What is it Like to Own Bitcoin?
I have been in the crypto space for 3 years, in this time I have continued to learn and understand all I can about Bitcoin and Blockchain. But for those of you who are new to the space, or in it, and yet to hold any crypto, this is what you can expect;
Price Checking
You will definitely check the price, quite likely daily, even if you only look once, it is likely that you will feel a strong urge to check in on it and see how it's performing. If you are like me, you won't actually do anything about it, but you'll be happy or sad whichever way it goes for a second.
Stress (The Price Goes Down)
When the price falls, depending on how much you own, and the overall drop in value, you will think in one of a few ways.
It's a good time to get some more
Do nothing and hope the price goes back up (My favorite)
Consider trading and transferring your Bitcoin into stable coins like USDT
Bitcoin is dead and I should sell everything
Go online to forums like Reddit, and talk about Bitcoin, read news about Bitcoin and discuss with others on Reddit using memes on why this has happened.
Cryptocurrency markets never close, it is a 24/7 365 day a year marketplace. Price will be volatile when you are awake and when you are sleeping. It’s a market with no rest.
Euphoria (The Price Goes Up)
When the price rises, it’s great. I mean, your investment is earning while you ultimately do nothing. Free money and thoughts of 100% gains overnight. It’s a time when few complain, but usually its never high enough.
What you might do in a price rise:
Wish you had of bought more earlier (Duh)
Think about selling and earning profit to convert into fiat (Sell BTC for USD, YEN, Sterling, etc)
Think about the price going further up, and holding
Do nothing (Again my favorite)
Go online to forums like Reddit, and talk about Bitcoin, read news about Bitcoin and discuss with others on Reddit using memes on why this has happened.
Ultimately, we can’t do anything about the price movements. We have no control.
Jack Tatar, co-author of “Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond,” pointed to another reason why constant phone and web checks are futile.
“It’s very hard to realize the gains you see on your phone,” Tatar said. “These markets are not as liquid as the stocks and bond market. You can check your phone and see you’re up to $30,000, but if you want to realize that gain, you probably won’t be able to do that.”
Like any other investment or life decision, if you are affected by sleepless nights and problems with price rises and falls, you should ask yourself if there is a better way to manage your involvement.
I firmly believe in investing what you can afford to lose. Nothing more.
Usage, Learning, and Testing
On a regular basis, it is important to understand how Bitcoin can be used, sold and also potential milestones to prepare for. It is absolutely certain that you will take an interest in learning as much as you can so you can have even a slight chance of getting out before crashes or being able to utilize what you have.
With constant apps, stores, and businesses accepting Bitcoin payment, you may be interested to try and spend some of your holdings. After all, if Bitcoin grows and more global payment is accepted, you will need to know how to use it, and have some knowledge about fees, time taken to process a transaction and other days to day tasks that we take for granted with traditional banking, Visa and Mastercard.
When testing anything, if possible, read reviews, and get feedback about what it is you are about to test. There are many sites like Cryptowisser where they help review and offer ratings to help us get insights before we try.
Belief in Bitcoin
Many in the space believe firmly in Bitcoin being the next digital storage of value. Price rises and falls don't affect what they hope is the end goal. Bitcoin dominance and everyone using the currency.
I too after years in the space, will likely hold what I have, add more and see it through until the end. Bitcoin is, in my opinion, something that leads to huge change or nothing at all which I will see until the end.
Be prepared to believe in Bitcoin, enough news and hype and adoption may just turn you into one of many like me.