From practice to real money

A licensed platform must keep your money apart from its own and answer to a regulator. Check its licence with your country’s regulator, not on its own website.

• A unique password from a password manager.
• Two-factor authentication with an app or a security key, not SMS.
• The anti-phishing code and a withdrawal address allow-list, where offered.
• Bookmark the real address and only log in from it: fake sites copy exchanges pixel for pixel.

The first weeks are for learning how real fills, fees and emotions feel. Use a fraction of what you planned, no leverage at all, and the same stop-losses you used here. Simulated profits don’t mean real ones: slippage and nerves are real.

Entry, stop-loss, target and why. If you can’t write it in one line, don’t take the trade. Keep a journal: your results here show which habits work for you.

Coins on an exchange are a promise from the exchange. A hardware wallet keeps the keys with you: write the 12–24 words on paper or metal, never in a photo, a cloud note or a chat. Try a small withdrawal first.

Buy a hardware wallet from the maker’s own shop, never second-hand.

Most countries tax gains when you sell crypto for money, and some want foreign platform accounts declared. Keep every statement your platform gives you, and check your tax office’s rules before the first sale.