By Carlo Ople, Unbox
A few years ago I reluctantly made a small investment in Bitcoin. It was risky since the market then, just like now, was highly volatile. I pulled the trigger because I knew that it was a bet on the future and the potential of blockchain technology. That bet has paid off not just financially, but more on the experience and knowledge of how this new digital economy works.
Allow me to share my 5 top learnings so far. I am by no means an expert, so take this with a grain of salt. These are personal learnings that I just want to share with anyone interested in “investing” in Bitcoin.
1. Don’t Bet the Farm.
It can be highly tempting to put a lot of money in Bitcoin especially when you experience your first gains. I strongly suggest you start off small. There’s no minimum amount anyway. You can start off with Php1,000 or Php5,000 just so you can learn how everything works.
Once you’ve gained experience, you can slowly add more over time and treat it as your “Hail Mary” shot. Over the next 5 years Bitcoin can spike or dive, so treat it as a lottery ticket more than anything.
2. Be an Expert at your Chosen Cryptocurrency Wallet/App.
I’m currently using 2 mobile apps for Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies. There’s Coins.ph (you can read our review here: https://www.unbox.ph/editorials/how-to-buy-bitcoin-in-the-philippines/) and there’s also Abra. We suggest you start with Coins.ph because it has the best UI/UX and once you’ve become adept, shift to Abra because they offer wallets for other cryptocurrencies and their rates are better.
You need to be an expert at these apps and know everything that you can do with them from your daily and annual limits to how long it takes to send money to other users. Learn them and master them because they’re your tools in this new digital crypto-economy.
3. Diversify.
After spending a few weeks in Bitcoin, you’ll hear about other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and Dash. To mitigate your risk, I suggest you spread your investments across the top 5 currencies. Don’t put everything on Bitcoin.
For this purpose I suggest you already shift from Coins.ph to Abra. Coins.ph is focused specifically on Bitcoin while Abra is has a broader scope.
4. Learn ICOs.
Once you’ve gotten enough experience and you’re comfortable already managing your cryptocurrency portfolio, you can get into ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). These are companies who create new tokens like Bitcoin to raise funds. This can be highly risky though as there are a lot of scams out there. You need to be able to make good picks as it’s no different than scrutinizing a start-up that’s asking for your support. Do whatever due diligence you can to lower your risks.
I’m currently supporting one company who’s trying to solve the remittance problem in the Philippines. They’re called Salarium and you can know more about them in the video above.
5. Accept as early as now that all the money you put in can be wiped out.
Last, but definitely not the least, is that you need to accept as early as now that you can wake up tomorrow and all the money in your Bitcoin wallet can be gone. Don’t get me wrong — I remain bullish about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. However I also believe that one major hack or government regulation issue can bring down prices dramatically overnight.
And there you go. For more stories of my experiences with Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency, check out my weekly column at Unbox here: https://www.unbox.ph/category/bitcoin-philippines/
