7 Essential Crypto Tips I'd Tell Any New Investor

If you’re new to crypto, welcome to the jungle. It’s wild, fast moving, emotional, and often unforgiving. I’ve been in the space for years now, and I’ve made just about every mistake you can think of: timing the top wrong, holding too long, selling too early, following influencers, chasing pump coins, ignoring risk…the list goes on.

But the beauty of experience is that it leaves a trail of lessons. If you’re just starting out, or even if you’ve been around a while but want to get better, here are the 7 core tips I’d share with anyone who’s looking to thrive this altcoin season and beyond.

These tips won’t make you rich overnight, but they will put you lightyears ahead of the average retail investor. And that’s all that really matters. Don’t make the retail investor mistakes and operate like a winner.

1. Ignore Everyone, Make Decisions You Believe In

The crypto space is loud. Twitter influencers, YouTubers, Discord groups, anonymous accounts, and even mainstream media outlets will all have something to say. Some of it is valuable. A lot of it is noise. And none of it is personalized to your situation.

What’s most dangerous is that we often give other people more power over our decisions than we should. We’ll listen to someone we admire and make a buy or sell without fully understanding why. But at the end of the day, that influencer won’t be there to take the heat for your gains or your losses.

You’re the one who lives with the decision. So make sure every trade, every hold, every portfolio adjustment reflects your conviction, not someone else’s excitement. Seek insight, sure. But always run it through your own filter.

2. Go With the Market Direction

The market is like the ocean. You can either surf the wave or get slammed by it.

One of the most painful things I had to learn is that you can be absolutely right about a coin or narrative but be dead wrong on the timing. Or worse, the market just doesn’t care. Trying to swim upstream when the tide is against you is exhausting and often pointless.

Instead, focus on riding the wave that’s already moving. If Bitcoin is in full dominance mode and altcoins are getting crushed, don’t fight it. Maybe you trade Bitcoin. Maybe you sit out. Maybe you look at stocks. But don’t force altcoins to work when they clearly aren’t.

Likewise, when altcoin season does arrive, recognize it early and lean in. These seasons are short, powerful, and chaotic. Capital moves fast. You want to be positioned and ready, not still clinging to the last trend that died.

3. Understand the Difference Between Bitcoin Season and Altcoin Season

This one is huge. There are two very different environments in crypto:

• Bitcoin season: When capital is flowing into BTC. Bitcoin outperforms everything. Safer, more stable, and dominant.

• Altcoin season: When BTC cools off or moves sideways, and capital rotates into higher risk plays.

If you don’t understand Bitcoin dominance, or if you ignore it, you’ll constantly feel like you’re swimming against the current. You'll buy alts thinking you're early when Bitcoin is still sucking all the oxygen out of the room.

There are times when riding Bitcoin is the smartest and least risky thing you can do. Other times, BTC dominance tops out, and a smart rotation into alts can lead to 5x, 10x, even 20x gains in a very short time period.

Learn to recognize the signs. Track dominance charts. Watch for capital rotation. Don’t take unnecessary risk on altcoins when Bitcoin is giving you more upside with less volatility. Likewise, maybe stocks are giving you better returns than crypto. Anything is fair game when it comes to making cash.

4. Everyone Thinks They’re Smarter Than You (Ignore Them Too)

Say anything on the internet, especially if it’s unconventional, and you’ll be met with skepticism, mockery, or worse. Everyone has an opinion, and most people will think theirs is better than yours.

That’s fine. Let them.

Most of the people arguing with you online are in a different phase of life. Different risk tolerance. Different time horizon. Different capital base. They may be overleveraged degens in their 20s, or conservative boomers just dipping into BTC. Their opinions are shaped by their situation, not yours.

You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. You don’t need to argue, defend, or convince. Just do what makes sense for you. Because when the cycle ends and you’re sitting on gains while others are licking their wounds, it won’t matter who thought they were smarter. Remember, you and only you are managing your portfolio.

5. Learn Basic Technical Analysis (Seriously, Just Do It)

TA isn’t magic, but it’s a powerful tool. You don’t need to be a wizard, but understanding the basics will help you enter and exit with far more confidence.

I recommend three masters:

• William O’Neil’s CANSLIM (momentum and growth strategy)

• Mark Minervini (trend trading and volatility contraction)

• Stan Weinstein (stage analysis and trend phases)

These are old school stock traders, but their wisdom applies perfectly to crypto. Why? Because price action is universal. The psychology behind a breakout or consolidation is the same whether it’s a stock or a meme coin.

Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t click right away. Keep learning. Keep applying. Eventually, you’ll see the market in a new light and you’ll stop making the rookie mistake of buying hype tops or selling bottoms.

Maybe my trading style above doesn’t match to yours. Maybe you enjoy something like Elliot Wave Theory better. I don’t really care. Just find something you can use to model good buy and sell points and reiterate on for constant success.

6. Focus More on Not Losing Than on Winning

Everyone wants to win. Few people focus on not losing.

But in crypto, risk is everything. It’s the difference between surviving and blowing up. Between compounding your portfolio and starting over every cycle.

That means:

• Don’t chase pumps.

• Don’t overleverage.

• Don’t hold bags because of pride.

• Don’t risk more than you can afford to lose.

Instead, obsess over optimal entries. Focus on capital preservation. Let the market prove itself before you go all in.

If you can just avoid the major losses, like the blowups, rug pulls, and emotional panic sells, you’ll be ahead of 80% of the market. Because most people implode before they ever get a chance to win. Most people (including me) will take a big loss on the chin before they learn. Most people are too emotional.

At the end of the day, if you can consistently make money year over year without losing, it doesn’t matter if you only make 20% a year, you will still be very rich. Limit losses to 10% because this is the magic number that will prevent major drawdowns. A 10% loss needs an 11% gain to break even. Anything more than 10% on a loss will make it infinitely harder to gain back.

7. Detach from Outcomes, Obsess Over the Process

This one is hard but crucial.

In crypto, you can make a perfect trade and still lose. You can make a horrible trade and still win. Why? Because outcomes are driven by probabilities, not certainties.

If you attach your self worth to outcomes, you’ll get emotional. You’ll get greedy when you win and crushed when you lose. And that’s when the market eats you alive.

Instead, focus on inputs:

• Did you follow your system?

• Did you manage your risk?

• Did you stick to your plan?

If yes, then win or lose, you did your job. Over time, consistency compounds. Good process eventually leads to good results.

Detach from the dopamine hits. Detach from the panic. Trade like a robot, think like a scientist, and reflect like a monk. You have to have a process that is repeatable cycle over cycle, and this is the only way.

Crypto is the most exciting and unforgiving financial playground in the world. You can make a fortune or lose it in the blink of an eye. What separates long term winners from short term gamblers isn’t IQ or luck, it’s mindset, patience, discipline, and humility.

So if you’re new, take these 7 lessons to heart. Print them out. Reread them every month. Make them your compass when the noise gets loud and the market gets crazy.

And most importantly keep learning. The market is always teaching. The best investors are always listening.

Let’s win this alt szn.

Thanks for reading,

Dawson