Losing $5,000 in crypto was one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever learned. It all started when I invested in a promising altcoin that was going viral. Everyone online was raving about it, and I got swept up in the hype. But I didn’t do my research. I didn’t check the fundamentals or market trends. I thought, “This coin is going to the moon!” and I dove in headfirst. Fast forward a few months, and the price tanked. My $5,000 disappeared into thin air. The lesson? Never invest in something just because everyone’s talking about it. Always do your own research—check the project’s team, its use case, and its roadmap. If I had stuck to my core principle of investing in long-term cryptos with solid foundations, I would’ve avoided that huge loss. Now, I stick to my strategy of only investing in coins with strong fundamentals, and I no longer let FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) dictate my decisions. Losing that money was tough, but it taught me to be smarter with my investments.