With how volatile and narrative-driven the broader market can be, I sometimes wonder if beginners are better off focusing only on BTC. It’s more liquid, better understood, and tends to behave more predictably than most alts.
Alts can offer higher upside, but they also come with much higher risk and complexity. For someone still learning how the market moves, does it make more sense to start with BTC and branch out later, or do you think early exposure to alts is part of the learning process?
Beginners should go slow.. A "large" initial investment is more of a "gamble". You would be better off picking 1-3 main coins (Say BTC, ETH, and either XRP or SOL) and throwing $10 into each of them.
Then pick say 2 other "alts" (can also be main coins if you only picked 1 to start from the prior step) to bring your total to 3-5 coins .. only throw $5 in these ones.
This should give you a general feel of how things work. You can slowly add more over a longer period dollar cost averaging to make things less volatile, if you choose coins that offer staking yields you can transfer part of your earnings out into a stable coin for more of an online fiat holding.
I love this. I did exactly this and was able to get a good sense of what volatility feels like. I by no means am an investor but having a toe in the pond helps me feel like i have a front row seat. I read about some coins and just watch the market move. Can’t wait to continue to learn more. Im now a millionaire and yes I’m just kidding I’m really not. But i do feel more understanding about the block chain and how it works.
Totally get that! Starting small can really help with understanding the market dynamics without risking too much. Watching how different coins move over time gives you a better grasp of volatility and trends. Keep diving into the research and you'll keep leveling up your knowledge!
I agree 👍 💯 good advice.
Despite what you'll read on Reddit, most alts are likely going to be pretty shit investments long term. That doesn't mean you can't make money on them in the short or long term, but it's simply a higher risk, higher reward venture. If you are determined to explore anything beyond BTC, I personally like ETH and SOL. Everyone will have different opinions on alts. BTC itself is volatile and carries risk, particularly if you are investing for the short term. If you are investing for long term, I'd suggest starting with a small amount of buying a little bit at a time. See if you have the risk tolerance to stomach the volatility. And, importantly, do a bit of research and determine if you truly believe in BTC as a long-term asset class with potential to appreciate.
All alts are likely to be shit investments. How long does it take for a fool to learn the truth? No one cares about alts. At least not anymore.
As someone that on some alts is 80% down, I can't agree. There are some exceptions. (very few, most are trash indeed)
Looks like you have no choice but to agree, since you are down sharply and it is possible you’ll never recover those losses. You’ve conceded defeat in at least one sense - most alts are shit indeed and everyone who has been in crypto knows that. I only hold one alt and even that one disappoints…but at least it’s not a memecoin.
Unless the said alt is XRP. :)
Here’s the 3 you should be looking at, google each if they don’t make sense:
"Do your research" before entering the crypto world. BTC is great to get your beak wet but you need to hold for years.
The REAL question is this:
Should EVERYONE just stick with BTC?
The answer is of course a resounding YES.
Why? Look at your favorite shitcoins. How well have they held up? Not so great, yeah? Right?
People say that alts are like a lottery ticket and yeah that’s true but most are duds, yeah? If you love money and you love lots of it then you’ll love BTC because that is the only one that will really perform. Lottery tickets often end up leaving you disappointed and deflated.
BTC has never disappointed. Every cycle it rips and rips to new heights. What have alts done? Sure, they had a couple great cycles but most are just worthless now or will become worthless after dying a slow and miserable death.
Just stick with what works and keep your stress levels at a bare minimum. Your health is FAR more important than your money anyway.
So, there it is. C’est la vie.
Nons3nse bitcoin crashes just as hard. With most vrypto its abput timing. Ask people who bought at the top actually feel. Dont hold it like a fool just because micheal sailor told you. Buy it at a dip sell it at the peak. Example 25th september 2017 and january 12th 2019. Tell me who was more lucky the people selling or holding? Learn the market before you act. Too many crypto promotors on reddit and ytube. Only telle you how much higher it will go instead of giving real advice. Only value that bitcoin has is the idea you can get more money. Without cash money it also doesnt have value. They need your money to give it value. Tell me how much value does it have if nobody is pumping money in it or if al lot will be sold.
for most beginners, yes. btc will teach you patience and risk discipline. alts make more sense once someone understands volatility without reacting to it.
Alts teach you nothing, other than to be a loser. I’m fed up with them and won’t be “investing” (read: gambling) with them ever again.
Beginners shouldn’t even buy crypto, they go for safer options outside of crypto. It’s high risk and most end up over investing and get crushed, rekt and destroyed
Yes
Lol. Beginners should but never do. Pros do, but never should
Pick the ponzi scheme that’s still low, get in at the bottom, and bail before you become a bag-holder.
Bitcoin may have run its course.. whales pumping and dumping while they make a profitable exit.
But i expect there’s still some strategic money to make.
This. It's always the same.
Always DYOR first before you invest. Bitcoin is beginner-friendly, but it’s a long game.
Beginners should understand the purpose of crypto and not buy any currency for price fluctuations.
If you are not using crypto for payments, you are literally gambling on future price.
What are your favorite alts ?
The ones that don’t crash and burn.
Xmr
Good choice!
beginner just mean fragile emotions and higher risk for panic selling if it dips, so it's up to you how you judge yourself, ask yourself "will I be chill if it dips 90%" do I have that patience to hold blindly for 4 years etc
Edit: I just noticed that's what you said, I admit I didnt read the whole thing first, but ye exactly
Everyone should just stick with Bitcoin.
No. Because the market moves however it pleases, you don’t learn how it moves because it can go up or down with no true or good reason. Look at the past few months, I was told the halving and Trump were going to shoot it up to 500k, where is that now?
Don’t learn how the market works, learn BTC how and why it was created, how it operates, use critical thinking on how it is better than the traditional method and then you move your research on what alts are for and how they are superior than Bitcoin, then you will finally understand why “studying” the market is ridiculous, or atleast get closer
No alt is superior to BTC. Get that once and for all.
tl;dr YES
fundamentally, BTC matters most for now
technically, BTC follows TA the best, just choose a few indicators that you want to learn, backtest it to at least 2021, you will find that it behaves / follows many of the common indicators principles
also given that altcoins are in deep sh1t right now post 10 Oct, there's basically no +EV in trading them unless you're really seasoned.
maybe you can share more on some basic strats you plan to use, whether you're trading with leverage or spot only, what's the timeframe you intend to trade with?
yes
If they like to keep money, yes
I started with BTC then invested a small percentage in BMNR instead of ETH directly. Those are the two sure things for me.
Nothing is or ever will be as sure as BTC.
Yes
Beginner should never “trade”. Especially margin. If I was starting now, I wouldn’t.
I would wait until 1yr before halving and start to dollar cost average into it. Which is what I do every cycle. Started in 2015. Each time I wasn’t sure it was going to survive, each time I tried to reduce risk. I’ve made very good chunks of change. It’s really allowed me to live a different lifestyle that I couldn’t have lived otherwise. My kids definitely would not have been able to become doctors without it.
Of course had I bought, never sold, I wouldn’t be crazy rich right now. But I’ve never lost money and it changed my life for the good. I can’t complain.
As of right now. I don’t own anymore crypto.
Clearly you are one of the smart ones. One of us. Most bait and switch instamillion influencers need to be ignored.
Stress free is the best way. Never destroy your health for the sake of gambling and stress. It never works. Ask me how I know and anyone else how they know.
And your kids are doctors? Great news, we will be needing more and more doctors due to the recent pandemic. Your kids have chosen one of the best careers possible out of many choices. It’s like choosing BTC. The value of good health is priceless.
I’ve been investing for about 35yrs. So that part isn’t new to me. I lightly manage many family members retirement accounts. Well at least I get them started and the right direction. Never making major choices for them. I always start with minimal risk to get them started and show it’s not scary and every average person can do it. Also, you don’t have to be rich to start. This is biggest misconception. Everyone always starts out with “you need money in the first place to be able to invest”. Which naturally you would need some kind of funds. But, even started many on $25 a month.
I start them out nice and easy. S&P index fund with very little to zero fees. Then dollar cost average that $25 a month. After a year or two they realize it’s money go the taking and they invest more.
I usually advise partially against crypto. I usually give them a line about “don’t put in what you can’t afford to lose, cause you probably will”. Just like traditional market, in crypto there are safer ways of doing it. DCA and start with Bitcoin. Simple as that. And I usually tell people to wait until close to halving.
Yes or no I don't really know
“How the market moves” 😂😂😂😂 You are fucked in every direction.
Only if you buy shitcoins.
Every crypto is a shitcoin.
It is if it isn’t BTC as we are clearly seeing.
See you in a few years.
You haven’t noticed that it is one orchestrated pump and dump scheme to squeeze out liquidity from idiots who go long/short and think they can time the market? It’s is one fraud invested shitshow, Tether, washtrading exchanges, and some whales are the only ones who benefit.
I say yes
If you’re not buying bitcoin, you’re straight gambling. If you buy bitcoin because you want to make money and not because you notice the intrinsic value crypto brings to the financial space. You’re doing it for the wrong reason. If a crypto currency wins, it will be Bitcoin. It already valued higher than most countries total economies. Bottom line is, if you don’t understand crypto, you shouldn’t be investing in it.
I got into ETH at 60 cents and Solana at 90 Cents …..those are alts
You got in at the ground floor. Hat off to you.
Cannot say it better. Gambling vs investing.
Honestly, investing in alts is like going to casino and picking the hardest game possible. “Inherently risky isn’t fun enough for me, I need compound risk”.
Space and time (SXT) is all you need ! Backed by Microsoft and they are currently teaming with Chainlink
Chainlink is one of the best alts, but I wouldn’t bet my life savings on it. It’s likely a good long term play. But BTC is the only one I’d park my life savings into.
Shouldnt we all?
Start with 100x leverage and work your way down to a reasonable leverage
Beginners should begin something else…… run away from crypto…
Honestly, starting with BTC is smart because it teaches you market cycles, volatility, and liquidity without drowning in complexity. But once you understand the basics, looking at projects with real utility like AIOZ can be a game changer.
AIOZ combines Web3 streaming, decentralized storage, and evolving AI models in one ecosystem. Learning early on how such projects behave gives you exposure to fundamentals, adoption trends, and network effects that BTC alone can’t teach.
So start with BTC, but don’t ignore the alts that are building actual infrastructure, you’ll thank yourself later.
Yes, alts are garbage
Not only beginners, if you want the only decentralized product you are forced to buy btc
Even behind ethereum there is a foundation called „ethereum foundation“ and these people decide what happens with the network. Best example is the switch from PoW to PoS
Simple answer YESSSSSSSSS AND STICK TO ONLY THAT
Finally someone with a brain in crypto.
not just beginners, if you are lucky enough to skip the altcoin phase more power to you.
But yes everyone should focus on bitcoin only because it is the only cryptocurrency that is becoming the future of money
What about ETH?
For most beginners, sticking with BTC is honestly the safest move. It’s the most established, most liquid, and less chaotic than chasing random altcoins. You still get exposure to crypto without dealing with constant rug-pull stress. Once you’re comfortable, you can slowly explore other coins. Using a simple, secure platform like Coin Exchange World helps a lot since it makes buying, selling, and tracking BTC easy without overwhelming you. For beginners, boring and steady usually wins.
Ignore the comments telling you to buy alts to “take it slow”🤣 it makes no sense they’re all going to 0 long term compared to bitcoin just buy the one they follow there’s no second best
Jimmy Barnes said it best when he sang “there ain’t no second prize”.
There ya go ;)
Unless you wanna learn how fast you can lose $ yes. For the first 2-4 years only btc and eth and youll still make more money than 95% of those out there trading. Ignore the headline bait and insta millionaires. Its all for show.
No go to xrp btc is old
XRP is banking system-approved crapola coin.
What is this banking system approval you speak of?
Study $Kas
This
BTC and ETH would be the safest bets for beginners yes..
Only BTC.
Nope, they should pick ETH because it has much more room to grow