Your First Buy and Sell, Step by Step

Pressing “buy” takes a second. The decisions that matter come before it, and they're much easier to make when you're calm and not looking at a moving price.

This chapter gives you a five-question checklist to answer before you open the buy screen:

1. Why am I buying?
2. How much can I afford to lose?
3. How long will I hold it?
4. What will I do if it falls 50%?
5. Where will it be held, and how do I get out?

There are no right answers about which coin to choose; that's your decision. But clear answers to these questions protect you from the most common beginner mistakes.

1. Why am I buying? Can you explain in a sentence what this coin is for? If the honest answer is “a stranger online said it will go up” or “everyone is buying it”, that's a reason to pause. Read the coin's information and its white paper first.

2. How much can I afford to lose? Crypto can fall sharply and stay down. Use only money that's left after your bills and an emergency cushion, so a loss would hurt but not change your life. Never use borrowed money or money set aside for rent.

Setting the amount before you look at prices stops the screen from deciding for you.

3. How long will I hold it? Your time horizon matters. Crypto prices can drop by half and take years to recover, or never recover. Money you may need within a year or two is exposed to that.

4. What will I do if it falls 50%? This isn't a dramatic example. Bitcoin, the largest crypto, lost roughly three quarters of its value between its November 2021 peak and its November 2022 low. Smaller coins have often fallen further.

Decide your answer now: hold, sell part, sell everything, or something else. Write it down. A plan made calmly is easier to follow than a decision made while the price is falling. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

5. Where will it be held, and how do I get out? Before you buy anything, know the whole path:

• Rumos is a custodial app: your crypto and your cash balance are held with Rumos's regulated custody partner, so you don't manage private keys or a recovery phrase yourself. You see them as balances in the app. (Chapter 3 explains what that means.)
• To get your money back, you sell, and then withdraw the money from your balance to your bank. (Chapter 4.)
• Each step can have a cost: the spread and fee when you buy, again when you sell, and a fee for the withdrawal.

Knowing the exit before you enter means no surprises later.

1. Why am I buying?
2. How much can I afford to lose?
3. How long will I hold it?
4. What will I do if it falls 50%?
5. Where will it be held, and how do I get out?

If you decide to buy, starting with a small amount limits what you can lose while you learn how it works.

Crypto prices can rise and fall sharply, and you could lose some or all of the money you put in. Crypto is not covered by deposit protection. This lesson is education, not financial advice.

Next: how to read the quote on the confirmation screen.