Okay, so you didn’t buy yourself a Bugatti to mark the end of the year.
But with everyone anticipating Q4 of 2021 to play out exaaactly as they had been predicting, the market responded as it so often does: by testing our conviction with a pretty brutal correction.
Luckily, it’s a new year, there’s a new Bugatti model to chase, and it’s the perfect time to count our blessings, the main one being that we own crypto!
Crypto isn’t just the gift of a lifetime. It’s the gift of the millennium. The only industry in the world where you can see huge profits irrespective of market direction.
We got you, Banter fam.
Learning how to harness the opportunities on offer doesn’t just mean more profit, it can also make you immune to dips – it’s the ultimate volatility vaccine!
TL;DR
- Crypto is full of insane opportunities, irrespective of market conditions.
- DCA into quality.
- Swap out of stagnant projects
- Stake your stablecoins for free money.
- Stake your tokens and look like a genius.
These strategies are outperforming the crypto market right now. Using them is simply a no-brainer!
Sideways market? LFG.
As Sheldon said this morning, Bitcoin appears to be in “accumulation mode, hitting more or less the same tops and bottoms”. We’re in a sideways market. And a sideways market is always a good market because it’s a preparation for a big move. Sideways markets could take longer than expected, so it’s a great time to accumulate just as the smart money is doing – these are all strategies that anyone can use right now and are proving to be very profitable.
With everyone waiting for the market to make a directional move, one thesis is that the fund managers will come back to work in the coming weeks ready to raise capital, deploy, and place their bets for 2022. Unsurprisingly, MicroStrategy CEO Michael ‘Silver Fox’ Saylor went on a post-Christmas shopping spree, snapping up another 1914 BTC to add to his almighty stash.
In a recent Twitter thread, Real Vision CEO and Just For Men ambassador Raoul Pal offered his macro thesis on why Bitcoin and Ethereum appear to have stagnated, and what needs to happen to kickstart a major rally.
Yep, there are so many opportunities emerging in the space, they’re literally draining liquidity from the dominant Layer-1s!
So, what’s the play?
In a sideways market like we’re in right now, it’s as easy to make money as in a bull market – you just need to be a bit more active!
Here are four powerful, fool-proof strategies for stacking tokens right now – our four new year’s gifts to help you get ahead of the curve.
There’s really no excuse not to be outperforming the market right now. What are you waiting for?!
1. Dollar Cost Average (DCA) into quality
Okay, so this only works if you’ve got some dry powder to hand. If you don’t, you don’t need us to tell you that you should. Always. Have. Powder. To. Hand. (Make it a New Year’s resolution!)
Take a good, hard look at your portfolio. How does it stack up? Is it in line with your thesis coming into the new year? If not, a sideways market is the perfect time to rebalance, and add where you’re underweight. Don’t just think about it. Do it. Dollar cost averaging into high quality tokens means you actually benefit from the volatility: instead of trying to time the market, you end up with a favorable average cost basis. While others are suffering a 40% drawdown, you might only experience a 5% drawdown, because you have been averaging over a certain period of time. Not convinced? Just head over to a DCA calculator to see how effective this strategy really is.
2. Swap ‘em out
Again, this is a way to rebalance your portfolio in line with upcoming trends. If you’re sitting in shitcoins, ditch them. Move into quality. And if developer activity is stagnating on your tokens, swap them out for projects where it’s flourishing.
Remember, this isn’t a capitulation. If both tokens are down around 20%, then you’re not selling at a loss, but rather repositioning for more growth potential. It’s all about hedging your exposure to the asymmetrical bets and upside trends. For a deep dive into a wide range of crypto assets, check out Adam Cochran’s recent magnum opus on Twitter!
3. Compound your capital for the next deployment!
Interest rates are effectively at zero in the legacy banking system. Taking into account inflation, there’s not a country in the world where you can keep cash in the bank without losing serious purchasing power. DeFi is the solution. And staking your stablecoins is one of the surest gifts in crypto. The opportunities are endless and everywhere: from old hands like Celsius, to new kids on the block like Orion Money and Anchor Protocol.
Where else can you earn 40-120% annual percentage yield (APY, which includes compound interest) on your (digital) dollars, shekels or rubles but in crypto? Go on, pinch yourself. We tend to get greedy in crypto. People are always looking for the next 100x. And so they should. But the truth is, we’re spoiled by the kinds of outsized returns you just don’t find anywhere else. Even when things are moving sideways, or tanking, there’s absolutely no excuse not to be making gains. Passive income is as good as it gets. Compound your capital for the next deployment!
4. Stake your tokens
If staking your stablecoins is making it rain free cash, then staking your tokens can be a monsoon.
Love your Luna? Good. You should. Want to add to your bags? That’s not even a question. We already know the answer.
Luckily, the crypto gods just keep on giving. There are countless ways to boost those moon bags, from staking on Terra Station with its 8% annual percentage rate (APR, so doesn’t account for compounding!), to staking bLuna on Nexus Protocol (8.5% APR), not to mention a range of arbitrage or leverage strategies available for the DeFi die-hards. It’s a big topic deserving of an article of its own, but in the meantime, check out Shivak.eth’s thread for some nitty gritty degen Luna action!
Another darling of DeFi (and another Banter favorite) is Fantom (FTM). And my goodness, does it have some killer protocols available. Again, this deserves its own article, which is in the pipeline.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or a tombstone), you’ll know that Ran has been banging the table about Tomb Finance for months. It’s the first algorithmic stable on Fantom Opera, and it’s pegged to the price of 1 FTM. Want to have your mind blown? Well, the canny among you can stake TOMB-FTM to earn T-Shares. And you can then stake those T-Shares to earn more Tomb. With annual yields of up to 15,000%!
Seriously, you had to be there when Ran explained this to Fred in our editorial meeting. His jaw was quite literally on the floor – I’m not sure he’s recovered! For a more detailed breakdown of how to earn more FTM with Tomb, take a look at Fort_Crypt’s Twitter thread!
Banter wisdom
Crypto is the greatest gift imaginable: use this time wisely. We’ve already written about what we believe are the top trends to watch coming into 2022. You may think we nailed it, you may think we missed the mark. The point is to develop a thesis and build a portfolio around it. While the market is moving sideways there are four things you can do: DCA into quality tokens you’re underweight in. Swap tokens that are lagging in development activity, allocating in anticipation of the next leg up. Earn yield on your stables that you’ve yet to deploy. And benefit from the wide range of DeFi opportunities available to build your bags. This is the only industry in the world where you can make 50,100, 200% per year in a bear market! The good news is we’re not even in one. So make the most of this brief sideways lull. When the bulls take back control and your bags are bulging, you’ll feel like an absolute genius.
