the problem is not with trading or holding. the problem is with WHAT you are trading or holding. in fact OP lost money because he was holding altcoins!
and he is not alone in this. i dare say 90% of the newcomers in 2017 and 2018 have lost a lot of money to altcoins. because they came in and saw a lot of fake advertisement promising them bright future while selling them garbage. the rest is history...