If a close friend or family member told you they just started investing in crypto, what advice would you give?

I have a younger cousin. He’s 20 and in his sophomore year of college. Over Thanksgiving, when we were away from the rest of our family, he told me he set up a coinbase account and was putting $10-$20/week into crypto. He knew I was into crypto and asked me for some advice because he didn’t want to lose it all.

I kept my advice short. I told him to only put into BTC if he’s in it for the money. I told him he can put into ETH once he understands the idea of smart contracts and what they do. Beyond those 2, he’s only going to invest if he can explain the value proposition and technology to someone who is intelligent but not involved with crypto.

I gave the obvious advice of once the money is in crypto, assume it doesn’t exist anymore. I told him it goes for crypto and stocks. You never want to pull out of a position because you need liquidity.

I also told him that I would give him a spare ledger nano S. I’ve mailed it to him and will help him set it up this week, stressing the importance of never sharing the seed phrase (even I won’t know it) with anyone.

I know we always say “don’t talk about crypto to family,” but also, this is an intimidating space to enter alone, and if you have knowledge to share, you should share it with someone so they can avoid the classic mistakes.

So, if you had a family member or friend tell you they just started exploring crypto, what advice would you give them?