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Back in August, I had a buddy who was watching Crypto markets like a hawk. Like many other enthusiasts, he caught wind of the Ethereum Classic Coinbase listing and convinced me to make my first steps into Crypto investing in the hopes of making a quick profit. Like many other enthusiasts, we both bought in way too late. If you follow Crypto, you know the story. The hype ended up being the pump, with the price falling from a peak of $20 as soon as the coin was listed on Coinbase.

Over the past three months I've watched my initial investment dwindle by 10%, then 20%, then 30%, all the while too stubborn to admit defeat. With my losses approaching 50%, I finally swallowed my pride and sold out. What was supposed to be quick cash very quickly turned into an $800 mistake, and one that I'm going to be struggling very hard to make up before I get married next June. Even though I've made a terrible mistake, I've learned a few things by watching the dialogue around the Crypto community. I figured I'd share them with you, maybe you can make heads or tails of them where I can't.

1) Nobody knows anything about Crypto

"It'll start going up within the week."
"Bitcoin will be $20,000 again by the end of the year."
"Keep HODLing, it'll go back up."

If you chat about Crypto in extremely public channels, you could play a game of Bingo with these statements. Everyone likes to pretend like they're an expert, but the reality is that even the 'experts' have no idea what they're doing. Crypto doesn't follow traditional stock trends and patterns, even though analysts like to talk about it like it does. Crypto isn't stock, it's gambling. Instant transfers and unlimited day-trades are proof of this. It's a game that's meant to be played, and when it is, some people win and a whole lot of other people lose.

2) Bears and Bulls are Bullshit

Face it, the Crypto FOMO is done and gone. Forget the bulls, last year's December peak was FOMO, to the letter. Forget the bears, this last week's $4 billion crash is people finally wising up and getting out. The only way we will see numbers even remotely close to 2017's peak again is if there's some major development in blockchain technology that provides relevant use-cases or if fiat crashes. It doesn't matter what your whitepaper says right now, nobody's buying and the proof is in the downtrend.

3) For 99.9999999999% of Cryptocurrencies, there's no use-case

Without a market for goods and services based entirely in Crypto pricing and not based on the fiat value backing it, there's not a single viable use-case for Crypto currently. Steem is the one Crypto I legitimately have hope in because it's actively working towards this end. Imagine being able to exchange goods and services for a standardized amount of Steem or SBD, regardless of the fiat price. That's a use-case, and it's the kind of thing that Crypto is going to need if it's going to recover.

4) There's no such thing as quick profit

If you're going to make money off of Crypto, you've got to be three things: diligent, intentional, and lucky. Keep your ears to the ground, listen for insider trading that might lead to potential buy-low, sell-high opportunities, and play the upswing. If you're not on the leading edge of an uptrend, though, it's best to let it pass. By the time an opportunity hits common knowledge, it's already too late.

I'm by no means done with Crypto or the blockchain. The tech is interesting, and it does have the potential to be a fiat alternative if fiat ever crashes. But for now I'm out and watching the daily ups and downs, watching for an opportunity to start making my $800 back. That's one of the perks of Steemit. Here I get to share my thoughts, writing, art and whatever else with you and build an investment from scratch. I'll be sticking around here and continuing to write in the interim because free crypto is going to be no laughing matter if the market ever recovers.

Have you had similar losses this year? Are you feeling the sting of a declining Crypto market? Let me know about your experiences in the comments below. As always, there are some SBI shares up for grabs if I feel like you're actually invested in this article and you leave a good comment.

That's all I've got for now. Catch you next time!

Cheers, Mako