"It’s way more interesting to read up on crypto projects than snoozing with a 15-year Gold chart" - Crypto Ed

After our first interview with Steven Hatzakis, today we’ll continue with our interview series to crypto traders and talk with @Crypto_Ed_NL. Living in the Netherlands, Ed has been working in International Sales Projects for most of his career. Always interested in financial markets, cryptocurrency trading became his profession 4 years ago. He manages a Trading group where he trains other crypto traders and teaches them to “catch the fish without the noise from outside”. Throughout the years, he has developed his own charting system which is based on a combination of Classic Wave Patterns, Elliott Wave, Breakout trading, Fibonacci, and a few indicators.

When did you join the Cryptocurrencies World and started to trade them?

I think it was 2014, hearing about Black Coin. I opened an account on Bittrex and just started trading altcoins. I even don’t remember how I bought my first BTC. I just jumped into it! I must say It was quite an impulsive decision. Being interested in financial markets, I wanted to discover the opportunities in this new market.

What did you have to learn on your own but would have preferred to be taught?

I learned the hard way about trading psychology and money management 

I already had experience in stock/options trading. That made it a bit easier to understand. I also had some basic knowledge about Technical Analysis, so from that perspective, it was an easy start. I learned the hard way about trading psychology and money management, some of the most important (but undervalued) skills of a trader. That’s why it’s such an important part of our lessons to our traders.

You help traders in a Trader Group where you serve members from all over the world. Do you see any difference between purely crypto traders and those with experience in other markets?

The majority of our members are only Crypto traders and have minor experience in stock trading. We have some members with experience in other assets. They seem to be a bit more careful. Crypto traders without experience in other assets seem to be more focused on the hype around crypto.

How would you describe the kind of traders you meet in your group?

Crypto traders without experience in other assets seem to be more focused on the hype around crypto

The majority of them are mid to long-term traders. We focus on Fundamental Research in combination with Technical Analysis. We avoid “red flags” (P&D coins) and don’t go along with the hype. The community knows this and that makes that we attract a certain type of trader. We don’t attract the typical day traders or scalpers. I believe that day-traders shouldn’t follow signals but build their own system. We do train our members in day-trading but it’s not why they join.

Why do they join the Group?

Most of the members join because we take an incredible amount of work out of their hands. Many of them have a day job and a family or just not enough time to do the work themselves. We offer them guidance through the rough, volatile market and training in all kinds of aspects that come along with crypto trading, from setting up charts to tax advice. Furthermore, we do offer an ICO service (research + pooling). We also have an accountant, FA for small caps. And most importantly: we offer a discussion platform with all kinds of other serious traders without all the noise you see in public trader rooms.

You talked about scalping before, do you consider Crypto markets to be suitable for short-term trading?

Absolutely, it’s a very volatile market. I did it a lot in the past, but the amount of work for our group doesn’t allow me to follow the market that closely.

So now you trade on a longer term?

I believe that day-traders shouldn’t follow signals but build their own system

My portfolio is divided into several positions: Long-Mid-Short term and High risk-Medium risk. Long term-medium risk are the bigger positions. I don't hold for a certain time, I'm aiming for targets (price wise).

You used to trade Forex, stocks and options markets. What differences do you see between the crypto market and traditional markets?

The crypto market is much more volatile but also manipulated which makes it a very challenging market. You can see this manipulation in all kinds of order books for every coin. Prices are pushed into a zone where bigger players (whales) want it, either to accumulate or to distribute. I think I understand its tricks pretty well and I believe it’s more fun to trade than other markets. More fun because, for me, it's way more interesting to read up on projects and their future plans than studying a 15-year Gold chart!

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you think technical analysis applies to cryptos?

5. I strongly believe that the crypto market is much more manipulated than other markets, what makes technical analysis less important. You need to understand the way the “whales” play, how they think, where they accumulate and where they dump. Once you understand that, you don’t trust 100% technical analysis anymore and start using fundamental research and intuition.

Are there any cryptocurrencies that adhere to technical analysis more than others?

It's way more interesting to read up on projects and their future plans than studying a 15-year Gold chart!

The bigger currencies are easier to chart because they have a larger volume which translates into less volatility.

Are there any hours that you prefer to trade at?

I would rather say that I have some hours I would prefer not to trade! Crypto is 24/7 and it would be great if markets had the same trading periods as Forex (weekends closed). The markets never sleep and are very volatile: at every moment of the day, something might happen. In combination with our trading group, it means that you never have a real break. Even when I take a few days off from the group, the markets still move!

How closely do you follow news about cryptocurrencies?

I strongly believe that the crypto market is much more manipulated than other markets, what makes technical analysis less important

I follow only a few news sites and a few accounts on Twitter. I’m not in public Telegram or Discord channels to avoid an overkill of news/rumours/FUD etc. Our own trader platform is also a great resource as our members filter their newsfeed and post what they think is really important.

How do you find the crypto-trading community?

I’m pretty active on Twitter. I started my account in August 2017 and it has had an explosive growth in follower count. But the bigger the audience, the more trolls, haters, and keyboard heroes appear. It’s the negative side of having a big account. People you never heard of, never spoken to, seem to know you very well and comment on every word you tweet as if they knew exactly what you mean.

More and more stock and forex traders are entering the crypto markets. Any advice about how to choose an exchange or a broker?

Traders can operate directly on all exchanges, no brokers needed. For exchanges I would advise the same as for the kind of coins you should invest in the beginning: go for the safer options, the bigger names, and stay away from the red flags no matter how appealing they seem to be.

Institutions are gradually entering the crypto-scene. Do you think that this could significantly affect trading?

Crypto is 24/7 and it would be great if markets had the same trading periods as Forex (weekends closed)

Absolutely! It’s already happening. I already warned about this in October 2017 when the whole crypto community was euphoric “we will dump on the suits”. Look where we are now… Check the tweet

2018 has been a rough year so far for cryptocurrencies after a meteoric rise in 2017. Where do you see cryptocurrencies heading to by year end?

I still see a great future for many blockchain projects. That’s why we focus on the best projects, the ones we think have a promising future. BTC seems to be heading to a certain bottom right now. Many people got burned on its way down but I think that a lot of new money will enter the market from institutional but also from retail. As soon as BTC regains some trust and starts recovering, people will jump in again.

Do you see a significant upside potential for any other cryptocurrency towards the end of the year?

The complete market is literally in a downtrend which will end somewhere. In my opinion, we have seen the worst and should see a recovery in the coming weeks/months. We focus on midcaps with good fundamentals, good teams, and real use cases. All of them will show a swift recovery once bottomed out.

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