Pentoshi Interview

Pentoshi, who has evolved into one of the most popular trading accounts on crypto twitter, has become one of my closest friends in the space. Knowing how brilliant and insightful he often is, I finally got him to agree to a written interview to share some of his story for the rest of the community. Without further adieu, here’s my interview with the one and only Pentoshi; hope you enjoy!

Questions for Pentoshi:

• As a fun initial question — Why choose a penguin as your digital identity?

Originally it was a space penguin with a fishbowl for a helmet and I just thought it would be funny to have.

• High-level overview of what you did before trading

Prior to this I was a door-to-door knocker and I absolutely loved it. Just like trading, I would make it into a game where I had to get 3 sales a day or as I would call them touchdowns to win the game. Then mark up my win and loss total each week. It helped me achieve becoming the #2 salesman in the country out of 600 reps and getting my own franchise. I started a business that ultimately failed following that.

• What got you into trading and crypto?

It was almost out of necessity, I put a small amount in in summer of 2017 and bought ½ a Bitcoin and became obsessed with the communities and the hope it provided.

• What do you like about trading?

I love the challenges of it, it’s one of the most difficult games in the world to get good at. You are competing against yourself and others. You have to have discipline, be able to control your emotions, and constantly get knocked down just to get back up again

• Why do you believe in crypto?

I wouldn’t say I believe in most of crypto. I believe in the hope it offers, and I believe that every centralized currency on a large enough timescale will fail as has been proven time and time again. Crypto in it’s own way is the most free market in the world and I love that.

• What use cases of crypto outside of Bitcoin do you see being useful?

I still believe international remittances is the biggest use case. Both from a speed and cost perspective it just makes sense. If you’ve ever had to transfer money overseas for business or to family you know it can be costly and time-consuming to do so. It also ties up a lot of money for banks. It doesn’t make sense to be using such a dated system in the modern world

• Talk about your initial experience trading, 2017–2018 performance

I was a terrible trader. I think my first 6 months despite everything mooning I had only doubled my money while most coins had done multiples. Eventually I got into XVG and TRX which I found on a russian exchange called liquid.io if I remember correctly and it was around 17 sats. I got lucky and the following month my portfolio would almost 25x. Then in 2018 I lost 90% and wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.

• How did you build out your system? How would you describe your system?

I focus mostly on building around HTF supports and resistances, then add in trend based system of market structure and momentum. I do look at other things, like volume profiles and even the flow of people itself.

• How did you get through 2018 as a tough time for you both trading and personally?

That was a really tough year for me, not just because of crypto but family reasons. By the end of it I had had some pretty terrible thoughts and almost made the worst decision one can make. I wish that on nobody. I’m not really sure where the turning point was that year but as long as you have a little hope you have a chance. People are resilient by nature.

• Do you think you have to get rekt to develop a real sense of risk management?

I think you absolutely have to get rekt. People come to markets in bull runs. They hear about the opportunities in crypto and want to take part. You don’t hear about a bear market and think: god, everyone is losing money, how can I be a part of that? So when you first enter everyone makes a little money, and then the market humbles you repeatedly. You have to make money and lose it a few times to learn how to keep it. That can only come through experience.

• What adjustments did you make heading into 2019–2020, talk about performance in that time period

I learned how important taking profits were. The market will always provide you with new chances. You just have to wait for them to come to you instead of always trying to chase them. Miss one train and another is right behind it. Being consistent over time protects you so much as opposed to always going for the big play and leaving yourself to exposed.

• How did you play the 2020-current market regime?

I feel I had a lot of luck here, and I doubt I could repeat it. Especially in regards to timing of certain events of getting in and out of the market. But essentially I sold a few tops and bought some bottoms consecutively on higher time frames. There was some skill too of course. The other thing is riding the narratives, not being afraid to buy things that are up big. They often are the ones that continue to go up big. But having the fear from 2018–2019 really protected me too and has always kept me in check.

• How do you mentally cope with undertaking a massive growth in personal wealth? What changes? When does it hit you? Etc.

I’ve taken care of some of my family and people I love that helped me when I needed it the most. I don’t buy flashy things really. Like watches or expensive clothing. I do eat out a lot more and travel more often. I like experiences over physical items. The issue is that you can take things for granted as you get use to them so you have to try to practice gratitude.

• Introduction to macro, how did you start diving into macro, how do you implement that with your system?

One of my best friends works in capital markets and we talk every single day about the market. I taught him how to trade and he taught me macro. Then combined both of them. Without him, I certainly wouldn’t have had the success I have now as we constantly challenge each others thinking. Macro is really not as known by most people in crypto yet it has some of the largest effects in regards to the velocity of money itself — which obviously had a huge impact on crypto.

• What is your end goal for being in crypto? What would have to take place for you to walk away?

I think of walking away often, but it’s still mostly in a nascent stage. On one hand, it feels like we aren’t early anymore, but on the other hand, we still are. I don’t know what my end game is because every time you accomplish something you move your own goal posts to push it a little further.

• What is your goal in life beyond crypto?

Just being happy, and experiencing the world and its different cultures

• Dealing w Stress

It’s a tough one. I’m not sure you can be in crypto and not have stress. They are bound together. Dealing with it at times can be difficult but the challenge of stress is also what makes it fun. Surviving.

You can find Pentoshi at: Twitter.com/Pentosh1