What you need to know about private (paid only) trading channels
I'm not much of a trader, however considering my background I'm very interested to figure things out. That's why I started trading crypto a couple of months ago and tried to follow different strategies here and there to understand how practical it is to
make money this way!
About three months ago I had the opportunity to know about a group in BitcoinTalk that were giving away trading signals in their private Telegram channel. The membership at the time was around 0.15 BTC which one week later changed to 0.2 BTC for a lifetime subscription. The group claimed they are making 50% to 150% for each 1 or 2 weeks which obviously was an unverified marketing claim but even so I wanted to try my chances.
I sent them an email to ask for a one week trial which they said is available and received this message:
Well I admit the fact that they rejected to provide my promised trial for one week and wanted to charge early looked a little scammy but since I didn't see anything bad about them in their forum topic I decided to risk 0.05BTC and see if there is a real channel or not.
After I sent the money it was pretty straightforward, they invited me to their Telegram channel and I had access to previous signals and new ones there. After one week they asked me if I'm willing to pay the full membership and I agreed to transfer the other 0.1 BTC even though I didn't make any significant profit at that point.
Fast forward three moths later and the number of members increase from 40 (the time I joined) to +350. They were caring enough to do a couple of anonymous feedback enquiry and thanks to their transparency rules we figured out that there are members there that are trading with a volume of 400 BTC.
Were signals legitimate?
From what I figured out they are doing some basic technical analysis on coins to anticipate the movement. I can say their hit-rate is around 50%-60% on most of the altcoins they are covering (more than 25) but I never observed a wrong prediction on the direction of Bitcoin. I believe that is more related to the volume of assets like bitcoin which perform more similar to real world stocks compared to some low volume cryptos that are vulnerable to market manipulation.
How much money you made?
I cannot say I made much from their signals since they couldn't predict the movement of Ripple and Etherium on time. Even though I made a lot from Ripple it doesn't contribute to them since I traded on my own decision. Even so I can say that 0.2 BTC totally worth it if you are trading with more than 1.0 BTC. You can easily make the subscription fee in less than a month if you distribute your portfolio across all of their signals. Never go all-in in one signal as it may fails you miserably. 10% of your capital on each trade is a good old-fashioned discipline.
What are the problems?
They are not open much to agree their mistakes and due to the volatility of crypo market, the strategy on failed signals is usually to HODL until it come back to the entry point (or even higher). So many times your money is stuck in a losing trade and even after 2-3 weeks if you make 20% it doesn't worth it since market is growing faster than that rate in a normal condition. You can always use your money in better deals so make sure to not follow them with a closed eyes. Always confirm the legitimately of the chart by yourself with simple technical analysis tools (volume, trend-line, previous movements) to make sure it is a deal you want to stay in.
What about other channels?
I know there are other channels out there with more expensive prices which some of them are good to follow. As an example, Crypto Yoda's twitter shows that he has a good understanding about the market and he is offering his special signals for 0.1 BTC per month. Unless you have a good (read double digit BTC) initial capital I wouldn't suggest to start from there. You can easily grow your portfolio by spreading it through the first 10 top altcoins in CoinMarketCap similar to how index funds work in stock markets. Yes you wouldn't be able to beat the market in terms of growth but you are still making money and not losing it for expensive membership prices or as Tony Robbins says "Hidden fees".
I found a free channel
Great! Do yourself a favor and just get out! I saw many Telegram channels with the idea of letting users know about pumps for free. They are actually not letting you know about anything but what they do is to gather enough users to make the real pumps through them. They will accumulate cheap coins for some time and trigger the pump through you. After you pumped the price they will sell out and then channel is not going to work anymore. If it's too good to be true, it probably is.
Conclusion
I'm not much involved with the trading community to give any financial advice about it. I just wanted to share my experience but what I believe is that experience in trading is important and if there are some people that are willing to give away that experience for a fee you can consciously use it. I say consciously because many people can't even read a chart and are looking for trading advices. Don't do that! The first rule in receiving a trading advice is to understand that risk is all yours. No one cares more about your money than yourself, so if you are receiving a trading signal and cannot confirm if it's legitimate or not (at least in some ways) it's much better for you to stay away from it and put your money in top coins of the market or even better, learn how to read a chart!
Image credit: masteringforexonline.com
I say that a problem people seem to encounter Is the misinterpretation of the role of a paid service. I think a legit paid service can be very useful as an EXPANSION of an already functional service.
I think the problem comes when people try to go full in, hire such a service without the expertise and experience to use it, and then fail to profit from it.
In my opinion the problem here would lie not I the platform, but in the user. If these services continue to operate it is because they are making money for someone. The cuestion is, can you be the one in profit?
Thank la for sharing! ^^
True. I couldn't say it better than this :-)
Trading is risky if you are new but every one has to start somewhere.
As a self-taught full time trader for 2 years, I know that the learning curve in effective trading can be very challenging and often I hear people quit after losing a few trades.
That is fine if they quit trading permanently but if these people join pump groups to trade, then they are jumping from the pan into the fire.
I can assure you that no pump groups are worth joining, be it free or paid. I know because I have walked those paths before. It would be better to join professional trading groups that offer good risk/reward trades but the good ones can cost you $200/month.
Alternatively, you can follow me on Steemit. I share my personal trades for free but don't trade my trades immediately. See for yourself if they are profitable, then only decide. I am at
Yes i agree. Thank you and I followed you.
Wow its a high risk , but you brave to take a risk , maybe i joined very soon
Thank you! Let me know if you need an invitation.
Bravo! I appreciate people as you. Open-minded for new approaches. I'm a trader for a long time and what've learned is to be adjustable to the market. It changes very fast sometimes. Off course, you need a mentor (much more easier way and cheapiest), but not for signals, but to create your feelings about the market.
Haha thanks! I'm reading their TA analysis on photos so it helps me to understand how they came to the conclusion. As I said I do not agree on trading blindly on signals.
You are a smart guy! Try to find a way not only reading charts. All we need them, but they present only the past, which in many cases is not enough to predict the future.
Yes I agree :-)
interesting post, thanks for sharing your experience. i have found very accurate info for free just by paying attention to multiple sources and doing my own research. i don’t see the need to pay into these types of clubs unless you are really unable to do the work yourself; due to time, etc. just hang out in chats, forums, blogs, and social media (steemit of course). you should be able to put together a good portfolio this way, even make some quick money on the altcoins when they pop.
Right, Twitter by it self is a wealth of info but the problem here is how you can trust in these random information you see all over the place. From 10 trading advice you get for free 9 out of them are from heavy bag holders that are spreading the word for their own profit. However, having a trusted source to verify your decisions with is a good option IMHO.
i would advise to not look primarily at crypto-news or financial news, rather at the fringe. if you are perceiving a macro view of all information, synapses are possible which validate trends and forecasts. crypto is by nature deflationary and unpredictable, so there is not going to be a truly effective way to analyse it using existing financial tools.
Yes correct. Even so, sometimes very simple technical analysis on some coins (like recently for me on LTC) can help you to get in for huge profits. So it shouldn't be underrated.
thanks for sharing
Your welcome :-)
Doing predictions on 25+ coins is impossible. Even if you are following 1 or 2 coins very closely and you have extensive trading background. Your predictions most of the time won't be spot on because of the volatility in the crypto markets.
Signals are not for day trading and are just updated every 3-4 days. They are also doing it as a team not a single person so it's not that hard if you use the right tools (getting alarms etc).
Don't need a team to read an alarm from a bot or do shallow research. You can do it on your own without investing much time and get the same return on your investment without paying 3rd party for some standard signaling.
Yes you can do it yourself but what kind of alarm you are talking about? You cannot set an alarm if you didn't do your own TA analysis first. Of course it takes time.
There are many apps/bots that do this kind of signaling. You can set it up in many different ways and receive the signals depending on that.
can you please share some of these apps?
Nice one. 😂
Your welcome :D
I want to learn how to trade..
Good post @p0o!
I'm comfortable in my personal experience than other's experience. Paying them for advise doesn't seem rational. I better communicate to people or if lucky enough to have a friend or friends who are doing the same thing as I do and share experiences, of course no money involved because your sharing each other's ideas.
Yes I agree, however paying people for advice is not a new thing. We do it in every industry with the name of professional consulting.
Yeah, but not for long term consulting. in the end its our personal choice and decision. Maybe just a stepping stone for us to decide our own and build ourselves on whatever our purpose is. Sometimes its hard to deal with people, because every single person is unique. This is my personal experience of course.
The most annoying part is after paying them they ask you to do your own due diligence.