Crypto Traders Need to Do This Before Thinking About Making Money

More than $1.15 billion in leveraged crypto positions were forcibly closed in 24 hours this week. Nearly 168,000 traders faced liquidations as Bitcoin briefly slipped below $74,000. 

For beginners hoping to make quick money from crypto, such losses are a reminder of how unforgiving the market can be.

Álvaro Smart Money, a Spanish-speaking crypto trading influencer and Bitunix partner, believes many newcomers approach trading with the wrong expectations.

Speaking at Bitunix’s Ultra Talks series during TOKEN2049, Álvaro offered advice that challenges the way trading is often promoted.

“The first thing I tell my people is to forget about making money. You’re not here to make money. You need to be interested in what we do. You need to be interested in looking at charts every day. You need to be interested in finance.”

His argument is that traders need to develop the skills to survive repeated losses before expecting consistent profits.

Why Most Beginners Struggle to Make Money in Crypto

The numbers show how difficult that can be.

A Bank for International Settlements study estimated that 73% to 81% of retail Bitcoin investors lost money on their initial investments between 2015 and 2022.

The researchers also found that rising Bitcoin prices attracted new investors, many of whom entered during rallies and subsequently suffered losses.

Álvaro knows the pattern from personal experience. He began exploring trading years ago and became more serious during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. His early attempts ended in failed accounts and significant losses.

He now says those experiences changed his understanding of trading.

“They see, oh, he made 20k with a trade. Yeah, but you haven’t seen the thousands of hours behind it. You haven’t seen the hundreds of thousands that I’ve lost in the process. You haven’t seen the sacrifices I’ve made, but you want 20k. What about the rest?”

Those losses are self-reported, and his overall trading profitability has not been independently verified.

Still, his central argument is straightforward: trading should be managed like a business. Losing trades are operating costs, and profitability depends on whether the process works over time.

Why Learning More Trading Strategies Might Not Help

Another common problem is the belief that the next strategy or trading course will finally produce consistent profits.

A 2020 study of Brazilian equity-futures traders found that 97% of individuals who continued day trading for more than 300 days lost money.

Although the research examined traditional futures rather than cryptocurrencies, it found little evidence that simply spending more time trading improved profitability.

Álvaro argues that technical knowledge alone cannot overcome poor decisions or unrealistic expectations.

“They’re looking outwards for the next guru or the next magic secret strategy or whatever. And they’re willing to give away their money for it. And that’s sad for me to see, because I know it doesn’t work.”

He teaches Smart Money Concepts, which involve studying liquidity and market structure to identify potential trading opportunities.

However, he believes understanding those concepts means little if a trader cannot apply them consistently under real market conditions.

That distinction becomes particularly important when leverage is involved. In February, European regulator ESMA warned about the risks associated with increasingly popular leveraged perpetual contracts, including crypto-linked products.

Leverage can magnify a small market movement into a substantial loss, leaving beginners little room for mistakes.

What Should Crypto Traders Focus on First?

Álvaro’s advice is to replace short-term profit targets with gradual learning.

He recommends spending time understanding charts, practicing individual concepts and building experience before increasing expectations.

“Focus on the process, not the results. Focus on the process. What is the process? Well, it’s mainly about time exposure. Another thing I tell them, you got to trade to learn how to trade. I mean, you got to swim to learn how to swim.”

For beginners, that means testing strategies before committing significant capital, keeping losses manageable, and reviewing why individual trades succeed or fail. Demo accounts can provide early experience without exposing real money.

Importantly, experience alone offers no guarantee of profitability. The research on day traders suggests that continued participation can simply produce further losses when traders fail to improve their methods.

Álvaro also believes trading should improve someone’s life rather than become a desperate attempt to escape financial problems.

His final message is unusually restrained for an industry frequently associated with extraordinary profit claims.

“First step, survive and learn something. Then eventually maybe you can make money.”

And even after doing everything right, he acknowledges that trading might never become a profitable career for everyone.