From: thepipeline_xyz
This article provides insights into crypto trading strategies and personal experiences from Anom and Kevin, prominent figures on “crypto Twitter.” They discuss their journeys, trading philosophies, notable trades, and advice for navigating the dynamic crypto market.
Personal Journey in Crypto Trading
Anom’s introduction to crypto began in school while studying computer science at Georgia Tech, where a business course on emerging technologies focused on Bitcoin around 2016 [00:00:52]. Although he didn’t invest then, he gained foundational knowledge [00:01:20]. His deeper involvement started when a software engineering mentor encouraged him to explore trading [00:01:30]. By mid-2021, Anom transitioned to full-time trading after seeing significant success [00:01:52].
Anom’s presence on crypto Twitter grew substantially during the last market cycle, increasing from around 3,000 followers to over 100,000 by sharing his trades publicly [00:02:03]. This public visibility and successful calls led to significant follower growth for both Anom and Kevin, indicating a strong influx of retail participants back into the market [00:02:33].
Key Trading Experiences and Best Trades
Anom highlights Axi Infinity as one of his best trades, not just for its profit, but because it required him to overcome an initial aversion to the project, which he had considered a scam [00:08:42]. Despite being bearish on altcoins in mid-2021, Axi started making new highs, prompting him to “flip bias” and go long around 100 [00:10:17].
Another key trade was Solana, which Anom went long on around August of a later year, anticipating a strong market rip [00:11:03]. He emphasizes the importance of observing leading altcoins, as they often hint at market shifts [00:10:34]. His conviction in Solana, even when others were skeptical, proved fruitful [00:05:40].
Trading Philosophy and Strategies
Anom’s trading philosophy centers on trusting his own opinion and sticking to his process [00:11:50]. He advises:
- Journaling Trades: Consistently journaling thought processes helps traders reflect on their decisions and maintain a clear mind amidst emotional volatility [00:12:33].
- Balancing Technicals and Fundamentals: While price action is primary for position-taking, he avoids fundamentally unsound projects for long-term holdings. However, he is open to momentum trades on assets he deems less valuable if the setup and market narrative are strong [00:14:36].
- Portfolio Allocation: Anom allocates about 70% of his portfolio to fundamentally strong assets like Solana, Coinbase, and Bitcoin Prime, which he is comfortable holding long-term [00:15:27]. The remaining smaller portion is used for momentum trades on projects like Cardano, where he understands retail behavior can drive price action despite personal fundamental reservations [00:15:40].
- Identifying Leaders: Setting alerts on all tickers helps identify leading altcoins that can signal broader market direction shifts [00:10:34].
Anom avoids simply counter-trading sentiment, as this can lead to losses, especially in irrational bull markets [00:12:04]. He maintains a strong conviction in the long-term future of crypto, not becoming pessimistic during bear markets due to his understanding of its fundamental importance [00:13:40].
Market Dynamics and Future Outlook
The market’s rapid repricing, especially in the past few months, is attributed to the severe downturn in 2022 (FTX collapse, Fed rate hikes) [00:03:06]. Despite stocks returning to all-time highs, crypto is still significantly off its peak, making it attractive for new participants [00:03:35].
Price action is considered the best marketing tool for crypto, as it captures attention and brings in new users [00:18:43]. However, this also creates a challenge in distinguishing genuinely valuable projects from those driven purely by speculative premiums or social signaling [00:17:14].
“Price action is the best marketing tool for all of crypto” [00:18:45]
The L1 narrative remains strong, especially for chains like Solana and Avalanche that offer advantages over Ethereum in terms of cost, speed, and user experience [00:30:38]. The modular thesis, with projects like Celestia focusing on data availability, is also gaining traction, though execution layers (L2s) will need to compete effectively with L1s on TPS and fees [00:21:28]. A key theme for this cycle is the competition between L1s and L2s for user onboarding, as users have no chain allegiance and will move to where the best applications exist [00:22:41].
Discussions around product-market fit highlight that true mass adoption requires support for millions of daily active users, which only recently became technologically feasible with high-throughput, low-fee chains like Solana [00:25:51].
Emerging Narratives
- DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks): Anom believes DePIN players will be interesting this cycle [00:19:50].
- Apps: Both Anom and Kevin are highly bullish on crypto applications becoming “main character” in the next two years, believing the upside potential is immense [00:29:27]. Examples include:
- Drip House: A free NFT platform on Solana that allows artists to release art weekly using compressed NFTs, onboarding users to the Solana ecosystem [00:30:44].
- Social Apps: Potential for crypto to create new social apps with better incentive alignment for users, contrasting with traditional models where users are the product [00:31:35].
- Stablecoins and Payments: Considered one of the largest markets uniquely enabled by crypto, offering objectively better solutions (e.g., yield-bearing stablecoins like Mountain Protocol and Ondo) than traditional Web2 payment systems like Venmo [00:32:21].
- Gaming: Games like Parallel are adopting a “Trojan horse” strategy, allowing non-crypto users to play while subtly introducing them to crypto benefits like owning in-game assets as NFTs [00:38:00].
- Sports Betting: Crypto offers a superior experience for sports betting, which is a rapidly growing market [00:41:01].
Top Signals
Identifying top signals in the upcoming market cycle is complex, as what once indicated a top (e.g., celebrity endorsements, mainstream attention) could now be seen as confirmation of true mass adoption [00:44:47]. Anom will continue to rely on technical analysis for identifying parabolic moves and selling opportunities [00:45:32].
“In a bull market like top signals are indistinguishable from mass adoption” [00:46:23]
While previous cycles saw significant blow-ups (e.g., Luna, FTX), there’s hope for more cautious designs in stablecoins and exchanges (like Cube and Backpack Exchange focusing on transparency) to mitigate similar risks [00:48:42]. However, leverage events and flash crashes are inherent to crypto trading and will continue to occur [00:49:51].
The increasing “terminal online” nature of society, with more people working remotely and having constant internet access, is seen as a positive for crypto adoption, as it makes access to crypto applications easier [00:52:00].
Advice for New Crypto Participants
For those new to crypto, especially without a finance or software engineering background, Anom and Kevin offer the following advice:
- Acquire a Hardware Wallet First: This is the most secure way to store crypto (e.g., Trezor, Lattice) [00:54:50].
- Get Active on Crypto Twitter with Friends: The volume of information can be overwhelming, so engaging in a group chat with interested friends makes it easier to navigate and ask questions [00:55:22].
- Set Up a Coinbase Account and Start Small: Buy a small amount of crypto and begin experimenting with applications [00:55:56].
- Explore Applications:
- Drip House: A free app for receiving NFTs from artists [00:56:11].
- Marginfi: Deposit funds to earn yield by lending out Solana or stablecoins [00:56:18].
- Drift or Zeta: For trading [00:56:30].
- Jupiter: For token swaps [00:56:33].
- Tensor: For trading NFTs [00:56:38].
- Utilize Educational Resources: Podcasts, such as those from Blockworks, offer valuable insights directly from founders about their projects [00:56:58].
New users do not need a technical background to use these applications [00:56:50]. The key is to explore, interact, and learn within a supportive community.