Crypto Practice Plan: 6 Exercises Before You Use Real Money

Why practise crypto before using real money?

A good practice plan gives you skills you can show, not a fake profit. Can you explain what you own and who controls it? Can you work out what a trade costs? Can you spot a request that should make you stop?

You can practise all of this without opening an account or depositing money. A mistake on paper costs nothing. A mistake with real crypto often can't be undone, because payments can't be reversed.

This plan brings together the seven earlier lessons in the crypto path, from Bitcoin basics to scams. If a task feels hard, go back to that lesson for a worked example. Going back is part of the plan, not a sign you have failed.

What are the six exercises?

Each exercise has a lesson behind it: Bitcoin basics, wallets and custody, orders and fees, volatility and drawdowns and crypto scams. Work through them in order. Then go back to the one you found hardest to explain.

Notice what is missing from the list: sending real coins, sharing real secrets and borrowing money to trade. None of them is needed to learn.

How do I set up a practice run?

You need a notebook, one made-up coin and a short list of prices. At the top of the page, write the currency, the number of coins and your costs. Use no leverage, meaning no borrowed money. That keeps the arithmetic simple. It does not mean that crypto without leverage is safe.

Use these five made-up prices, in this order: $100, $90, $75, $85 and $95. They are teaching numbers, not real market prices.

Set one strict rule: you can only buy or sell at these five prices. If the price you wanted never appears, write "not filled". Don't change a price later because it was awkward, and don't switch coins because another chart looks better. Fixed rules stop you from fooling yourself.

What does a practice journal entry look like?

Write your entry and exit plan next to that number. Then add one more measure. At the $75 price, your 2 coins were worth $150. Compared with the $200 you paid for the coins, that is a 25% drawdown.

Keep these two numbers apart. The 25% drawdown measures how far the coin's price fell. The $11.95 loss is your final result after fees. Mixing them up is a common mistake, so label each one clearly.

How do I score my practice?

Give each of the six exercises one of three marks:

• Complete: another learner could follow your reasoning from what you wrote.
• Needs fixing: the information is there, but the reasoning or the maths is wrong.
• Unresolved: some evidence is missing.

A profit on a made-up trade can't turn an unresolved custody question into a complete answer. Score your explanations, not your returns.

When you correct something, keep the original entry and add a dated note beside it. That gives you an honest record of what you learned. For every unknown, write down the source you would check next.

Real trades need real records. In the US, the IRS digital assets page shows why you need more than a final profit number. Other countries have their own tax rules, so check yours. A practice journal is not a tax record.

Can I practise in a crypto simulator?

A simulator lets you place pretend trades with virtual money. Our own crypto simulator, Bitcoin Flip, is being rebuilt. Its official site says a new version is coming, and there is no download today. If you see an app with a similar name in a store, don't assume it is the original.

You don't need any app for the written exercises. If you do use a simulator, check how it works first. Which coins does it have? Are its prices delayed? How does it handle fees and fills? If you skip this, its results may not match your notebook.

One last check: does finishing this plan prove you are ready to make money? No. It shows you can do these tasks with made-up numbers. It does not test real prices, real withdrawals or how you feel during a real loss. Another round of practice, or deciding not to trade at all, are both good results.