Which is more suitable for learning in the crypto world?
For newcomers to the crypto world, it is strongly recommended to start learning with spot trading and only consider contracts after fully mastering it.
1. Why is spot trading more suitable for newcomers?
1. Risk Level
Spot: Loss limit = principal goes to zero (e.g., with 1000 yuan, the maximum loss is 1000 yuan)
Contract: May face liquidation and owe money (the higher the leverage, the greater the risk; with 10x leverage, a 10% drop means a 100% loss)
2. Learning Curve
Spot trading only requires mastering:
✅ Buy and sell operations
✅ Basic market analysis
✅ Wallet transfers
Contracts require additional mastery:
❗️ Leverage selection
❗️ Margin calculation
❗️ Liquidation price warning
❗️ Funding rate arbitrage
3. Psychological Impact
Spot trading volatility is relatively mild, suitable for developing market perception.
Contract's extreme volatility can lead to emotional trading (a common fatal flaw for newcomers).
2. Hidden Thresholds of Contracts (easily overlooked by newcomers)
1. Exchange Mechanism Differences
Differences between cross-margin and isolated-margin modes
Differences between U-based and coin-based contracts
Differences between mark price and latest price
2. Hidden Costs
Funding rates (charged every 8 hours; long-term holding may accumulate high costs)
Slippage issues (small price differences can trigger liquidation under high leverage)
3. Strategy Complexity
Simple spot trading strategies: dollar-cost averaging, staggered profit-taking
Contracts require combinations: hedging, grid trading, swing trading, etc.
3. Suggested Learning Path (staged)
Stage 1: Basics of Spot Trading (1-3 months)
Essential Learning
Buy BTC/ETH on an exchange (recommended Binance/OKX)
Learn to check the top 50 tokens on CoinMarketCap
Understand basic indicators like market cap, circulating supply, trading volume, etc.
Practical Goals
Complete more than 10 spot trades
Attempt to transfer tokens from the exchange to a wallet
Practical Goals
Stage 2: Contract Experimentation (after 6 months)
Prerequisites
Consistent profits from spot trading for more than 3 months
Ability to accurately explain concepts like 'funding rate' and 'liquidation price'
Safety Strategies
Use leverage of 5x or lower for the first time
Single trade not exceeding 2% of principal
Must set stop-loss
Establish personal trading discipline (e.g., profit-taking and stop-loss rules)
Participate in one bull market cycle to observe market sentiment
