I have invested $32K in last 5 years and currently have 19100 STEEM. It will be 20K STEEM roughly by December, 2018.

It looks like that I am dumb investor after all these years. Yes, I could be, however, I learned my lessons and these lessons can guide me to next big profit. Here is my journey with lessons:

**LESSON ONE: Cryptocurrency market is Cyclic, period. Up and down cycle is more severe than traditional market: Don't do any short-term trading, if you do not have substantial experience.**

When I first mined a fraction of a Litecoin in March, 2013, I was really excited. I have just created money on my tiny laptop- amazing. I liked the idea so much that I have eventually bought 12 GPUs to mine LTC. I  have mined 5 BTC (with ASIC), 1000 LTC, few millions of DOGE, few millions of BCN, many other coins- XPM, FTC, WDC etc.

If I hold to them I should have few $100Ks. It was not easy for me since I got addicted to daytrading. I learned my first practical trading lesson through buying and selling at now defunct btc-e. BTC-e was the largest exchange for LTC on that time (2013-14). LTC founder Charles Lee used to visit Trollbox frequently and I had chance to chat few times with him and other legendary crypto traders.

I had bought couple of hundreds LTCs for trading purpose. At the peak, I accommodated 2000 LTC through trading gain, mining and purchase. But I lost 1000 LTC in a single day. I was so freaked out that I moved to BTC, PeerCoin, NameCoin etc.

**At BTC's peak at $1200 on December, 2013, I had 10 BTC. I could have sold that for $12K that would double my money since my total investment was only $6K, because I did not have any clue what is a bubble and how it can bust.**

Later I move to XPM, PPC, QuarkCoin, WorldCoin, FeatherCoin to find next big profit. In the meantime I bought few thousand bucks of BTC to invest in Alts. It was severe bear market, no altcoin ever see big comeback. Later I understood that I should invest in a coin with strong fundamentals- for me it was LTC.

Later I managed to buy, mine and trade and able to make 1800 LTC on January, 2015. It was worst time for crypto-market. LTC hit $1.1 at one time. My total investment of $15K became mere $3-5K. I was so pissed of that I looked for redemption.

I started trading Futures of LTC on OKCoin not having any clue how futures work. Futures with volatile asset such as crypto is like gambling in any Casino. I lost my last 1800 LTC in a week. I am back to zero.

I lost all my hopes in cryptocurrencies that I sold all my mined coins at little profit. I sold 4 BTC mined through ASIC, few millions of BCN, few hundreds of DASH at few hundred bucks. On that time I had no hope for cryptos. By the end of 2015, I had no coins left except my mining operation with BCN.

Then in March, 2017 when BTC broke its ATH I got drawn to cryptocurrency again. I was looking for a coin with strong fundamentals. STEEM filled out most of my criteria. I bought $7K of STEEM from June to December, 2017. 

At the peak of January, 2018, my total asset reached $80K. However, all my STEEMs were powered up and I was busy in blogging. I was jobless for more than 6 months and not finding a suitable job. I thought that 10K SP with blogging provide me a surviving income. I did not sold any STEEM but survived on loans.

Anyway, I got a job in August, 2018 but I had $40K loans from student loans and loans during jobless time.

**LESSON TWO is that never depend on Cryptocurrency for your survival, then you can't make any rational decision.** 

I should have powered down my 10K SP in that bull run and can profited $50K on top of $27K invested. I could have buy back 50K STEEM at current price.

**TL, DR: Invest in project/coin with strong fundamentals and community (e.g. BTS, STEEM). Wait for cycles-- buy during through of bear market and sell at the near peak of bull market. Prepare to wait out for years (e.g. 1-3 years). Don't invest money that can jeopardize your personal life (e.g. buying cryptocurrency with credit cards). Invest what you can lose without any change in Quality of Life. Finally, don't do daytrading if you are not a PRO already or you will pay a hefty tuition by losing your first installments.!*

STEEM is probably at the the bottom of a bear market which could be a great buying opportunity. In coming years, it will see another ATH (e.g. $8.5). If your investment sees 10X, don't let down by the greed of selling higher, take some profit.

Cheers and keep steeming!
@riseofth
Cryptominer since 2013, occasional trader and tech blogger

**Disclaimer: This opinion is not a financial advice, it my personal perspective and opinion. Please seek professionals for financial decisions.**

![image.png](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmR3pfKSbtEM2Cfa7kWDh6EZjmhzcXQGWJHjZsT8MwVLp7)

Image sources: Most images are open sourced (e.g. Pixabay, Wikimedia etc.) with Creative common license. Some images are used with due courtesy to respected owners.