It's never too late to jump into the crypto scene

I’m already in my fourty years old and just starting to learn about cryptocurrencies. Is it too late for me? If someone asks that, I like to share a favorite Arabic saying: learn from the cradle to the grave.

Utlubul ilma minal mahdi ilal lahdi, goes the saying. It’s a reminder that we should keep learning throughout our lives, especially if it can enhance our quality of life, whether that’s in material ways or not.

I’ve been aware of the crypto world since the Bitcoin craze hit the news about a decade ago. Back then, I wasn’t really interested and was pretty skeptical, which is a common reaction when we encounter something new.

Instead of exploring crypto, I focused on stocks. I joined a capital market workshop hosted by the local branch of the Indonesia Stock Exchange Gallery and started my investment journey through trading.

Since buying my first shares after that workshop, my assets have consistently grown. The gains have been pretty decent for a self-taught beginner like me, relying on Google and never attending a seminar or joining a paid group.

However, there’s always been one thing that nags at me when trading stocks. When the share price rises and I sell, I feel a mix of happiness and regret.

Why? Because I have to part with a company I’ve researched thoroughly, often staying up late to gather info and create comparison charts. If I want to buy back in, the price has usually shot up.

Take TMAS stock, for instance. It’s my biggest regret to date. Between late 2019 and mid-2020, I regularly bought this stock for around IDR 100 - 110, accumulating several hundred lots.

Do you know what it’s worth now? It’s at IDR 138.

Keep in mind, that’s the price after a stock split in May 2023 with a 1:10 ratio. So, before the split, it was actually IDR 13,800.

From IDR 100 to IDR 13,000, I can’t help but wonder how much profit I could’ve racked up if I had held onto my TMAS shares since 2019. The moment I thought I’d made a decent profit, I sold, and then the price just kept climbing.

When it comes to investing, I’ve realized that stocks are better suited for long-term holds. I’m the kind of person who prefers to invest in companies with solid fundamentals and steer clear of those hype-driven stocks.

For trading and growing my funds, I believe the crypto market is a better fit. The main reason is that many cryptocurrencies are digital assets that aren’t tied to anything tangible in the real world, especially those memecoins.

Unlike stocks, which represent ownership in a company, crypto coins are just digital data that exist on the internet. They only become real when you sell them and cash out at an ATM.

I don’t feel any regret when selling crypto coins or tokens that have skyrocketed in value. There are always new crypto opportunities popping up, and plenty of other coins to explore.

Sure, I missed out on Bitcoin, which is now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but there’s still Solana, hanging around the $200 mark. Plus, you can look into second-layer coins like Arbitrum and Polygon, or even dive into memecoins for trading.

Take PEPE, for instance, which shot up by 100%. Why regret selling it if it means doubling my capital? There are always new potential memecoins to chase after, and creating tokens on Pump.fun is super easy.

On the other hand, I haven’t found any stocks like TMAS that have that same potential since it was priced at IDR 100. Sure, there are some solid shipping companies out there, but nothing compares to TMAS from late 2019 to mid-2020.

My perspective has shifted a bit. While I used to think of trading and investing as both involving stocks, I've decided that investing will stay in stocks, but trading will now happen on crypto exchanges.

Building Investment Funds

One key point to remember is that our real asset is the fiat money we use as capital for crypto trading. It’s still the main currency for everyday transactions.

Living in a remote village, I only deal with fiat. For instance, if I want to buy durian for IDR 1.5 million, I can’t just hand over half a Solana. The seller expects 150 IDR 100,000 bills or 300 IDR 50,000 bills, or a mix of both.

So, my aim with crypto trading is to significantly increase the capital I have on the platform. The specific coins and tokens might change, and the exchanges might vary, but the goal is to see that initial capital grow and multiply.

Take, for example, starting with IDR 1 million; I want to turn that into IDR 10 million or more within a year. The coins and tokens can be anything—whether it’s Jupiter or something else—the key is to keep the balance in wallets like Phantom or Metamask growing.

As for strategies, use whatever works best for making a profit. Whether it’s trading perpetuals daily, swapping to capitalize on price changes, or holding onto promising memecoins like DOGE until their value rises, all approaches are valid.

Lastly, it’s crucial to think about how to allocate profits. Don’t pour all of it back into trading capital, but also don’t keep it all in coins that might not yield the best long-term returns.

Just like in the stock market, it's important to divide your profits into specific portions. For instance, you might want to reinvest 50% back into trading, stash 30% in major cryptocurrencies like Solana, and keep the last 20% in a balance that you can easily convert to cash whenever you need.

Personally, I’m thinking of using some of my crypto gains to invest in my favorite stocks. This way, the goal of trading crypto is to build up funds that I can eventually put into solid companies.

Why go this route?

Well, owning stocks comes with the perk of dividends, which you don’t get with crypto. In Indonesia, it’s pretty common for companies to pay out dividends, usually around 7% a year, and some even hit 10%.

Sure, there are ways to earn something similar in crypto through staking on exchanges or wallets. But honestly, I still think stock dividends beat crypto staking yields.

And let’s not forget about the potential for stock price growth. Just look at how TMAS skyrocketed from IDR 100 to IDR 13,000 in just four years. Plus, PANI saw a whopping 218.41% increase this year, going from IDR 5,025 on January 2, 2024, to IDR 16,000 by December 30, 2024.

I haven’t figured out my exact allocation percentages yet, but my goal isn’t too ambitious. I just want to gather enough shares to cover my daily living expenses through dividends.