I invested in crypto for a month as a beginner and this is the harsh reality no one talks about
Kamakshi seth5 min read·Just now--
As a beginner stepping into the world of investing, I started with paper trading into the most volatile asset ever — — CRYPTO. At first, I was fascinated like every other person seeing Bitcoin jump from near zero to well over a hundred thousand dollars for one coin, kind of hard to imagine. And so, I too decided to start my journey from there.
At first, my portfolio increased. But after some time, I faced the reality of cryptocurrency. This is the honest account of what happened — week by week, number by number
“Bitcoin sounds like easy money, but when you invest in it,
it teaches you a very hard lesson”
Beginning of my journey: The well-made plan that fell too quickly
I had planned like every other beginner trying to earn some profit through investments, and crypto sounded like the easiest option. In reality, it may just be the most difficult asset to invest in.
Through market research I decided to only buy Ethereum and Binance coins in moderate quantities and exit with at least 8–10% profit in my hand. The plan was straightforward: invest up to $10,000 and learn what all went wrong in the first one month of investing.
What I didn’t think about, how badly the geopolitical situations affect the market. The tariffs and wars had a huge impact on these types of news driven selling, leading to a decrease in the price of the assets. But remember: the best time to invest is when the market is down. I thought I could take advantage of that, but the situations were way too uncertain and because of that I couldn’t achieve my targeted profit.
How do geopolitical situations affect the market?
Before explaining my journey, I would like to explain a few points about how you decide to invest in cryptocurrency and how this type of assets works. I am sure everybody knows how volatile this market is — the value can make you rich in one day but also make you frustrated the next, which is why most people stay away from this market which in my opinion is fair.
However, I believe everybody should diversify their portfolio and experience the market at least once before forming an opinion, which is exactly what I did. But my understanding of the market was wrong. I did not realizehow much every piece of news affects the price.
Since the crypto market is open at all times, you need to be careful about the decision you make. I invested at a time when the prices had already crashed due to the tariff war and then because of US — Iran conflict which turned my portfolio red.
Week by week analysis [ March — April]
Week 1
The first week, I was excited — like a student learning by doing it. I read some news, tried to figure out what to buy, and I ended up buying ETH and BNB coins instead of bitcoin. The first few days the portfolio lookedpromising; I used to check it constantly. The price crept up gently
But then, midway through the week the price fell. When I saw the news, there had been a drone attack on Iran — which led the fall in price. I kept my patience and moved on, hoping things would get better soon
Week 2
This week I was in a better position. The prices were up and there were rumors about the ceasefire. It felt as if I would exceed my target profit. ETH rose by 10%, making me profitable already.
My goal was to achieve 10% profit on both coins, but BNB only rose by 5–6%. In hindsight, I should have sold then — because the price only went down after that
“ETH was up by 10%. I felt like I had cracked the code. I had not.”
Week 3
I would call this the week of downfall — and probably the week where I stopped paying attention to any news, which was careless of me.
The tariff hit and the prices decreased significantly. ETH decreased by 13% and BNB dropped by almost 13–14%. Both my investments had fallen, and even my capital went down by almost $1000. The oil prices acted as acatalyst — losses bleed more than anticipated. This was, without a doubt, the worst week.
Week 4
In the final week, the prices recovered slightly. The tariff war was on pause, which improved my portfolio. ETH recovered strongly, rising almost 13% above the original price. BNB recovered too, though not as significant — Igot around 5% return on the original price.
Overall, the portfolio looked good, but I still didn’t hit my target price.
In conclusion, I wanted to be clear that I am not a financial advisor — just a student trying to learn more about this field. This was all paper trading, and no real money was involved. But the real-time experience was invaluable.
It taught me quite a few things — but most importantly it showed me how the market runs on sentiments. Every headline, every conflict, every political decision moves the price. You cannot ignore the world when you invest in crypto.
Here are the 5 things I had taken from this experience
- Start small. The goal of your first month is to learn, not to get rich
- Follow the news. Geopolitics will move your portfolio whether you are watching or not
- Stick to well-known coins like ETH and BTC until you understand what you’re doing
- Never invest more than you are emotionally prepared to lose, this market involves risk
- Nobody knows what the price will be tomorrow. Nobody, the market can be predicted but it is not necessary for the prediction to be correct
“The whole month was like a roller coaster ride — it looks terrifying at first, but in the end, everything just turns out to be quite the experience”
This blog is written by a beginner who just wants to learn more about the financial world, so go-ahead comment, share any insightful feedback and subscribe if you want more content like this.
