Actually Making Money in Crypto: My 3 Year Journey

I'm gonna be real with you - most of my crypto journey has been losing money. Not the glamorous story you see on Twitter, but it's the truth. It took me three full years to figure out how to consistently make money in this space.

This isn't a "how I made millions" story. This is about how I went from losing 80% of my portfolio to actually building wealth slowly and sustainably. If you're looking for get-rich-quick schemes, this ain't it.

The Losing Years (2018-2020)

After buying Bitcoin at $19k in December 2017, I spent the next two years making every mistake possible:

• Day trading (lost about $8k doing this)
• Chasing pumps and dumps
• Buying random altcoins because someone on Reddit said they'd moon
• Panic selling at the bottom
• FOMO buying at the top

By March 2020, my original $25k investment was worth about $4k. I was ready to quit. But then COVID hit, and something clicked.

The Turning Point

March 2020 was when everything changed. Not because I suddenly got smart, but because I got desperate enough to actually study what successful investors were doing.

I spent the entire lockdown reading. Not crypto Twitter - actual books. "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. "A Random Walk Down Wall Street." I started treating crypto like an actual investment, not a casino.

What I Learned:

1. Dollar Cost Averaging Actually Works

I started buying $200 worth of Bitcoin every week, no matter the price. Sounds boring? It is. But it works. From April 2020 to December 2021, this simple strategy returned over 400%.

2. Most Altcoins Are Garbage

I used to hold 15+ different coins. Now I hold 4: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and a small position in Chainlink. That's it. Concentration beats diversification in crypto.

3. Time in Market > Timing the Market

I stopped trying to time the perfect entry. Started focusing on time horizons measured in years, not days.

The Strategy That Actually Works

Here's my exact approach since 2020:

Core Holdings (80% of portfolio):

• Bitcoin (50%): Weekly DCA, never sell
• Ethereum (30%): Weekly DCA, stake what I can

Satellite Holdings (20% of portfolio):

• Solana (15%): Bought during the bear market, held through everything
• Chainlink (5%): Small bet on oracle infrastructure

The Rules I Never Break:

1. Never invest more than 10% of my net worth in crypto
2. Never sell Bitcoin or Ethereum (only add to positions)
3. Never buy anything I don't understand
4. Never FOMO into anything trending on social media
5. Take profits on altcoins when they 3x

The Numbers

Since implementing this strategy in April 2020, here's what happened:

• Total invested: $52,000 (DCA over 3 years)
• Current value: $187,000 (as of March 2024)
• Total return: +259%
• Annualized return: ~42%

Not life-changing money, but solid returns that beat the S&P 500 by a wide margin.

What I Wish I Knew Earlier

Boring strategies work best. The most profitable thing I do is set up automatic buys and forget about them. All my losses came from trying to be clever.

Crypto Twitter is entertainment, not education. The people making real money aren't posting about it every day. They're quietly accumulating.

Bear markets are where wealth is built. My best purchases were made when everyone was calling crypto dead in 2022.

You don't need to understand blockchain to invest in Bitcoin. You just need to understand supply and demand, and monetary policy.

The Reality Check

This strategy isn't sexy. It's not going to make you rich overnight. But it's sustainable, and it works over long time periods.

I still make mistakes. I still get tempted by shiny new projects. But having a system keeps me grounded and prevents me from doing anything too stupid.

If you're just starting out, my advice is simple: start small, be consistent, and think in years not days. The crypto market rewards patience more than anything else.

Remember: this is just my experience, not financial advice. Your situation is different than mine. Do your own research and never invest more than you can afford to lose.