If you want to grow a stake of $5,000 in either Bitcoin (BTC 0.86%) or XRP (XRP 1.76%) into a hearty sum of $15,000, you'll need to master your investing process as well as your own psychology. Those two pieces of the puzzle are just as important as the performance of the assets.
Here are three things to do that'll increase your odds dramatically.
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1. Refuse to commit big chunks of capital during peak popularity
The easiest time to buy is often the most expensive, because popularity and price tend to move together in crypto. When everyone is talking about their opinions on where Bitcoin is going this year or which new financial institution will adopt XRP, you aren't early.
So, instead of throwing down a lot of your capital after a run-up, when it's the easiest to be confident that you're riding a wave upwards, set a rule for yourself that you won't make a large, one-shot purchase when your main motivation is fear of missing out (FOMO).
CRYPTO: XRP
Key Data Points
2. Understand what you're buying, and commit to a five-year hold
The long-term investment theses for these two assets hinge on their adoption paths, which will take at least five years to play out.
Bitcoin's core mechanism for price appreciation over time is its supply policy. Demand for the coin is a function of its scarcity, and its status as a store of value. Demand will fluctuate from month to month, but its supply will only get tighter in the long run, so that's the timetable you need to aim for if you buy it.
XRP is a different wager. It's angling to be a financial technology that institutions use to manage and transfer their capital. If those target users want to get the most out of what the XRPL can offer, such as low transaction costs, they'll need to onboard their capital to the network and hold a lot of XRP to do so. But enticing conservative banks and financial businesses takes time, and they tend to move slowly once they commit, which is why it makes the most sense to hold XRP for a long period.
CRYPTO: BTC
Key Data Points
3. Automate your purchasing
Dollar-cost averaging means investing a fixed dollar amount of an asset on a regular schedule regardless of price. It's an incredibly handy tool when you're trying to build up a position in a volatile cryptocurrency. When you set up your purchases to occur automatically through your brokerage or retirement account, you can take your hesitations about today's price action out of the picture and create more consistent results over time.
The point of dollar-cost averaging is to make it so you can commit your $5,000 in starting capital such that, on average, you won't have been buying XRP or Bitcoin when their prices were unusually high. While it's not a guarantee of growth or a final sum of $15,000 on its own, it certainly goes a long way toward ensuring you can actually execute your investing plan.
