1. Clear goals and mindset:
Goal: Pursue the long-term (5-10 years or even longer) potential value growth of Bitcoin, believing in its future as a digitally scarce asset (similar to 'digital gold').
Mindset: Accept and ignore short-term drastic fluctuations (30%-50% or even more may occur). Do not be influenced by market panic (crash) or frenzy (surge) emotions in your operations. 'Buy and hold' is the core strategy.
2. Only invest with spare money:
Only invest money you can afford to lose completely. This money, even if lost entirely, will not affect your basic living, emergency reserves, and important expenses (such as rent, mortgage, tuition, medical fees).
Absolutely do not borrow money or leverage to invest in Bitcoin! Volatility greatly increases the risk of liquidation.
3. Long-term regular investments:
Method: Do not try to invest all funds at once or predict market highs and lows. Instead, invest a fixed amount regularly (e.g., monthly, quarterly) to buy Bitcoin.
Benefits:
Cost averaging: Automatically buy less when prices are high and more when prices are low, averaging costs over the long term.
Avoid emotional trading: Execute mechanically, unaffected by market emotions.
Accumulate gradually: Suitable for most ordinary investors.
Key: Regardless of market fluctuations, stick to your investment plan. Bear markets (downtrends) are actually good opportunities to accumulate cheap assets.
4. Safe storage:
Core principle: 'Not your private key, not your coins.'
Method:
Cold wallet: Most important! Transfer most of the Bitcoin you plan to hold long-term to a hardware wallet or an offline-generated paper wallet/metal mnemonic board. These wallets' private keys are completely kept offline by you, making it very difficult for hackers to attack.
Hot wallet: Only store a small amount of Bitcoin that may need to be traded (such as a mobile app wallet).
Exchange: Only serves as a purchase entry and temporary storage point. After purchasing, transfer the coins to your own cold wallet as soon as possible. Do not treat the exchange as a bank for long-term storage! (Exchanges have risks of bankruptcy, running away, hacking, etc.).
Safety backup: Properly safeguard the mnemonic phrase of your wallet (12/24 words), write it on paper or engrave it on metal plates, and store it in multiple secure, fireproof, waterproof places known only to you. Absolutely do not take photos, screenshots on connected devices, or tell anyone!
5. Long-term holding:
Key action: Buy -> Safe storage -> Then forget it (HODL).
Do not trade frequently: Avoid buying and selling because of short-term fluctuations. Long-term investment returns often come from spanning multiple bull and bear cycles.
Regular review: Check your investment portfolio and storage safety every six months or a year, without needing to watch prices daily.
6. Continuous learning and maintaining rationality:
Learn: Continuously understand the basic principles of Bitcoin, technological developments, market dynamics, and potential risks. Knowledge can help you hold more firmly.
Focus on long-term narrative: Pay attention to Bitcoin's long-term potential as a store of value, anti-inflation tool, and decentralized network, rather than daily price noise.
Beware of noise: Ignore extreme calls on social media ('will surge soon') or panic statements ('will drop to zero soon'). Stick to your own plan and principles.
In summary:
Use spare money that does not affect your life, buy Bitcoin through a long-term regular investment strategy, then immediately transfer it to a safe cold wallet for proper storage, and ignore short-term fluctuations, holding firmly for at least 3-5 years or even longer.
Important reminder:
High risk: Bitcoin's price is highly volatile, and investment value may drop to zero. Only invest money you can afford to lose.
Regulatory risks: Regulatory policies regarding Bitcoin in various countries may change, affecting its value and circulation.
Technical risks: There are potential risks in blockchain technology, wallet security, etc. (although the probability is relatively low).
No guarantees: Past performance does not guarantee future results. No one can guarantee that Bitcoin's price will rise.
In simple terms, long-term investing in Bitcoin means: steady buying (regular investment), secure storage (cold wallet), holding firmly (long-term holding), and maintaining a calm mindset (ignoring noise).
Follow this simple framework to minimize mistakes and increase the likelihood of benefiting from Bitcoin's long-term development. Remember, planting in bear markets and harvesting in bull markets is the essence of long-term investing.