Cryptocurrency is becoming more and more popular in the Philippines. In 2017, Bitcoin became popular in the country after its value when up to over Php900,000 in mere months. Today, a lot of people are becoming interested in the field but don’t really know where to start. As such, we talked to several people who have been into cryptocurrency for years now to get some tips and tricks that might help beginners decide whether or not this is something they should look into.
Cryptocurrency Tips and Tricks For Beginners
Truly understand what you are investing in.
Miguel Cuneta, co-founder of Satoshi Citadel and Rebittance Inc., has been involved in Bitcoin for eight years now. He shares that he personally started buying Bitcoin in 2013 when it was around Php9,000. In 2014, he co-founded one of the first local bitcoin startups in the Philippines, Satoshi Citadel Industries, which wholly owns Rebittance Inc., the first Philippine-based company to become a BSP-registered virtual currency exchange.
Miguel’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Understand Bitcoin, money itself, and the technology that works with it.
- Invest in education and not in speculation.
- Understand the value of owning a piece of this technology before deciding to buy bitcoins.
Miguel also gives us a brief overview of Bitcoin:
“Invented in 2009, Bitcoin is a groundbreaking technology and the first internet-native global value transfer network that is not owned by any state or corporation. It uses what is called a blockchain to keep track of its ledger of transactions publicly, therefore eliminating the need for middlemen that we need to trust. It has its own currency which is in high demand due to its limited number, as there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins. To understand Bitcoin, you must first understand money itself, and then understand how technology works together with it. Many people today like to speculate on the price of bitcoin and try to trade like the stock market, but bitcoin is very volatile and has big fluctuations that can cause you to lose money in the short term. Bitcoin as a technology is here to stay and has massive potential to disrupt the world of finance, commerce, ownership, and trust in the same way the internet disrupted telecoms, media, and publishing. Invest in education, and not in speculation, and understand the value of owning a piece of this technology today before deciding if you want to buy bitcoins (you can buy fractions of a bitcoin) and use it to store value for the long term.”
Photo by D’Vaughn Bell from Pexels
Do your research and keep learning.
Financial consultant Horeb Eliot Dagandan has embraced Jeff Bezos’ investment principle since he started his investing journey more than 10 years ago: if there’s an asset that can appreciate by 10x, invest in it but not to the point of ruin. Given this mindset, Horeb has always been on the lookout for investments that can give asymmetrical returns. Bitcoin is one such investment.
“I started mining in 2017,” Horeb shares. “I went straight to mining to learn deeply how crypto works as I had been forced to find a community to belong to and have conversations with. Having a house that’s fully solar, mining has been quite profitable. However, since the Bitcoin protocol increases its mining difficulty every so often, my hardware started to lag behind other miners’ capabilities. I gave up mining but continued to invest in Bitcoin. I also started learning about other protocols such as Cardano, IOTA, Polkadot, and Vet. Digging deeper, I began to understand that crypto and blockchain in general point to the future of financial inclusivity, stability, and better fiduciary rights.
Horeb’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Find a reputable crypto exchange. Those that ask to recruit are often not legit.
- Allocate up to 20% of your portfolio to crypto.
- Dollar-cost average; buy more in bigger dips.
- Curate people to follow on Twitter and YouTube, and learn from them.
- Learn how to earn interest from your crypto up to 6% per year.
- Learn how to maximize wallets and stake tokens for passive income.
- Attend workshops that discuss the What to How of cryptocurrencies.
Stay up-to-date with what is happening in the crypto world.
Luis Buenaventura is a cofounder at BloomX, a startup that’s bringing cryptocurrency trading and modern money services to the developing world. He is also the author of The Little Bitcoin Book (2019) and Reinventing Remittances with Bitcoin (2017), as well as one of the world’s first NFT artists with his Cryptopop art initiative. Luis has been in crypto for seven years now and has been running BloomX for six of those years.
Luis’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Learn all of the jargon.
- Learn what’s actually going on behind the scenes.
- Do not just follow the hype.
You may read Luis’ morning news briefing for the Filipino crypto community every weekday here.
Photo by Worldspectrum from Pexels
Find out what works for you.
Belle Laurel (@coinfemme on Twitter) is a co-founder of Stealth Startup who was initially an investor and is now falling into the rabbit hole. “Given the tremendous surge of interest and market participation in the industry, remember that not all that glitters is gold,” she reminds us. “Be wary of new projects that boast astronomical returns. Fact-check and review the projects and the people behind them before parking your hard-earned money there.”
Belle’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Avoid the shiny object syndrome and make sound investment decisions.
- Find your own place in the numerous opportunities surrounding the space – somewhere you can grow and build from.
- Do a self-assessment to find out which one is more suitable for you and risk management above all.
- Immerse yourself in the ongoing growth and like-minded folks in the space that can support your growth.
- Study the ecosystem and opportunities available.
- Invest your time judiciously.
Only invest money you don’t need right now.
Christopher Tan, Senior Marketing Manager of OKEX.com, the leading global cryptocurrency exchange, has been investing in cryptocurrency since December 2019. “Ever since I started, I was immediately engrossed with bitcoin and cryptocurrency,” he shares. “For the whole 2020, I immersed myself in all aspects of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance or DeFi.” After realizing that there only a handful of people in the Philippines that had a strong grasp of DeFi, Christopher had to find resource material and thought leaders outside of the Philippines. “Ever since, I’ve been helping my friends and colleagues learn about and invest in cryptocurrency,” he adds. “I have seen my investments grow and have also started earning passive income from my investments.” This year, Christopher was invited to join okex.com as their Senior Marketing Manager. Now, he oversees the growth of the Philippine market and help people learn more about cryptocurrency and how to invest in it. He also does regular talks, seminars, workshops, and guests regularly on different media platforms to educate people on cryptocurrency.
Christopher’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Buy the Dip. “You already know where bitcoin has been, so think of it this way: its current price is at a bargain price with a whopping 50% discount,” he says.
- Invest money that you don’t need for the next five years. “Investments are a long-term hold and if you plan on pulling out the money within a year, then it will be stressful for you and you won’t be able to reap the life-changing benefits of your crypto investments,” he explains.
Use it wisely.
Gabby’s Top Tip for Crypto Beginners:
- Use it wisely. “For me, crypto is something you use,” he explains. “I rarely ever trade crypto. From buying NFT artwork to setting to playing Axie Infinity and co-founding Yield Guild Games, crypto has always been a way for me to democratize value towards anyone across the world. Now, we are using it to empower Pinoys and others worldwide through our Axie Scholarship program.”
Photo by Alesia Kozik from Pexels
Prepare for volatility.
Kookoo CryptoTV, an NFT Gaming Content Creator, got involved in cryptocurrency in 2017 and bought their BTC and ETH on Coins.ph. Since then, they have invested in startups and keep studying the technology.
Kookoo CryptoTV’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Buy a Hardware wallet if your assets double its worth and learn how to use it.
- Always have multiple copies of your seed phrase and private key.
- Research, get involved, and surround yourself with builders and visionaries.
- Prepare for volatility.
Find your niche.
In 2018, Peter Ing, Founder of BlockchainSpace, had the fortune to utilize the events hall of his coworking space in Makati as a home for crypto and blockchain education. The industry was still in its infancy at the time, so they would invite speakers to discuss a variety of topics including Trading, NFTs, NFT games, law and regulation, bitcoin mining, and enterprise applications. “Ultimately, what we were doing was driving adoption of the new technology, helping people set up wallets, make first transactions, discuss security and help the community find their own feet within the industry,” he shares. In November 2020, their focus turned to NFT games in the #PlayToEarn and #CreateToEarn space.
Peter’s Top Tip for Crypto Beginners:
- Find YOUR niche in the crypto industry that aligns with your interests. Devote your efforts into digging into the developments happening in that space, go connect with communities in discord servers, and message people on Twitter. If you’re looking to work in the space, this is the easiest way to discover opportunities and open doors.
Don’t force it if it isn’t for you.
Chris Otero, a Partner in Next Step Training & Consulting, also shares her tips.
Chris’s Top Tips for Crypto Beginners:
- Crypto is not for everyone. It is highly volatile, speculative, and behaves a bit more like forex than stocks. If you don’t believe in it, stay away or at least do your due diligence.
- Stick with the bigger names when you are starting out. Study the use case for blockchain and WHY the asset is not just a meme coin but has real practical application in the real world.
- Be very clear about your goals. Decide if you are a trader or an investor, and know how to act like one. Start small and learn enough Technical Analysis so that you know when to buy, sell, or hold. HODL is not always applicable.
- Find a group you can join so that you can learn from people who are in different stages of investing experience. It would be great to learn with beginners but have mentors who have been at this long enough to help you manage the near-constant ups and downs.
You may also join the Creators of Wealth Philippines Group to learn more about crypto for free every Wednesday at 6PM for the Data Assets Walkthrough.
Are you into crypto? Got any other tips you’d like to share? Email me at angeline.wheninmanila@gmail.com or send me a direct message at When in Manila Angeline on Facebook. Interact with the team and join the WhenInManila.com Community at WIM Squad! Join our WhenInManila.com community on Viber, as well!
