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The 2022 Survival Guide for crypto Novices

Matti

2021-12-25 10:54

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原文标题：《 Simple & Short Guide (Not Only) For The Crypto Noobs 》

By Matti (co-founder of Zee Prime)

Overnight porridge, the way of the meta-universe

After my tweets to crypto rookies went "viral," I learned that this type of thing is valuable to my readers, which is why I decided to write this simple guide for those relatively new to the field.

I understand how difficult it is to navigate the dynamic and chaotic crypto industry. The goal of this article is to help relevant newbies understand information overload so that you can build a foundation to help you survive the Bull/bear cycle in this area.

I'm generally skeptical of advice, and this is probably the first lesson in cryptography: take any advice with a grain of salt. At the end of this tutorial, you should ask, "Is this just a mind war game?" If you don't ask, this guide will disappoint you.

basis

The first rule is survival. Don't go bankrupt, which means don't be all in or liquidated. Sell only on your own terms and don't go for astronomical numbers because you will force yourself to believe what you don't believe. Wishful thinking doesn't help you survive.

Be sure to read Fred Ehrsam's post on how to survive the encryption cycle.

Curiosity was the best predictor of longevity in this field. If you're curious, you're likely to transform your inner speculator into a builder or power user. But sometimes you have to chase more signals than just price.

You'll want to find your place. Think of it as an exploration to find out how it can be useful to others, even if you're just here to chase generational wealth. You don't have to quit your job as a boomer to get involved, just spend your weekend figuring out how to help like-minded people in the field.

The best way to do that is to get people around you to help you. When I first got into crypto, I felt lonely. I've been lucky that over time I've managed to be with people in similar positions. If you can't meet someone like this in real space, Crypto Twitter (CT) is where the community comes together, and the right exposure is crucial.

If you're not on CT, you might miss it. Everyone's CT experience is slightly different because it depends on which account you follow and participate in. First, you need a good team like you did in school. Your parents probably don't want you hanging out with bad people. The same rules apply to CT.

I offer a selection of CT accounts that you can follow and populate your social and knowledge graph. These are my choices, so this is a biased list. Follow your curiosity and let it grow in all directions.

The X and y axes are just to provide some context. I realize that the CT account on the top is seriously biased towards ETH. That's why I have some additional accounts for non-ETH ecosystems. You can see the full list here at ‌.

Also, if you don't like my personally curated list, you can check out Hive.one ‌ for a curated list of algorithms for the most influential accounts across the crypto space, as well as individual clusters like BTC, ETH, SOL, DOT or NFT.

Make sure you follow people who expand your knowledge and open your mind. The people around you can guide you to the best position for you. Following the people who ask the right questions and suggest the most interesting answers will provide the best answers to your key question: How can I be useful to like-minded people in the cryptocurrency space?

Learn to deny CT

While some people like to talk about leaked alpha opportunities on Twitter, most are just smart beta games. Be suspicious of anyone claiming "alpha," the real alpha is synthesized in your mind from Twitter, governance forums, and dribs and drabs of private conversation.

The chatter on CT is great at capturing people's current mood and is good at determining what's happening right now, but it's less accurate at predicting where we're going.

Sometimes we tend to forget the value of those who think outside the bubble and don't participate in the cycle. Be sure not to overestimate CT, as CT is where most sales occur. But knowing the CT will help you.

Cables and Discord

Once you start thinking of Twitter as a discovery layer, you may want to join a selected Telegram (TG) or Discord group to explore in depth. Often you need to focus on a few projects, try to get a feel for the atmosphere of the project, and ask if there are ways to help a particular community.

Public telegraph clusters are almost always noisy places where it is difficult to navigate or have a meaningful conversation. Almost all cryptographic projects already have a Discord channel early on. This is much better for structured research and dialogue on the project.

Examples of thriving and inclusive Discord communities are Alchemist, OlympusDAO, KlimaDAO, Forgotten Runes, and Abacus. (Disclaimer: Zee Prime participated in the investment)

Reading and podcasting

Although I've covered some foundational reading in the twitter post mentioned above, there are still some things worth reading, perhaps more niche ones. That's why I created a resource guide that catalogs interesting content and podcasts in the industry.

Note that it may contain ideas that are outdated or ineffective, but that doesn't make them any less valuable.

Also, If you're looking for a great crypto podcast, Uncommon Core is great for you, and if you want to listen to something more technical, Zero Knowledge Pod is for you.

"But I'm not a Builder."

One problem with the industry is that it primarily identifies code farmers as builders. This is not entirely true, and there are many productive efforts in cryptography that do not involve coding but are of great value to the community.

I have two answers to those "oh, but I don't know how to code" questions:

1. The smartest guy I know in crypto isn't a programmer;

2. If you think this might be what you want to do, learn to code (e.g. Uniswap founder Hayden learned Solidity by trying to implement Vitalik's blog posts and is now leading one of the largest encryption projects in the industry);

And there are so many things that can be done. The project side needs community managers, governance organizers, project managers, product owners, marketing or sales people, etc. Lurking in a Discord group and staying active when needed is the best way to exercise active beginner muscles.

Across the cycle

It all started with Bitcoin, which is why understanding bitcoin, bitcoin enthusiasts, the culture and the changing narrative can be a solid foundation. Why do Bitcoin enthusiasts call every token a scam? Why do people in the Bitcoin community hate Ethereum? Why do people in the Ethereum community hate Solana and Polkadot?

The crypto space is fraught with conflicts, and these conflicts are likely to continue, making it difficult to agree on fundamental truths given the semantic and cognitive differences of each cluster.

Generally speaking, the time you get into crypto defines your view of the world or your view of crypto, and if you came here in 2013 and made a fortune by buying Bitcoin, your view is going to be different than someone who came here in 2020 and made a fortune by owning SOL.

Many people get stuck once they "make it." So getting it right once is enough to create wealth for generations. You may then defend your wealth and expect others to help you protect it, even though it may be less profitable for them.

Here we stumble upon the "early" problem. Why is it a problem? Once a project is successful, success is "priced in". When something has gone up 100 times, expecting it to go up 10 times is probably too much to hope for. Manage your expectations.

Everyone's sights are set at 100x or 1000x, and these opportunities are rare, and to do this without luck requires a certain amount of industry knowledge. It's not a good idea to start out here looking for astronomical returns.

If you don't get involved early on with something big, you may be driven to something early, but it can often be a lower quality project, as seen with the large number of OHM forks this cycle. Be wary of replicas, few of which create sustainable wealth. There's a fine line between open-mindedness and innocence.

Over time, you'll learn to strike a balance between closed-minded and overly open, between "My coin is the only coin" and "hey, the fifth imitator of X is sure to pull the pan." But the jury is still out on how to define the middle ground.

The most successful people move in cycles, and they don't get bogged down in narrative. In fact, every cycle teaches us something. The winners are usually the flexible ones, who are more focused on the future rather than the present.

It is suboptimal to marry an idea. It's good to get rid of some path dependence and separate your past from your future. The Crypto space is changing very quickly. Be able to change with it, but don't forget the lessons of history.

Bitcoin reminds us of trusting systems. Icos teach us new ways of capital formation and invalidation of tokens. DeFi Summer made us rethink tokens and their release. You've learned countless lessons before you came here. Try to familiarize yourself with them and not repeat the same mistakes.

conclusion

Your success in crypto may depend on your ability to "follow your curiosity." You can follow it in a number of ways. You try to learn how to build your own MEV robot, or you can spend a few days reading the market and doing background analysis on it.

Curiosity and motivation are the best predictors of success in this area. Build a foundation through an established community, then venture into uncharted territory. Formulate theories and then be able to update them.

But process is less important than substance. Find your own way to ask better questions and talk to smarter people. If joining a crypto tribe makes you feel like you're participating in history, chances are, you are.