# Background I began trading cryptocurrencies in July of 2017 and my biggest regret up to this point has been not making mistakes earlier before the market has begun to mature. As of yesterday, I had made approximately 30% profit on original investment, whilst today I have essentially broken even. I have been extremely impatient and bullish in my analysis of certain cryptocurrencies, such as Neo and Red Pulse, which has undoubtedly affected my performance. ## Lesson #1: Komodo My first lesson of altcoins came after Komodo coins biggest announcement to date. I purchased Komodo Coin (KMD) with a week left on Komodo’s countdown timer at approximately 33,000 Satoshis. Leading up to the announcement I was naive and bullish after seeing gains up to 80,000 Satoshis hours before the announcement. During the delay of the announcement I saw Komodo fluctuate within minutes from a highest point of 88,000 Satoshis down to a low 60,000 and then retracing back-up again. This was my first pump and dump. The poor quality of the announcement and the uncharismatic nerds behind the computer shattered everyone’s dreams of Komodo being a serious company. Within the space of one hour, Komodo had corrected down to 50,000 and slowly bled over the next few months to below the price I had purchased at. During the panic and FUD, I panic sold at 79,000 and then repurchased at 82,000 only to finally sell the abortion of a currency at 50,000 with no profit realized. Despite Komodo announcing atomic swaps and their first ICO, it did little to compensate and ameliorate the disastrous incompetence of the team and their lack of branding. I thought the takeaway lesson from this experience was to buy on the announcement and sell on the news. However, I later learned that I could be wrong. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbRCMkijiNgH5qvYvcNAavKcrXzm8h9ZN7MggfXySvBc3/image.png) ## Lesson #2: VeChain In December of 2017, VeChain began to hype an announcement by the end of the week. From the aforementioned experience I didn’t think twice before buying and anticipating to sell on the announcement. With 30% gains already realized in the first 24 hours of the countdown, I knew it would appreciate higher from my previous experience. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay awake during the last 3 hours of the countdown timer as I had work the next morning, so I monitored the market until I could not stay awake any longer. At 2:00am a huge sell wall began to build up between 4,400 and 4,500 Satoshis of about 10 Bitcoin, whilst the buy wall from 4,400 down to 3,600 Satoshis was less than 1BTC. A downward trend began, so I sold at 4,350 for a measly 7% profit. I went to bed and awoke the next day to see that VEN was at 6,000 Satoshis as the market news was exceptional and was delivered professionally at a conference. Additionally, VEN had announced a partnership, outlined a clear hierarchy and the process of rebranding their product. After looking at the market trend I saw that VEN had hit a 48-hour low minutes before the announcement and the market news drove the currency crazy. This news was antithetical to my previous lesson. However, I suppose that VEN was a currency in its infantile stages with a lot of hype and because it delivered, the market responded. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSeUGLUXCjHXnR6tVo7CEP9nKGooFt9uFe4MZgqd7gzRM/image.png) # Pass it Forward: Now that I've told you mine, what has been your biggest cryptocurrency lesson?