OKEx traders explain how to profit from long-term cryptocurrency trades

According to ForkLog’s survey, in 2020 43% of respondents earned profits from cryptocurrency investments. Sixty percent of readers trade on centralized exchanges, of which 6.9% use OKEx.

OKEx is a crypto exchange for traders, miners and institutional investors. The platform offers spot trading, expiring and perpetual futures contracts, and options.

ForkLog spoke to OKEx traders about how they profit from long-term cryptocurrency trades.

The author of the YouTube channel “Tears of Satoshi”: 330% profit in four months

• named Rafael;
• has been trading cryptocurrencies for 7 years;
• trading style — long-term trades;
• approach to the market — fundamental analysis.

In 2009 I graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University with a degree in cryptography. In 2013 I began mining Bitcoin and trading futures and options on the stock market.

Nowadays my main source of income is crypto trading. I earn most from investments in blockchain projects and spot trading on OKEx. I have been trading on the exchange since 2017. To diversify risk I have accounts on Binance and Huobi: if one exchange experiences technical problems, I can trade on the others.

And exchanges periodically list new tokens: sometimes a coin rises several-fold before other platforms list it.

That is how I earned 330% on Polkadot. During the project’s token sale in July 2020, investors bought DOT tokens at $125, but the project community voted for a 100x redenomination. Exchanges halted trading of the old tokens to prepare the infrastructure for trading and working with the new DOT blockchain.

And OKEx on July 17 launched futures on the new DOT, which I bought with 45% of my deposit at $1.60 per token. After the redenomination I exchanged the contracts for tokens at $3. The current DOT price is $5.4, and my profit is 330%.

If you are a beginner, don’t try to learn scalping or day trading. Intraday trading requires strict risk management, discipline and stamina. In my experience, the approach “buy and forget” yields more profit than round-the-clock watching the charts.

And if you want to trade every day, sign up for the traders’ team competition. I, along with my followers, participate in competitions from OKEx. Last time we placed 9th and won $50,000. Such contests help newcomers learn quickly: 25 members of my team made the Top 50 out of 8,000 participants.

Popular Russian-speaking analyst on TradingView: 10% profit in five days

• named Ilya, alias Dow Jones;
• trades cryptocurrencies for 4 years;
• trading style — medium-term trades;
• approach to the market — technical analysis.

I first learned about cryptocurrencies in 2013: a friend told me about miracle coins that can be created on a computer and sold for real money. In 2016 the price of Bitcoin rose to $400. I took the risk and bought my first coins on an exchange.

Nowadays, trading cryptocurrencies is my main source of income. I monitor the crypto market even on weekends, but I do not sit in front of a monitor all day: I spend time with my family, exercise and self-improvement.

I trade on OKEx, FTX and Binance. When choosing an exchange, I look at liquidity, the availability of spot and futures trading, as well as bonus programs and tokens to reduce trading fees. On OKEx you can reduce the taker fee on Bitcoin futures to 0.03%. Some exchanges charge 0.075%.

Do not recommend trading only on spot exchanges. Even Bitcoin positions should sometimes be hedged — insured with a futures contract. This is one way to maintain confidence during price declines and reduce trading risks.

In December 2020 I hedged my Bitcoin purchase with Ethereum. On December 7 I saw on the ETHUSD futures chart a double top and sold ETH at $588. Over the next five days Ethereum fell 13%, and Bitcoin 5%. Traders started buying the cryptocurrency after the drop, so I closed the sale. Thanks to hedging I calmly weathered the local price drop and earned 10%.

Hedging isn’t the only way to reduce trading risks. I also use stop losses and adjust position size depending on market conditions.

Start with medium-term trading and look at the chart several times a week. Good intraday traders and scalpers trade all day without breaks, but still find time to rest.

Don’t quit your job for trading: fear of financial difficulties pushes to risky trades and leads to loss of capital. Learn to trade alongside your main job. Start by making trades on a demo account, then on a small deposit. Also read about futures and options trading on OKEx Academy. Trading these instruments is different from “buy low, sell high.”

Conclusions

Traders encourage newbies to learn medium- and long-term trading because it doesn’t take much time. At the same time you can reduce risks with hedging and you don’t need to use leverage.

Dow Jones recommends starting with a demo account or a small deposit. Even when trading on a demo account you can learn to calculate commissions, use trading tools and test strategies.

Traders also advise taking breaks. A tired person trades poorly: misses details, reacts slowly and makes risky decisions.

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