When it comes to the world of trading one of the important decisions you will need to make is which trading strategy suits you best. Are you interested, in day trading or swing trading or just holding your coins? Are you looking for long term investment opportunities? This decision will shape your trading journey. Have an impact on your potential outcomes.

Regardless of where you are on your crypto journey, you want to have a plan. In fact, you NEED to have a plan.

A brief intro in case you are just starting out in crypto

HODL - this stands for 'hold on for dear life' and typically is an ideology of the die hard cryptologico cryptonian who believes in their coin to the death and you cannot pry their tokens from their cold dead body if you try. While the HODL is an intentional investment strategy, it also lacks a few important key features in strategy. For instance, at some point there should be an actual plan to lock in profit, pass the HODL on to generations to come, or attach a way to utilize the coin's rising value in place of fiat. These are big challenges to the HODLer. In addition to a true blue HODL, there is the HODL by force, where someone is 'stuck' with their HODL bags, or coins that drop so fast and furious Vin Diesel comes ready to run over the market price with a tuner car. The unintentional HODLer often finds a sense of community among others going through the same thing, because crypto markets come and go in cycles, so if a person is going AltCoin crazy, there is a good chance some time in the near future, they will be joining thousands of others who are down in the dumps at the question to whether their bags will ever revive.

Investing - while similar to the HODL, is a long duration with a target. Investments are designed to have a forward view of the gradual long term value of an asset, but there is a strategy behind investments. A person may long or short an investment depending on their research, but typically you can stack up investments much like the HODL, but the end game truly is about taking profit, either in one big pay off after a target sell, or choosing key landmarks to grab some profit while allowing some of the asset to mature. Investments in traditional finance often include incentives like dividends that help a person feel good about holding long term, and even to consider rolling those dividends into new shares, or coins.

Swing Trading - this is the next longest duration a person might trade, and this is very fast paced for most people in crypto. Swing trading is essentially studying the market with a plan to set up a trade that one believes is a good low buy on day one, in order to sell at peak day two. A swing trade is meant to take 2 days, 3 days max. 

Day Trading - This is the fastest pace category for trading, where the person intends to grab profit intra-day... the same day. 

I can take this even one step further, to label the fastest form of day trading, as scalping, where a person is literally just watching the market momentum for a chance to quickly swoop in and grab a tiny profit and go.

Each of these trading plans come with a myriad of interesting options. I will break these down in future posts because I like to do so. For here, consider this an overview across all categories.

The HODLer and Investor can both do something that they will benefit from, which is to DCA, or Dollar Cost Average.

This is essentially a strategy to buy at regular intervals, a set amount of their asset, regardless of the current price. You can imagine that in crypto there is a plus and minus to the real die-hard set-it-and-forget-it DCA model. In crypto, we like to call it "staking sats". The person doesn't sell, but does regularly add to their asset over time. 

Statistics are a fascinating thing, and theoretical math has some mysteries that I will never grow tired of. In this case, the fact that averaging simply works just absolutely fascinates me. Much like the wisdom of the crowd and other statistical truisms that just don't seem possible, dollar cost averaging proves to be a way to gain value while investing without the stress of watching the market regularly, and it typically means a person will sometimes intentionally buy the dip, other times buy right at the peak, and yet other times anywhere in between. Over years it all averages out to a decent average market value.

A slightly more sophisticated model for the DCA, which I personally believe in over the above, is to plan to add to the HODL over time, and choose a set amount, or even a fixed percentage of earnings if you think that may sometimes mean contributing even more, but when it is coming around to the time where you should make a purchase, actually watch the market and aim for a daily or weekly low. There is usually enough data and fluctuation in crypto to warrant outperforming the average just by taking a little bit of interest in the market. You don't have to nail the dip for this to be effective, but you do have to be consistent.

For the investor, while it is very similar to HODLing, there is room for DCA, but also selling profits when the market does extremes, and waiting for a correction to buy the dip. In this case, you aren't selling the asset because you gave up on the HODL and it isn't because you 'believe' in the fiat it is sold to. You do this in order to gain more of the asset you believe in. An example would be, if an asset regularly fluctuates up and down by 10-15%, there is plenty of long term data to let you know when an asset is nearing a peak or dip. You may as well sell some at a peak, hold on until it is below the average around that time, and then use that profit to buy the same asset again. You just gained momentum on your long term investment and this does not sacrifice your long term ideals.

Investment and trading are two different tools to profit from the market. Based on their interest, skills, experience, risk tolerance levels, and available funds, investment and trading cater to diverse individuals, from beginners to experts. Contrary to a popular belief, trading isn't restricted to seasoned traders, even novices can get into trading. Likewise, you might be able to profit more if you have a lot of money, however, substantial funds is also not mandatory. You can trade with small amount and gradually increase your trading amount as you start profiting and gaining experience.

Trading does not always guarantee profits. However, if you can understand the signals, read the trading patters in the market, you might be on a safer side. If you use trading bots, you can find trading to be a little easier. Trading bots automate buying and selling based on predetermined prices, which minimizes risks. Likewise, novice traders can adopt strategies from experienced trader through a method of copy trading. Trading bots and copy trading are usually risk-free trading methods. No matter what strategies you are using, you need to understand that trading doesn't guarantee success, and you must be prepared for potential losses. Never trade with the amount that you cannot afford to lose.

You can trade different kinds of financial instruments like equities, stocks, futures, options, ETFs, foreign currencies, cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin ETFs (recently approved financial instruments for trading and investment. You can trade in stock exchange, foreign exchange market, and crypto exchange markets. The core principle of trading is quite simple, you buy assets and sell assets. When you sell, you sell for profits. Some traders are involved with day trading, which is buying assets when the market opens and close trading when market closes, whereas some traders hold assets for a couple of days and sell assets when values peak.

There are multiple approaches for trading, you can directly trade in the market, or trade through brokers, you can even use trading platforms (available as website or mobile apps). You can either do manual trading or use bots for automated orders. You can do your own research for trading or copy successful traders. No matter what method you are using, becoming a proficient trader demands knowledge, expertise, and distinct skills tailored for specific markets. For instance, you need different kinds of skills and knowledge to trade stocks and crypto. If you are a good crypto trader, it does not guarantee that you will also become a good forex trader. You need to have knowledge on specific asset type, you will have to choose the asset based on your interest and expertise. Even when you are trading in one market, you need to have expertise with diverse strategies such as choosing stocks of ETFs, Options or Futures, short term or long term, etc.