Twelve mistakes beginners make

The twelve

1. Not backing up the seed phrase properly

   Clicking through the setup screen and never writing the words down. Months later the device dies and the funds are visible on the chain forever, permanently unreachable. Write them on paper before you deposit anything.

   Fix: Seed phrase security

2. Sending to the right address on the wrong network

   Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum and Polygon all use the same address format. Withdraw to a Base address while selecting the Ethereum network and the funds land somewhere you may not control.

   Fix: always send a small test amount first, every single time

3. Keeping everything on an exchange indefinitely

   Convenient until it is not. Exchanges have failed while looking perfectly healthy. Your balance is a claim on a company, not an asset you hold.

   Fix: Self custody

4. Buying with a debit or credit card

   Card purchases carry fees of several percent, and many card issuers treat them as a cash advance with its own fee and immediate interest. ACH bank transfer is usually free.

   Fix: link a bank account and wait the extra day

5. Granting unlimited token approvals

   The default on many sites. Convenient today, and a standing permission for a contract to move your tokens forever. If that contract is later exploited, every wallet with an open approval is drained.

   Fix: Review and revoke approvals

6. Using the simple buy button instead of advanced trading

   The same platform, the same asset, often ten times the cost. The advanced interface looks intimidating for about five minutes.

   Fix: Coinbase Advanced or Binance.US trading view

7. Setting slippage far too high to force a trade through

   Setting 20 percent because the swap keeps failing tells sandwich bots exactly how much they can take. You will be filled at the worst price your setting allows.

   Fix: Understand sandwich attacks

8. Buying something because it already went up 60 percent today

   By the time a move is visible enough to notice, the people who caused it are looking for someone to sell to. This is FOMO, and it is the most reliable way to buy a local top.

   Fix: decide what you want to own before you look at what moved

9. Using leverage in the first year

   Ten times leverage means a 10 percent move against you ends the position. Crypto moves 10 percent regularly, including overnight while you sleep.

   Fix: Risk management first

10. Clicking links from direct messages

    Nobody legitimate contacts you first. Not support, not a project founder, not a moderator. Every unsolicited message offering help or opportunity is an attack.

    Fix: Phishing and drainers

11. Ignoring records until tax season

    Reconstructing a year of swaps across four chains from memory is genuinely awful. Swapping token to token is taxable in the US even with no dollars involved.

    Fix: Start keeping records now

12. Putting in more than you can afford to lose

    The one that actually ruins people. Crypto has produced 80 percent drawdowns repeatedly, including in assets that later recovered fully. If a 70 percent drop would change your life, the position is too large.

    Fix: size positions so a bad outcome is survivable and boring

The pattern underneath

Read those twelve again and you will notice most are not analytical errors. They are speed errors. Somebody was in a hurry, skipped a step, and paid for it.

Crypto rewards slowness in a way almost nothing else does. There is no reversal, no support line and no appeals process, so the five minutes you spend double checking is the entire safety system.

Common questions

Where to go next