New to crypto, or still learning the ropes? Here are some of our top tips to keep you safe and successful.

Don’t keep funds on exchanges . You might not be able to avoid using exchanges for buying and trading, but don’t keep funds there for any longer than you have to. Crypto history is littered with examples of exchange hacks and losses, and if your coins are stolen, they’re gone forever. Withdraw your crypto.

Back up your private keys . Similarly, there are too many stories of those who have lost crypto because their wallets were corrupted, lost or destroyed. Don’t be one of those people. Keep digital and/or physical copies of your wallets and private keys.

Don’t trust Crypto Twitter . It’s full of trolls, shills and the terminally uninformed. In short, while you can find useful information here, you’ll have to wade through mounds of garbage to get it. You may never recover your sanity or perspective.

Learn to ignore trolls . This is like the rest of the internet, on steroids. You’re going to meet unpleasant people who will look to cause division and offence for the sake of it. They don’t like being ignored. Ignore them.

Learn to ignore shills . There are plenty of crypto folk who want to get you to buy a coin for their own gains. You’ll learn to recognise them. They’re typically narrow-minded and incapable of seeing the bigger picture. They don’t add anything valuable. Ignore them too.

Cost average . Unless you’re a legendary trader, don’t expect to call tops or bottoms of the market. Never go all in, and never go all out. The price can rise or fall more than you ever thought possible. There’s a time for making decisive moves, but if you make a decision in a hurry, it’s disproportionately likely to be a bad one. Save some dry powder for the unexpected, to average down your buy price or average up your sell price – if it comes to it.