With Bitcoin experiencing its second downturn in a month, many of my clients and colleagues are asking how they can make a profit from trading cryptocurrency. Lucky for them (and you), the mentor in me can't stop giving advice to those in need. For those that don't know me, I'm a computational scientist (Ph.D. in Life Sciences) turned cryptocurrency consultant. That means two things: 1) I am excellent at analyzing trends, doing research and predicting outcomes (which really helps with trading crypto); 2. I usually charge $100/hr for this sort of advice. However, in the spirit of the Steemit community I'm giving away some trading tips for the current market and hopefully you'll use my strategy to maximize your profits for the coming month, August 2017.

My BTC trading plan for August 2017

1. Exchange your BTC for ETH and/or ZEC

Let's face it BTC is currently in it's second bear trend in just one month. Most would likely attribute the first bear trend to the upcoming deadline for the BTC segwit on August 1. To quickly recap the segwit issue: Since BTC was created, transactions have been suffering longer wait times and higher fees. To combat this, developers sought to improve the BTC network, via a segwit (segregated witness). There are two main proposals for how this segwit will be carried out, BIP148 and SegWit2x. However, if both are activated by opposing BTC factions then the BTC network will be split in two, effectively creating two coins (BTC and some new coin). This was the source of a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in the Bitcoin community over the last month, therefore we saw ~35% decrease in the price of BTC as the August 1 deadline approached. Then, miners started signaling for the BIP91 protocol which is a key step in the SegWit2x, so it seemed that a clear segwit winner had emerged and that BTC would remain one coin. Confidence was immediately restored, and the BTC price surged from ~$1800 to ~$2900 in a matter of four days. However, let me remind you that we are human and we have issues with faith. So, once the stubborn supporters of creating a new Bitcoin announced that they would forge ahead with creating a coin called Bitcoin Cash (BCC) despite their obvious defeat, confidence in BTC waned yet again and BTC suffered a 15% drop. This brings us to the present, July 26. With the original Aug 1 deadline only 5 days away, there are understandable fears of the imminent segwit creating more problems than it solves, and of Bitcoin Cash somehow diminishing the value of BTC. Therefore, we are experiencing a second sell wave from smart investors that picked up some < $2000 BTC during the first bear trend. My advice, exchange your BTC for altcoins that have a maximum short-term growth potential, enter ETH and ZEC.

2. Buy ETH and ZEC, and hold them past Aug 1

By now, you see that I am projecting another bear trend for BTC that will last at least a few days, and at most a month past Aug 1. But why am I suggesting ETH (Ethereum) and ZEC (ZCash) as a store of value for your money? Well, these two coins have what I believe is a maximum profit potential among my most trusted coins (I'll post that list another day). Let's start with ETH. Investors may remember earning big profits on ETH from December 2016 till June 2017 when the coin exploded for a ~5000% gain, going from $8 to > $400 at its max. But, once BTC started tanking in the first bear trend, ETH sank like the Titanic to a bottom of ~$130. During BTC's recent bull run, ETH did recover to ~$220, but it still hasn't reached its current maximum potential (I believe >$400). This is due to a range of effects: the obvious selloff of ETH from the numerous ETH based ICO's launched recently (companies raised investment capital in ETH to fund new coins and are now selling that ETH to pay the bills), the fake news of the death of ETH creator Vitalik Buterin (though it was a month ago, people are slow and love conspiracy theories), short-term sharks capitalizing on the $130-$220 quick flip, and a general anxiety over the future of crytpo in the wake of BTC uncertainty. Rest assured that these factors will subside, and when they do, ETH's price will surge!

How about ZCash? Well ZEC recently became one of the more solid altcoins when it announced a new partnership with JP Morgan Chase in late May. This caused the coin to almost double in a day and to comfortably bully its way from < $100 in May to > $400 in June. It seemed that ZEC had cemented itself as a long-term winner in the cryptocurrency world and its price reflected that assertion for over a month. Then came the BTC crash in July and ZEC fell along with so many other coins. At its bottom, ZEC was down ~65% at an amazing low of $155. It also recovered slightly with the recent BTC bull run, but it is only trading at $180 right now. I believe that ZEC has the ability to get back to $400 in time, and that major gains will come in the next few weeks.

3. Once BTC Hits Bottom, Exchange ETH and ZEC back to BTC

After the FUD surrounding Aug 1 clears and people see that BTC is stronger than ever, money will start flowing back to BTC. You want to be at the forefront of this buy wave. It will be hard to judge when BTC reaches its bottom, but I believe it will come around late August to mid September and the bottom will be ~$1800. If you see BTC fall below $2000, that is your cue to start buying. A pro tip is to buy in stages. Buy 25% at $2000, another 25% at $1900, and so on. Then, just wait for BTC to rise again. If all goes well, you're looking at making some substantial profits in the next month or two. As with any sound investment advice there are no guarantees, this is just my personal analysis and projection for the market, do with it what you will. Thanks for reading, and in the words of Earl Simmons, "You born to die, in the mean time, GET MONEY".