I think it's important to first note that inherently bitcoin is NOT an investment. Now of course like all other forms of currency, it has become an investment
Well, these two are definitely conflicting ideas. It either is or isn't. If Bitcoin has become an investment, then it
is.
When I see people say their investment portfolios are solely made up up cryptocurrencies I cringe. The stock market is made up of stocks ( companies that have gone public and issue shares ). Stocks are backed by actual businesses. These business offer a service or tangible good. Bitcoin/cryptocurrency is simply digital currency. Bitcoin is not backed by an actual real world business producing goods and or services and that's the important difference people need to understand.
So what's the point here? Bitcoin is an investment, cryptos are investments as well as real estate, precious metals etc. An investment portfolio can be entirely made out of cryptos, because you just admitted (I think) in the previous quote that Bitcoin has definitely become an investment.
This is similar to the "Gold or Bitcoin" discussion. Gold is a physical asset, it is used for jewelry, used for electronics etc. It has real world physical aspects. Now is does have some similar features. Both are considered "assets". Both have become investment "hedges"...but inherently they are two completely different things.
Well, any 2 assets you take are two completely different things - and that includes assets that are part of the same category (say copper and gold).
Mid Term would be things such as savings accounts ( pro-tip..always use online banks such as Ally Bank for savings accounts. They offer MUCH higher interest rates than traditional brick and mortar banks such as Chase/Bank of America etc), online trading accounts such as TD Ameritrade/E-Trade etc.
I'd advise to check and calculate interest rates vs annual inflation as well. Many times, the interest rate ends up to be actually lower than the annual devaluation of your sum.
Now as long as you have these 3 Buckets established, then "investing" in bitcoin/cryptocurrency can make sense. It's important to try and throw in some of those "home run" type investments in your portfolio. These types of investment you go in to with the realization that they are volatile and could easily lose it's entire value quickly. However they can certainly help your portfolio tremendously when they "hit". Normally you want to keep around 5-10% of your portfolio in assets such as these.
Honestly, I would say this isn't necessarily true. Besides Bitcoin's ATH (which is only $4k from today's price), you'd be on a profit no matter when you've invested in BTC since its inception. People lose money because they are greedy and unexperienced, and they're being controlled by emotions. My crypto portfolio has done very, very well so far. Bitcoin's price crashes do not make for bad investments. Gold crashes as well, so does silver, so do stocks. It's all about you choosing the right time to cash out, hodl or invest.
Countless people have already lost their life savings by treating cryptocurrencies as traditional investments and will continue to.
Before investing in anything, you have to do research. If everyone who invested in BTC did proper research about its past and had not pushed themselves into extreme greed waiting to become rich, things would've looked different. I'm not saying someone should invest their life savings into cryptos, but if you can't help but be led by market FUD and stuff like that, then take some time and educate yourself before you put your
life savings into something. The idea itself that you have spent a
life saving bucks and randomly invest it all into something you have never studied in your life is very stupid.