Is it "smart" to start now?

As the title says, is it?

Should someone who has 0 crypto assets in 2026 start investing in crpyto?

I've been planning to invest in crypto for many years but postponed it each time due to different reasons yet i've been always impressed by the "stability" for the last few years and the belief that some have in this field.

Yet, even though there are some strong opinions about investing in crpyto, there are many who believe that entering the crypto market nowadays won't "benefit" you as much as someone who joined many years ago or of course in comparing those who mined and those who joined at the beginning, those people usually recommend to invest in stocks as it is "safer" for the long run.

Even purchased the Safe3 to store the crypto there, still sealed in a box but I am not sure whether I should start putting even 200$ a month because I see how many people are losing their wallets, funds and deposits because many platforms suddenly freeze/lock the accounts because people wanted to pull out their funds, whether it was in general or to an external offline wallet.

* Important note

Several years ago when XRP was still around 0.5$ I think, bought 500$ worth of XRP and after a period of year or two I decided to pull the money out because of fomo and because I "needed" the money.
Took me a while to withdraw the money because Binance that not make that easy nor their documentation was clear about how to withdraw the money correctly.
Long story short several months later XRP jumped to 2.X$ and I could've multiply my then "investment" x5 if I only had the patience that I have today.

So, mid 2026, do you recommend anyone start investing in crypto for the long run in true belief that "it will hold"?

Do you believe in the investing platforms?

Tips?