How to Deal with Cryptocurrency FOMO

Ah, FOMO.

It's an acronym that has been coined by the Millennial generation and has become the bane of many peoples' existence. FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, may sound coarse or even somewhat overly casual when you say it, but it's a fear everyone has had.

The fear of missing out on good things in life is a real one for many. It's that nagging voice that tells you, "Everyone is having more fun than you." Or, in the case of cryptocurrency investment, "You're missing the boat on so many good investments."

Cryptocurrency FOMO is a serious issue in the community, and if you suffer from it, it can lead to really bad mistakes. FOMO is the kind of mentality that gets people investing in ICO scams, gets people panic-selling the moment a crypto dips, and insisting on getting insider deals on tokens that never go anywhere.

Investing is never an emotional act—and if it is, you're doing it wrong. Here's how to cope when you feel pressured to invest in every brand new cryptocurrency that hits the market.

The easiest way to avoid buckling to cryptocurrency FOMO is to distract yourself, especially if the fear of missing out is beginning to eat away at your actual living expenses. If you find yourself constantly hemorrhaging money because you're spending it all on cryptocurrency in hopes that it'll boom, you need to find a way to step back.

Life isn't always about investing and making more money. Sometimes, doing something as simple as getting a retro video game console like the Atari or playing the best PlayStation4 shooter video games is all that you need to do to quell your fears.

Give it a shot. Distracting yourself can help. Hell, have you tried Fortnite yet?

Realize that some loss is inevitable.

The funny thing about cryptocurrency FOMO is that there's a lot of truth to it. You will miss out on some opportunities to profit. That's just the nature of the game. No one, not even the Winklevoss twins, have managed to have pure profit just from investing in every single opportunity out there.

Your best bet is to think of cryptocurrency trading strategies as a quest to see how you can win and make investments that better your own lot in life. As long as you're gaining something, you shouldn't have to freak out over not gaining everything.

Take a look at the times that cryptocurrencies caused major losses.

Though the crypto market is definitely bullish, it's not all sunshine and daisies. There have been moments in crypto history where investors have lost all their wealth because they decided to jump in on the train at the wrong time.

If you had invested in Bitcoin during December, for example, you would have paid around $20,000 for a Bitcoin. This would mean that investors who took money at that time lost value and never actually recovered until now.

FOMO is also pretty terrible when it comes to investing in ICOs that end up flopping. Cryptocurrency FOMO is real, but make sure you don't end up losing everything like some investors did.

Look at the general trend of cryptocurrencies, and realize you're probably not missing out on too much.

The truth is that the crypto industry has a lot of survivor's bias when it comes to the good news you hear about investments. The more you hear about the failures, the less cryptocurrency FOMO you'll have.

This is especially true when you hear about ICOs that sound amazing. For every cryptocurrency that ends up being traded and accepted by the mainstream world, there are more that end up dying out.

For every Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum you hear about, there will be one or two that will suffer the fate of AnonCoin or Orangecoin. With too few investors, the coins will eventually fold up and die—leaving those who suffered FOMO holding the bag.

Remind yourself of all the scams that have rocked the cryptocurrency world.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that scammers adore people who suffer from cryptocurrency FOMO. They love to find people who are so gung-ho about cryptocurrency investing that they can't pass up a deal—even if the details of the deal are totally hidden from them.

Sadly, most people who they prey upon will fall for it again and again and again. Worse, they never will see that money come back to them. This is a tale as old as cryptocurrency itself.

A lot of these scams can be pretty convincing, especially if you don't know much about blockchain. If you don't believe it, take a look at how coins like Monero Gold turned out.

If you're really unsure about investing, remember what Warren Buffett said...

Believe it or not, a lot of top billionaires are begging people not to fall victim to cryptocurrency FOMO—and some of the greatest investors of all time are pleading with people not to invest in crypto at all.

If you have an investing role model you follow, you may want to listen to their warnings. People who want to learn to invest like Warren Buffett or how to invest like Ray Dalio, for example, will be shocked to find out that both billionaires are outspoken opponents of cryptocurrency as a whole.

Warren Buffett even went so far as to call crypto "rat poison." He's not called the Oracle of Omaha for nothing, so if you believe him, you may want to take his advice.

Realize that you're not the only one who may have missed out on a golden opportunity.

Regret of not being a Bitcoin millionaire is often a driving force behind cryptocurrency FOMO—and who can blame anyone for feeling that way? Knowing that you may have missed out an opportunity to suddenly be worth six or seven figures is pretty painful to deal with.

That being said, you're not alone. There are entire sites that allow you to read up stories involving others who now regret not investing, or worse, regret throwing away hard drives with Bitcoins in them. On Oh, My Coins, you can read stories that show that others can commiserate with your pain.

Realize that the "what if" may not have been really that fun.

A lot of people who have missed the Bitcoin boat may feel like they made a life-shattering mistake. For some, it could have definitely been the opportunity that could have prevented a lot of pain.

There's a reason why you should never wonder about what could have happened, though. There are just way too many "what if's" to think about!

You never know what else could have happened if you became a Bitcoin investor that struck it rich. You never know if you could have been one of the people who got robbed during the Mt. Gox disaster, or if you would have been hacked by some random guy.

We can always talk about the "what if," but that's not now—nor will it ever be. So, why bother asking that question?

Take a look at past decisions you've made due to cryptocurrency FOMO.

The funny thing about cryptocurrency fears is that they make us react incredibly rashly during trading. Rash decisions are almost never very good ones—and that's precisely why so many cryptocurrency traders try to get people to trade with a level head instead.

Take a look at the last times that FOMO has gotten the better of you. Remember that time you panic-sold Bitcoin when it dipped? Remember when you invested in that one Bitcoin wallet scam because you were scared of missing out on lower rates?

If you've fallen victim to bad thinking before, remembering your failures in the past will be a wakeup call.

If all else fails, you may want to talk to someone.

Cryptocurrency FOMO might not be the only issue you're facing right now. If you're really feeling that jittery about investing, it may be time to consider talking to someone about how you feel. Investing should make you feel excited, not panicked that you'll lose out if you don't.