I'm writing a book about cryptocurrency trading. Here's the introduction.

This is a rough introduction. Thoughts?

There are many ways to beat the markets. All different sorts of methods can be used to give a return on capital. Are some methods better than others? Yes. Is any specific method usable by everyone? No. Trading is a psychological game, which means that you must find a way of trading that suits your particular goals and personality. That is why this book is titled 'How I Beat the Cryptocurrency Market for Massive Returns' and not 'How to Beat the Cryptocurrency Market for Massive Returns'.

I do not claim to have found an infallible way for you to beat the market, and anybody who does is either:

1. Not quite sure what they're talking about.
2. Trying to sell more copies of their product than they would if they were honest (a most despicable sort that seems to abound in all places).
3. Pulling your chain.

A specific, effective method may work well for you, while another equally effective one will not. The method must work well and you must work well for it. My point is that learning how to beat the market is a journey each individual must take for himself. Do not attempt to imitate a method without first having a thorough understanding of it and its principles. How else will you know if you are capable of implementing it? Without understanding it you will also have no real confidence in it, and if you have no confidence in it then it will not be of much use to you when your money is on the line.

What can this book do for you then? Well, as some of you have no doubt realized, this book will be best suited to those who have a similar personality to my own. However this is not to say that nothing can be gained if your personality is dissimilar to mine. For example I believe that there are certain things which every trader should do that provide a fundamental understanding of how the market is trending (section 2).

You can also naturally take whatever from the book that you feel suits you well, and disregard whatever does not. As Bruce Lee said: “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, add what is specifically your own”. This quote encapsulates exactly how you should learn to trade the markets.

In the formulation of your trading system and its rules you must engage in a tremendous amount of studying and statistical analysis. It is the only way. You will thereby find what is useful to you, make your own discoveries along the way, develop a thorough understanding of what you're doing, and thereby build that confidence which is so essential to a speculator. My rules are exactly that – mine. I built them myself through study, analysis, self-examination, and experience. Take from them what you will, but always remember that the goal is to be an individual who thinks for himself – never a pure imitator.

What is my temperament like? Well, I treat trading as a profession and as a business. I therefore deem it necessary to have as much information about the market as I can get my hands on. I must know all that I can so I am able to speculate confidently and intelligently. I must stay in business too, which is to say that I have to control my risk to some extent. That being said, I'm also a greedy toad who wishes to get rich, so I will use leverage to push my luck when the odds are massively in my favor.

All-in-all my way of trading can be generalized as:

1. Rigorously and continuously seeking out new information (knowledge is power).
2. Fearlessly following through on what I have discovered to maximize gains (commitment and consistency).

Trading is a zero sum game and you will be in direct competition with some very intelligent and well-financed groups. If you are lazy or cannot devote time to study and observation then I don't recommend trading on a daily basis. A conservative buy and hold strategy would be better suited to you. Something which there is no shame in, and a good amount of money to boot.

I mentioned at the beginning that trading is a psychological game. No method, therefore, would be complete without rules relating to self-management. A traders biggest enemy is himself, and if he does not learn how to control his emotions by thinking and acting reasonably then he will not have much success. It is necessary, then, to have a good temperament. If you do not have one then I again recommend a buy and hold strategy.

This book will thus be broken down into three sections:

1. The rules; fundamental, psychological, and technical.
2. Methods for analyzing the market.
3. Breaking down trades.

In section one I will go over all my trading rules in detail. This will include explanations of the general trading concepts I use when trading, and how I pick my trades. You will also find other concepts relating to self-management and risk-control. I like to make my rules as scientific and comprehensive as possible because it allows me to think and act within reasonable guidelines, thereby removing a good amount of emotion from actual trading.

Section two will be an explanation of the ways in which I analyze the market and how it is trending. By doing this kind of work I seek to understand the past so that I may have a good idea of what is possible and probable in the future. This is how I gain insight and build more confidence. No matter how you wish to trade in the market, I recommend doing this sort of work. It is essential for you to be able to make good trading decisions. The cryptocurrency market is also a dauntingly volatile one, so where there is deeper understanding, there is increased peace of mind.

In the third and final section I will use everything we have learnt to look at some practical examples of trades. I will use images and explanations to breakdown each trade and my reasons for taking it.

I hope you enjoy reading, and remember: Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, add what is specifically your own.