7 rules for investing in cryptocurrency safely
- Cryptocurrency
- May 6, 2025
On Monday morning, I opened one of my crypto wallets and was $101,418.77 (Dh372,515.26) richer. Right there at the top of my list of coins sat one million PUMP tokens – up 52.88 per cent.
You hear stories of people who got rich like this in crypto, overnight. The next day, it’s Lambos and caviar. Why not me?
I was actually staring at one of the most common scams in crypto right now. People airdrop fake tokens into your wallet. If you click on them, or import them, they can drain everything you’ve got.
The world of crypto is evolving fast, and the opportunities are real. But it’s also a minefield. After eight years of investing – and making a lot of mistakes – here are my personal rules for staying safe:
Use a dedicated crypto email
Get a new email address that’s only for crypto. Don’t store the password on your phone. Don’t save it in your browser. This email should be the one connected to your exchanges and wallets — and that’s it. The less crossover you have with your regular email, the better.
Click on nothing. Import nothing. Answer nothing. Trust no one
This one’s simple and serious. Don’t click links from exchanges. Don’t import random tokens. Don’t respond to anyone asking for info anywhere — even if it looks official. No legitimate crypto exchange will ask for your seed phrase or password. Trust no one, especially if they show up in your DMs acting helpful.
Know who you are listening to
TikTok is a surprisingly good place to learn about crypto, but it’s also full of fakes. Even the most honest influencers have dozens, even hundreds, of impersonators. If you comment on one of their videos, you often get a direct message from a scammer asking, “How’s your crypto journey going?” Never engage. Assume they’re not who they say they are.
And remember: if someone is hyping up a token, they probably bought it a long time ago. You’re late to the party and you are, as is so commonly said, providing exit liquidity for them and other insiders. Always ask yourself why you’re investing. What does the project actually do? Who’s behind it? Is there a white paper? A working product? Or just a slick website?
Don’t be greedy
This one’s hard. We are all greedy sometimes. In some of the groups I’m in, I see people chasing meme coins and the next big small cap like they’re in a casino. They’ll ask moderators when a token will hit a certain price, as if there’s a script or the moderator has a crystal ball. Then when the market dips, as it has in recent weeks, these same people turn on each other.
Go low and slow
You don’t have to go all-in on Bitcoin or any other coin. Start small. Dollar-cost average, just like you would in the stock market. I read about a crypto millionaire recently who got rich just by buying Bitcoin every Thursday, on his payday. Be like him.
Diversify. Always
Crypto is powerful, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. You don’t need to go all-in. The big institutional investors are telling clients to put one or two per cent of their portfolio in crypto. Other advisers who were early to crypto are recommending up to 10 per cent allocation. With any investment, the right amount is the amount you could potentially afford to lose — and nowhere is this more true than in crypto.
Not your keys, not your crypto
Many people start out buying on exchanges, but if your numbers start creeping up, it’s best not to keep your crypto there. (Crypto exchanges have been known to collapse). Learn about hot and cold wallets, which come with a set of keywords that only you know. Get yourself a workable password and keyword saving system — far from online.
The bottom line
Yes, it’s work to stay safe in crypto. Yes, you might get scammed. But here’s the thing: I’ve been scammed by people in suits. Guys with credentials. Financial advisers who lied about fees, misrepresented projects, and at every turn, traded in fear. So, when I feel overwhelmed about crypto, when I start to wonder if I really want all this responsibility, I remember: I’d rather trust myself than a random middleman.
