There’s a lot of incorrect cryptocurrency advice floating around.
There are five meme accounts for every even-keeled crypto trader, with some urging you to put all of your money into Bitcoin and others attempting to persuade their followers that some new altcoin is the crypto of the future.
The reality is a bit more nuanced, experts say. “Optimal investing is very simple and boring,” says Jeremy Schneider, the creator behind Personal Finance Club on Instagram. “Today this crypto craze and meme stocks are making headline news, and for young investors, who [are new] to investing, they’re trying to figure out how to navigate that.”
People should avoid committing too much of their portfolio to crypto, according to financial consultants and specialists we spoke with regarding the subject. Make sure that investing in bitcoin doesn’t prevent you from building an emergency fund, paying off the credit card and other high-interest debt, and saving for retirement via a more traditional investment approach.
Here’s what some of our favorite personal finance influencers had to say about cryptocurrencies:
- Jeremy Schneider, Personal Finance Club
Since its beginning, Schneider has been familiar with Bitcoin.
“I remember the day in 2010 when I learned about Bitcoin. For about 30 minutes I pondered buying some Bitcoin and decided there was no way it could ever reach $1,” says Schneider. Bitcoin, of course, blasted above $1 on its way to a peak of moreover $60,000 in April 2021; following a stormy May, it now rests just under $40,000.
Nonetheless, Schneider cautions against allowing investment FOMO to influence your decisions. Schneider, on the other hand, is always reminding his followers of two simple wealth-building rules: live within your means and invest early and often (preferably in index funds).
Schneider claims to have a net worth of $4.1 million. He has roughly $2,000 in cryptocurrencies, which is less than 1% of his total assets. Schneider advises others interested in experimenting in space to make a similar little commitment in comparison to their net worth.
“At its core, I don’t see it as a productive asset. If you buy an index fund or real estate, you get dividends or rental income, whereas if you get crypto you’re basically just hoping someone pays you more money for it in the future,” says Schneider. “I can imagine a world 30 years from now where crypto could go to zero, or a different coin emerges, whatever. But I can’t imagine a world in 30 years where index funds and real estate don’t make you very wealthy.”
- Jully-Alma Taveras, Investing Latina
Jully-Alma Taveras, who goes by the online handle “Investing Latina,” believes that a cryptocurrency asset is a wonderful way to diversify your assets.
“It’s something people should start learning more about, at the very least,” says Taveras. “It’s not something anyone should be putting all of their money or fortunes into, but I think it’s something that we should include in a diversified portfolio.”
Taveras advises keeping your allocation to 1% of your overall assets because it is a new and uncertain financial asset. She’s also limiting herself to the two largest cryptos for the time being.
“I have Bitcoin and Ethereum, and that’s as far as I’ve gone in my personal portfolio,” says Taveras.
Taveras believes that comparing cryptocurrency to the traditional stock market is inaccurate. “It’s not the stock market,” says the narrator. “It’s a totally different world,” Taveras says. And there are a lot of unknowns in the new world. “The stock market has been around for over 100 years, and blockchain technology has only been around for a little over a decade.”
- Kiana Danial, Invest Diva
Kiana Danial began following cryptocurrency markets in 2016 but did not begin investing until the end of 2018. Before buying cryptocurrencies, Danial, who manages the Instagram account @InvestDiva, advocates giving your investment goals a lot of thought.
“Are you buying it because you want a lottery ticket to make a million dollars in a year?” Danial asks. If that’s the case, “then you might want to reconsider your investment strategy because some people have got lucky, but a majority of people have got burned,” Danial told us recently.
However, if you’ve done your homework and are comfortable with the risk, Danial believes it’s possible for investors with a long time till retirement to dedicate as much as 20% of their portfolio to cryptocurrency. “However, please do not buy in cryptocurrencies solely on Twitter trends.”
- Marc Russell, Betterwallet
Marc Russell, the founder of the Instagram account @BetterWallet, says his financial strategy is to “keep to the essentials.” “Long-term, boring strategies that work every single time is really where I focus my attention.”
Russell, on the other hand, acknowledges that crypto may have a role in your long-term strategy.
“I think a lot about asset allocation, and just making sure that you have the appropriate mix of stocks, bonds, and alternatives, which is where cryptocurrencies kind of fall under for the simple, long-term investor,” says Russell. Russell advises knowledgeable investors to allocate roughly 5% of their portfolio to cryptocurrencies, but not more than 10%.
Russell, like others, warns against getting caught up in the hype and emotional rush of entering into crypto without completing your homework. “People don’t understand the other side of the spectrum, where you can make 50% on your investment, but you can also lose 50%. They think you’re either making 50% or you’re making 30%, and it doesn’t work that way,” says Russell.
However, for individuals who are well-versed in the market and are aware of the dangers, “it’s an excellent diversifier because it’s not correlated to the [stock] market for the most part. And when you’re looking for something to diversify you, that’s essentially what you’re looking for,” says Russel.
- Humphrey Yang, Humphrey Talks
On TikTok and YouTube, Humphrey Yang’s personal finance advice has gone viral. He’s a strong believer in index funds, “but most people don’t want to do that because it’s too passive and not fun, it’s a little bit boring,” says Yang. “But that is honestly the best advice I can give any average investor, is just put your money in an index fund and check it once per year.”
Yang, a seasoned investor, views Bitcoin as a speculative investment. He invests between 5% and 15% of his total portfolio there, which he claims lowers his exposure on days when the market is plummeting.
He also prefers to use two of the more well-known cryptocurrencies.
“I don’t really believe in too many altcoins,” says Yang. “I do Bitcoin and Ethereum because they’re the two most stable ones and have the most history.”
- Tori Dunlap, Her First 100K
Tori Dunlap has reservations about cryptocurrency.
“It still feels very speculative,” says Her First $100K creator Dunlap, who saved her first $100,000 by age 25 and shares personal finance advice on TikTok and Instagram. But she also recognizes the big interest in crypto investing, “even if it’s just a small amount of money.”
When others ask her about it, she advises them to stick to the 5% guideline.
“You don’t want to contribute more than 5% of your portfolio toward these things that haven’t been proven over time,” says Dunlap. “If you are investing a certain amount of money, you should maybe be OK losing that amount of money.”
- A’Shira Nelson, Savvy Girl Money
A’Shira Nelson of Instagram’s Savvy Girl Money is the epitome of a retirement-minded investor.
“My strategy is to max out my retirement accounts. For the most part, I only invest in low-cost index funds,” says Nelson. “I know that I can see history on that. I can read books on that.”
One of the major barriers to her investing in cryptocurrencies is a lack of knowledge and research in the field. However, she is quick to remind her fans that if they want to diversify their investments, they may do it outside of the stock market and cryptocurrency.
“I do a lot of real estates investing,” says Nelson. “My husband helped me spice up my portfolio with real estate, and it’s an easy way to have fun with it, too.”