Learn the Basics by Leveraging the Experience of Expert Crypto Traders
Article by K.S. Louie Edited by Trewkat Cover Art by Chameleon
Crypto trading is a risky business that comes with a learning curve. Copy trading can ease the pain. In this article, you’ll learn:
What copy trading is
The benefits of copy trading
Where to start
How to begin
The downsides of copy trading
What is Copy Trading?
Copy trading allows you to copy the portfolio and trades of expert or skilled traders. It’s also referred to as social trading. Several platforms offer copy trading. In most cases, copying a portfolio is simple and can be automated in one or two steps once you connect a web3 wallet.
Benefits of Copy Trading
There are several benefits of copy trading. Many crypto investors simply invest instead of trading. This is usually because of the steep learning curve that comes with the territory of trading. Beginning investors may not always be knowledgeable about what and when to buy or sell.
Copy trading allows beginning traders (and even seasoned traders!) to dive into trading immediately without developing technical trading skills. For the more skilled traders, copy trading eliminates the need to look at charts all day to make quick buy/sell decisions. It takes the emotion out of trading.
Whether you’re a beginner or have been in the crypto space for a while, you may want to diversify your portfolio; copy trading allows you to do just that. Why not let expert traders help pick coins for a diverse portfolio?
Investors don’t always have the time or skill to do thorough enough research to feel confident in making the decisions of what and when to buy and sell. By watching skilled traders and seeing how they divide their investments, what they choose, what percentage they put into each asset, it can help you learn general trading strategies.
While copying the portfolios of skilled traders eliminates some legwork, you should always do your own research into the assets that the trader you copied has invested. This gives you insight into what you have invested in yourself.
Where to Copy Trade
There are several platforms where you can copy trade crypto portfolios. One of the popular platforms is Nested.fi. According to its website, Nested is “a new social trading experience.” You can even dollar cost average with Nested.
Other platforms automate the copy trading process with trading bots, but that’s somewhat of a different area than what Nested provides.
You can get more ideas of where to get started with copy trading or using trading bots in this article: 20 Best Crypto Copy Trading Platforms: A Curated List 2023 by Cuong Nguyen, CoinCulture.
How Copy Trading Works
Once you’ve decided on your copy trading platform, it’s time to find a portfolio/trader to copy. You can browse the homepage for traders or look at leaderboards and lists of the most followed traders. Find a portfolio that’s doing well.
Be sure to do some research on the trader you’re interested in copying to get a feel for their level of trading and skillset. You’ll even find that popular Crypto Twitter traders have created portfolios to copy. What’s in it for them? They get a fee for every person who copies their portfolio! Likewise, you’ll also pay a fee, but it’s comparable to the trading fee you’ll pay on an exchange.
Whether you’re a beginner or have been in the crypto space for a while, you may want to diversify your portfolio; copy trading allows you to do just that. Why not let expert traders help pick coins for a diverse portfolio?
After you’ve selected a trader to copy, you’ll need to connect your web3 wallet and enter the amount you want to invest. Say you’ve got $100. The platform will split that amount among the assets of the portfolio you have copied.
Portfolio creators update their social portfolio as they see fit, and you’ll see an update button whenever there’s an update.
Downsides of Copy Trading
One of the downsides of copy trading is that you have to keep an eye on updates and manually apply them. It’s just the click of a button, but you won’t receive push notifications when there’s a portfolio update. Be sure to check for updates frequently.
Another downside is that you have to copy a trusted and skilled trader. Anyone can create a portfolio on these platforms. One wrong trade by the trader you copied could put you in the red (losing money).
And while copy trading may help give your trading knowledge a boost, it’s difficult to get an in-depth understanding of the trading strategy of the trader you are copying. You won’t necessarily know why they made the decision to buy or sell out of a position so you may need to do additional research.
Ready, Set, Copy!
Copy trading is a quick way of getting started in the crypto space. It also allows you to observe crypto trading at your own pace to develop much-needed market analysis skills.
The most important steps of copy trading are:
Deciding on a copy trading platform.
Copying the best trader/portfolio you can find.
Connecting your wallet and determining your investment amount.
Checking for portfolio updates a couple of times a week.
Resources For Further Reading:
Everything You Need to Know About Crypto Copy Trading by Wasay Ali, Make Use Of, January 24, 2023.
What is crypto copy trading and how does it work? by Dilip Kumar Patairya, Cointelegraph, November 5, 2022.
The Ultimate Guide to Copy Trading Crypto (2023) by Moritz Putzhammer, Trality, February 1, 2023.
20 Best Crypto Copy Trading Platforms: A Curated List 2023 by Cuong Nguyen, CoinCulture, March 10, 2023.
This article was published in collaboration with the BanklessDAO Writers Cohort.
Author Bio
K.S. Louie is a librarian, researcher, and writer with a passion to help onboard the masses to crypto.
Editor Bio
Trewkat is a writer and editor at BanklessDAO. She’s interested in learning as much as possible about crypto and NFTs, with a particular focus on how best to communicate this knowledge to others.
Designer Bio
Chameleon is a designer and creator in the web3 space.
BanklessDAO is an education and media engine dedicated to helping individuals achieve financial independence.
This post does not contain financial advice, only educational information. By reading this article, you agree and affirm the above, as well as that you are not being solicited to make a financial decision, and that you in no way are receiving any fiduciary projection, promise, or tacit inference of your ability to achieve financial gains.
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