How to Succeed and Survive Long-Term in the Cryptocurrency Market Without Relying on Luck?
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How to Succeed and Survive Long-Term in the Cryptocurrency Market Without Relying on Luck?
If you want to make money in cryptocurrency, you must stay in the industry for a long time.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: Route 2 FI
Translated by: TechFlow Intern
If you want to make money in cryptocurrency, you must stay in the industry for the long term. The successful people you look up to today in crypto built themselves from nothing and have consistently contributed to the space. Most understand that the crypto market is brutal, so knowing the following points will help you survive in this market over the long run.
1/ Protect Your Capital
The market peaked in January 2018 and then crashed by 75%. Whales have learned from this event and cashed out during the 20-21 bull run.
They understand that wealth preservation and capital protection are the only paths to long-term survival.
Never share your seed phrase or private key with anyone. Cryptocurrency is like a dark forest—if you expose yourself, no one can save you. There's no customer service in crypto.
If someone gains access to your seed phrase or private key, your journey in crypto is essentially over.
2/ Trading Decisions
On crypto Twitter, there are two camps: long-term investors and traders.
Long-term investors say the only valid strategy is holding tokens monthly via dollar-cost averaging (DCA). On the other hand, traders believe narratives shift too quickly, requiring frequent position changes.
I agree partially with both sides. Regarding long-term holding: keep your core holdings. In crypto, the only two assets I’m willing to DCA into and hold long-term are BTC and ETH.
Compare the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap from four years ago to today—how many still remain in the top 100? You get my point. The odds of your favorite altcoin surviving long-term are slim; even if it doesn’t go to zero, it may slowly fade into irrelevance.
Don’t go all-in. Don’t go all-in. Don’t let investing become a burden. Learn technical indicators and trendlines used by traders to determine when and what to do.
Study their timing and entry/exit points. While it might seem like astrology to some, professional traders use tools, mental models, and frameworks to protect their capital.
Without basic technical knowledge, you’ll experience the harsh side of this market. I remember my first attempt at leveraged crypto trading—I lost $1,000 in just two minutes...
When unsure which direction to take, a good tip is to practice on a demo account before risking real money.
Yes, it doesn't feel exactly the same as live trading, but it helps you understand leverage and shows how fast you can lose—or make—money in crypto.
Compared to the stock market, crypto volatility is in a different league. You might get rich fast by betting everything on Memecoins and Ponzi coins, but in reality, nine out of ten people lose money.
You never hear from the losers due to survivorship bias—the rags-to-riches stories dominate your feed.
3/ Keep Learning, Keep Improving
Find like-minded individuals. Align yourself with naturally curious people in the industry who share your goals. Surround yourself with high-IQ, success-driven, energetic individuals—connect with founders, builders, and others alike.
This way, your learning path involves studying those who know more than you, meeting weekly via Zoom to discuss ideas.
This will give you more inspiration and could shorten your research process.
But always DYOR (Do Your Own Research). Never blindly trust anyone. Think carefully before aligning with someone for business opportunities in this space.
4/ Navigating Volatile Markets
Compared to other markets, crypto is not very efficient—getting in early on new projects can be highly profitable. However, narratives in crypto change so rapidly that today’s trend might be tomorrow’s losing bet.
Position sizing has become one of the most valuable skills in this industry.
Think deeply before entering any position. Do extensive calculations. I believe you don’t want to lose your money. If you can’t explain in two sentences where the yield in your DeFi platform comes from, then you *are* the source of the yield. This rule applies to many DeFi protocols.
5/ Building Influence
If you want to make an impact in crypto, you need to be willing to change your mind quickly. Don’t be the kind of person who stubbornly supports an ecosystem no matter what. If the narrative shifts, you should shift too.
Crypto doesn’t work like index funds in traditional stock markets—index funds can’t go to zero, but your altcoins certainly can. Acknowledge your mistakes and, if necessary, sell at a loss.
Always remember opportunity cost (more on this later in the thread).
One of the easiest ways to get noticed is by growing your followers on Twitter. What’s the best way to do that? By creating content:
1. YouTube videos
2. Twitter threads
3. Podcast episodes
4. Blog writing
Pick the medium you’re most comfortable with or the one you want to master. Excelling in one medium is far better than being mediocre across all. But above all, stay consistent—you need to show up every day.
Focus on a specific niche to grow attention. Everyone has natural strengths—double down on yours and use it to your advantage. For example, I'm good at writing, which is why I prioritize writing over making YouTube videos or starting a podcast.
If your content is specific enough, people will read your tweets and follow you because you're the one producing them. This becomes your moat—no one can compete because you've built a reputation people trust.
If people ask you to meet, say no 90% of the time. Most meetings are meaningless—almost everything can be handled via text. Your time is best spent creating. If you must meet, set a clear agenda.
6/ Opportunity Cost
This brings us to opportunity cost—a concept applicable across many areas.
Take portfolio allocation, for instance. I’ve spoken with many people, and nearly all share one common trait: anchoring bias.
"My portfolio dropped 80%, but I'll sell once it gets back to breakeven."
Opportunity cost means selling a losing asset and reallocating that capital into something with stronger fundamentals or trends.
Another aspect is going full-time in crypto: at a certain point, focusing entirely on crypto may be more beneficial than keeping a regular job.
But ensure you have a solid financial foundation to rely on. Don’t quit your job without a plan.
7/ Time Cost
Outsource as much as possible. I remember being part of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early), where everything revolved around extreme frugality.
While saving money is good, excessive frugality can come at the expense of your time.
Value your time. If you possess specialized knowledge, protect your time at all costs. You don’t want to waste it on tasks that add no meaningful value to your life.
8/ Skill Cost
If you want to join a crypto startup, make sure you work in an area where you excel. You might think startups only need developers, but that’s not true—marketing is equally important. A great protocol that nobody knows about won’t go far.
I believe there’s an untapped opportunity in this space: copywriting. For most people, documentation and protocol threads are too advanced.
This could be a business idea—start a marketing agency focused on writing ELI5 ("Explain Like I'm 5") threads for DeFi protocols.
Share your thoughts publicly. You’d be surprised how many people want to read them. 99% are consumers; only 1% are creators. If you think your niche is oversaturated, think again.
9/ Set a Small Goal
Set a personal goal for how much money you want to earn. Having a target makes it easier to stay consistent and focused. You don’t need to make all the money in one year—play the long game.
Additionally, setting milestone rewards along the way helps. For example, treat yourself to something nice when you reach 25% of your total goal.
In crypto, there are endless ways to make money: trading, DeFi, NFTs. You don’t have to stick to just one, but focus on the one you’re best at—and you’ll keep improving.
Like me—I mainly focus on DeFi, but for a while, I also tried diving deep into NFTs.
I remember spending way too much time on rarity.tools and Discord, and in the end, I didn’t gain much insight.
10/ Summary
When you finally achieve success in crypto, you may realize it’s not what you originally wanted. You have money, but your life remains unchanged. So, make sure to set more life goals beyond financial ones. A rich and colorful life brings a different kind of happiness.
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