How to (actually) buy low & sell high

BASE LAYER // Issue #4
Clarity for long-term crypto holders.

GM everyone.

“Buy low, sell high.”

It’s the most repeated piece of advice in investing.
Everyone says it. Nobody explains how hard it is.

Because here’s the thing:
Buying low doesn’t feel smart. It feels stupid.

When something drops 40%, you don’t feel like a genius for buying. You feel like an idiot.

“What if it keeps dropping?”
“What if this one’s different?”
“What if I just caught a falling knife?”
“What if I should’ve waited a little longer?”

Your heart rate spikes. Your mouse hovers. You wait for a tweet, a signal, a friend’s opinion. Anything to not be alone with the decision.

This is what most crypto and investing advice in general ignores: buying low isn’t just a financial decision.

It’s a psychological war.

Look at any major dip in Bitcoin, ETH, or even top-tier alts.

The people who bought during those drops? They made life-changing returns.

But here’s what the chart doesn’t show:

• The fear they felt when everyone on CT was screaming “we’re going to zero”

• The gut-punch of being down 25% right after buying

• The doubt that creeps in when nothing bounces for days… weeks… months

Buying low sounds obvious on paper.
But in practice, it feels like walking into a burning building hoping it’s just smoke.

Because when you’re in it—when your bags are red, your group chat is silent, and the narrative is dead—it doesn’t feel like opportunity.

It feels like a mistake.

Now flip the scenario.

The coin you bought has pumped. You’re 3x, 5x, maybe even 10x up.

You know you should sell. But you don’t. Because…

• “What if this is just the beginning?”

• “What if it hits 100x?”

• “I’ll just wait until next week. One more leg.”

• “I want to sell at the top.”

And so, you hold.

Then it drops 20%. And now you’re frozen.
Now it’s not “taking profit”—it’s “cutting into potential.”

Now you need it to come back just so you can sell where you should’ve sold the first time.

This is why people roundtrip wins, by the way. Not because they’re greedy.

But because they’re attached:

• To the number.

• To the story.

• To the identity they built around “riding it out.”

Ok so - how do you actually buy low, sell high?

Forget timing.
Focus on automation and pre-commitment.

• Use limit orders: Set them before the drop. Let the system work while you sleep.

• Use laddered exits: Sell in chunks at predefined levels. Don’t overthink it.

• Use writing: If you’re about to buy or sell, write a 3-sentence rationale. If you can’t articulate it clearly, you’re not ready.

Most importantly?

Set the rules when you’re calm, so you don’t have to make decisions when you’re not.

The mnemonic I use to remember this? “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”.

Because in crypto, your greatest risk isn’t the market.
It’s your own reactivity.

Here’s something I do personally:

I keep a short Notion page that includes:

• My DCA rules

• My laddered take-profit strategy

• My “do nothing” triggers

• My rebalancing reminders

It’s not fancy. But it works.

Because I don’t trust the version of me that just watched his favorite coin drop 40% in 3 days.

I trust the one who wrote the plan before the storm.

So write your rules, and stick to them.

That way, you’ll keep your sanity intact when others are losing theirs.

– Alex
Founder, Base Layer