trade, you know exactly what I mean.
It's gambling, in essence, of whether the price will go up or down. Of course, you have to back what you borrow which means tying up extra tokens. And you have to back with enough to handle dips in the market, or chance losing your tokens.
Unfortunately, my eye for the market direction back then was almost unerring in its consistency. If I thought it was going to go one way, it went another.
Mrs. Black Swan has visited my account at least a couple times! To be honest, the whole experience sort of turned me away from short or long positions. It's a tough game to play.
Trading Pairs
Nowadays, I find I prefer a good trading pair over a short or long position. I've also learned the importance of keeping holdings in a wallet and have Hodlings other than on the BTS DEX.
But with all the news the past few months on the development of Ethereum, I decided to pick up some GDEX ETH on the BTS exchange back in April.
The recent surge in ETH has paid off nicely by increasing my BTS Hodlings. The only problem? I simply didn't put enough BTS into the pot. Though my earnings so far may be small change, I may continue to put more into this pair.
For the time, I'll wait to see if ETH pulls back a bit. With the new BTS MainNet set to launch, I'll also have to consider if taking earnings now is the best bet.
What are your thoughts? If you have any on the matter, I'd appreciate the advice.
One Final Positive About Hodling BTS
Blocktrades has always supported BitShares as token, making it easy to exchange into HIVE! Trading is even easier from BTS to Blocktrades and vice versa with the addition of HiveSigner. It's a super smooth transition.
This means that if you make some well informed decisions and decide to take BTS earnings, you can turn them into HIVE just like that! I'm excited to see if the broken Pegged Bit assets are fixed on the new 4.0 MainNet, though I likely won't use them much.
Instead, I'll continue reading about developments in the Cryptosphere that might inform me of future beneficial trading pairs.
Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to chime in with a comment. I'm always open for learning.
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