Topic: Why didn't I buy bitcoin? (article translation) (Read 279 times)

in 2010 the price of bitcoin was still cheap and at that time there were some people who looked at bitcoin but over time the price of bitcoin continued to rise and the price of bitcoin rose from time to time? I finally got into thinking and on bitcoin and finally I am interested in investing in bitcoin. but what i regret is why i didnt invest in bitcoin before? which is still cheap. and maybe the reason I'm not interested in investing in bitcoin is because I don't have extensive prior knowledge. and an open mind after seeing the bitcoin price which continues to increase gradually. and that's when I realized that investing in bitcoin was the right choice.

A clarification should be made here. If in the long term (investing), then you are absolutely right. But from a short-term position (it’s hard to call investment) this no longer works. Try saying that to those who bought a BTC recently for $40k and are willing/forced to sell now.

It is very difficult for most people to find the ideal entry point into investing. The rest are just lucky. In anticipation, not only opportunities are lost, but also money. The longer finance is in the form of money, the faster it depreciates due to inflation.

It may take time to realize this, as happened with article's author.


The mistake people make is that they were too lazy (or not interested) to learn more about the technology when they first heard about bitcoin. I think not many people here came to this forum and began to study about BTC immediately after they heard about it. Timely immersion in the information field about BTC would have made it possible to invest in it earlier, and therefore, earn money, as the author of this article wished, and he would not have to repeatedly regret the lost profits.

and iron nerves. Otherwise, it will be difficult not to panic, as it is now, and instead of the desired profit, receive losses.

Cryptocurrency No human being is completely successful. If people knew that Bitcoin would be in such a position today, many people would buy and invest enough Bitcoin.When the price of Bitcoin hit one dollar in 2010, people didn't think it was important.And those who bought Bitcoin then sold it after the price went up, they had no idea what would happen next.In 2016, those who had it but did not leave it after the price increase, almost all the people sold it.That is why I say that no human being is completely successful.

from this long article....
basically why we buy bitcoin because of the opportunity to get rich both newcomers and longtime here, it's just the level of fear and greed of each of us which may be vulnerable to negative or positive risks not to buy or sell it at the right time

It is what it is, and sometimes i can't completely blame people who only suddenly become interested when there is a sudden hike in the price of Bitcoin, the risk is something they prolly weren't ready to handle (with the mindset it could continue to go down), and you can also add that they prolly have a faint knowledge of the network (epecially its history) or they have been cajoled by the media to believe negative things about the network.

One thing people who want to speculate with Bitcoin should know is that they must have a large amount of patience, it is easier for your eyes to light up when the market is great and when prices are appreciating, but what of when there is a correction period, would you panic and be affected by FUD. The best way to grow a Bitcoin portfolio is to adopt a strategy, especially for those who are not financially stable to buy a lot at one go, DCA is one strategy that could help, and in the long run they could have something worth hodling, it is far much better than only being interested when there is an appreciation in price, that way you always miss out, of course that is if you are a speculator.

There’s never a better time for you to buy Bitcoin, I think every time is really a good time. Whenever we have money we should always try to invest and not just keep waiting. If you keep on waiting you will always be missing out on opportunities.

Yes, anyone who is coming in letter would always feel like the year before them was a better year, because the price of Bitcoin would be cheaper now than what it will be in the future. But, that shouldn’t be an excuse to not invest, because as you continue to go every year the price will keep on increasing and that would be more increase in the price than what we have today.

You correctly noted. Finding the perfect entry point to buy a bitcoin isn't worth the time or effort. Just do it when you're ready for it.

The best time to buy BTC is at this moment. This is exactly what I see in the text of this story. Buying now, even at a price, for example, higher than last year, in the future 5, 10, 15 years will bring profit. This is what has been happening over the years.

Recently, BTC price has fallen by about 25% from the price that has been stable for a long time. Here it is, a moment that few will take advantage of, because most will find another excuse to do nothing and be glad that "the fools who bought bitcoin at a loss." They will start plotting to buy when the price rises by 25%. 50% will learn how to practically do it. At 75% - spend all their money on BTC, and at 100% - they will borrow and buy it.

Let us face the truth here.  Only very few understood Bitcoin back then because only few cared so much about the Whitepaper and what Bitcoin was truly about.  The rest were just looking at a potential money making machine, just like today.  I have the guts to bet on anything not even half of Cryptocurrency users know what they have invested in.

It was something new and nobody knew whether it would succeed.  It is like all these Kickstarter projects, many of them ideas fade away, even fully funded.  And to hold your Bitcoin from 2010 up to 2013 means you either had an immense courage, you forgot about the wallet or you just believed that much into Bitcoin.  But look at the Pizza guy.  Look at the Dogecoin founder.  Look at many of the old Bitcoin Talk members still active today.  Many of them are not as rich as you would think they are because many of them sold early.  Imagine Bitcoin rose to $3,000,000.  You would sell before it hits that level, unless you truly believe that much into the technology.

Most of us went through these stages.  It is something natural to fear and it is rarer to have the courage and afford risking.

-
Regards,
PrivacyG

A story of a non investor is often the case of who regrets not buying. But there are reasons why they didn't buy the technology. Mainly because its new.

I was also aware of BTC before 2010 but were not really interested as I didn't understand it. It was only the time when an employer wants to pay me BTC which I also accept. It was also the time when I tried learning about it because I wanna cash it out. I got the money and therefore its money.  It took that odd moment for me to realize how great the technology after watching several people explaining it on youtube. 

When people say so, it means they do neither understand about Bitcoin nor do spend their time to do own research nor do mind to spend money for Bitcoin.

So what they explain why they refuse to invest into Bitcoin is non sense. They have biased view on Bitcoin because without knowledge, your view is distorted and inaccurate.

Such people will repeat their hate on Bitcoin and say same reasons why they don't invest around Bitcoin halvings. They regret but don't admit it and don't change themselves.

Indeed there is no best time to buy Bitcoin. However be aware there are bad moments for you when you should not sell.

Good read of a very common situation which would apply to a lot of people. And why I would want to fault the reasoning of mistrust or hesitation at the time when there was very little credible information about Bitcoin, it is interesting to note that such hesitation would save one from bad investments more often then not.

One thing I found ironic about the whole read was how initially, it was puzzling that you could mine out of nothing; as nothing should come free. And, after dropping it and dabbling back in years later, it was puzzling that it came with an electricity bill. Both situations seemed mildly contradictory.

I didn't read it all. Just parts. I find it a typical story of non-investor.
* If it's on a plateau, let's find a way to not buy because it's expensive, maybe it's going to fall.
* If it's falling, let's wait for the bottom.
* If it's rising "omg, I've missed the train, big mistake".

It's the typical mindset of those who will most probably never invest.
And of course, one of the most important reason for not buying is that they never sit down and spent the time to understand why it has been rising so big. And if they don't understand, they'll call it lottery.. or worse.

I had a similar experience with it, with the difference that I've tried everything else before hodling.
I went through phases of mining, cloud mining, altcoin trading, altcoin holding, bitcoin trading and finally holding bitcoin. Out of all the activities and years of experience I can honestly tell you that if you have time and energy you can try trading bitcoin, if not hold bitcoin. The rest is going to wear you out and it's going to be like walking through a dungeon full of traps. If you manage to avoid them all, things like trading or mining may be good for you. If you want to be safe and just make money with minimum risk buy and hold bitcoin. Don't wait to buy the dip, just buy because trying to buy the dip makes you hold money on exchanges, lose time and energy trying to find the right moment. It's not worth it if you ask me.

There's no best time to buy Bitcoin. Somebody who entered the market in 2020 will tell you that 2019 was a better time to buy and someone who came in 2021 will regret not being here during the covid crash.

"Ha ha ha" (2011)"
Now I already had a real motivation to follow the news about the bitcoin rate in order to prove, first of all to myself, that I was right, and this was nothing more than a lottery. I was still sure that I had not made any serious mistakes in life, and even more so in financial planning, as a simple particular, which, as it seemed to me, any high school graduate should be well versed.

And whoever seeks will find. By the end of the year, the rate fell to $2 per coin, 15(!) times.
Ha ha ha. Naive! I suppose they all bathed in champagne there, and now they are ruined! Ha ha ha. Yes, I'm probably a bad person.

 What I thought: ha ha ha!
 What I started to say: Bitcoin is like a lottery, for the completely naive and desperate.
 What actually happened: Correction, although I did not know such a word before.

"..." (2011-2012)
 Now all this is absolutely not interesting to me again, for a long time. Yes, I occasionally met with regular notes about the bitcoin rate, but now it didn’t bother me so much. Somehow, out of boredom and curiosity, I figured out roughly how exchanges work, what volatility is, what a correction is, well, or I thought I figured it out. Because there was no practical motivation to do something about it. But, nevertheless, I looked through the bitcoin whitepaper, and although I didn’t understand everything, some technical points became clearer. Well, technology and technology, what's in it; I had a good understanding of the DBMS, and in the context of this description of the blockchain seemed unimpressive. Of course, the merkle tree is a cool “hack”, as I saw it then, but the rest was not impressive. No, you don't have to think at all that I did just that. Once a month or two, when I got on Wikipedia and "accidentally clicked the wrong link."

 What I said: Yes, the same as before. Sometimes, of course, something about technology came up in a conversation with geeks, and it was interesting in places, without prejudice.
 What actually happened: Well, I guess I grew up a little. I can't even compose a title for this period.

"Are you mining?" (early 2013)
Once a friend asked me if I mine. I joked that “adults don’t ask about such things, but, in any case, no more than twice a day.” I don’t know what exactly he wanted to know, but I thought, why not? Now I already understood something in these technologies, something in my past omissions. Then it happens “by itself”: Ok, let’s download the client, ok, now we synchronize the blockchain, yeah, now we’ll register on the exchange, it’s ready, now, ... wait, what pool? That is, the complexity has grown so much? That is, not every video card is already suitable?

No, okay, okay, I will not repeat the mistakes of the past, here is the profit calculator, here is the hardware store, and in the end, I still wanted to play the new Dead Space. So, yes, the pool, yeah, the video card, yeah, the miner, yeah, it doesn’t start, ahhh, it started, okay.

Now I mine too!
True, interest dropped noticeably when I saw the electricity bill. Wait, people have to pay for this? Well, yes, clearly. I had to subtract expenses from profits, and some significant constant from the feeling that “I did a good job.” How much profit there, $20 a month?

 What I thought: Yes, my salary is 100 times more. Well, why is it all then?
 What I said: Mining is not profitable. Well, that is, once it was profitable, but now that's it, too late.
 What actually happened: other interests in life. It happens to everyone. You can look at this from different points of view, and from the point of view of psychology, I solved an unsolved problem for myself - I figured it out. He won, he calmed down.
Ignorance gives strength only when you don’t even know what exactly you don’t know, and when you already know, you need to do something about it.

“Whaaaat?!” (late 2013)
Not even a year has passed, and the rate jumped up 10 times, now stepping over a significant psychological level of $ 1,000. “If I continued to mine, then I would already have… money,” was my first thought. Lost profit again, but this time it was not just next to me, but I would have had it, in front of my nose, in my pocket, if I had not done anything. Why did I uninstalled the software, stop mining, what really bothered me? Can inaction (or indecision) also be a good strategy? Yeah, that's bullshit, I can't believe it.

 What I thought:  @#$%^&*!
 What I said: @#$%^&* it all @#$%^&*, yeah!
 What actually happened: it was necessary to rest more, work less, let the little head ventilate. Real economic processes are devilishly complex, and a couple of sluggish convolutions of the brain cannot cover them. It's not like buying bread in the store. And inaction can actually be a good strategy. And in today's social and fast world, few people can teach you this.

"I'll somehow manage without these yours bitcoins" (2014)
After all, it seems to be a feature of a reasonable person - not to get involved with something that does not bring pleasure, and moreover, brings chaos and disappointment. The world in many aspects is complicated, not ideal, unpleasant, but in fact no one forces us to go there.
This is what I said to myself, then said more than once, and finally really began to think so.

 What I said: firstly, nothing about cryptocurrencies. See the article? Scrolled through. Do you see a comment on a topic? Scrolled through. Start talking about it around you? Be quiet!
 What actually happened: the exchange rate fluctuated, falling to hundreds of dollars and rising to thousands. Does it count as something important? I don't know anymore.

"Or can't I get past?" (late 2014)
At that time, the economic crisis, as it is called, hit Russia. The dollar was growing in relation to the ruble by a few percent a day, my not very good financial condition was deteriorating before my eyes. Well, I mean, that wasn't the only problem. But something else you can try to change yourself, but something else is not. At this point, I began to seriously consider the possibility of buying cryptocurrency. Well, that is, how seriously. Seriously - this is a word in which they usually make a more serious face, and force themselves to first create a panic, somewhere deep inside, and then suppress it. During this time I have not learned anything new either about cryptocurrencies, or about the banking system, or about money in general. And I remembered that I did not want to create unnecessary psychological problems for myself by reconnecting with what had so disappointed me before. And I still did not believe that I was in some sense obliged to learn a lot of different things for future use in order to improve my standard of living.

So, after sitting with a serious face for a couple of days, my choice fell not on cryptocurrencies at all, but on real estate. Another would say, it's incredibly stupid to buy an apartment in a crisis, but this is also because he probably did not study the issue too well. I knew that there would be options that sell quickly and cheaply, simply because people urgently need money in order to change something in their lives in a changing environment, and such options were found, despite the fact that the average rates per sq.m. were downright bad.

 I jumped off the topic for a reason, although this does not apply directly to the cryptocurrency, but this experience taught me a lot. It was terrible. Firstly, junk options were offered from private traders (of course), with most of which the banks did not cooperate. Let's forget about how many of these options were simply unreliable, for the sake of studying demand, completely garbage, and how many of the remaining ones were simply not satisfied. But, there were some pretty ones too. The thing is different, so you often ran around the city with millions (in local currency) in your pocket? Making appointments at the bank, not always at a convenient time for you, exchangers (yes, some of the savings were in foreign currency) with random rates (well, you booked the course, so what, look at what the situation is now), and in fact, collect the entire amount from yourself on the hands turned out to be not the most trivial, at least emotionally, process. Is it worth putting money in your pockets or putting it in a backpack (of course, I did not consider bags). Whether to call a taxi to the house, or walk a little (the probability of an intruder taxi driver did not seem zero, but people on the streets are also dangerous). On the legal side, I worked through the aspects of the purchase itself (or rather, it seemed to me), but this also does not mean that everything seemed reliable. Transfer money through a safe deposit box, but can I trust the bank one hundred percent? At that moment, the absence of a clause stating that the property of the cell was insured for its value could not please. What will actually happen step by step if the deal stretches for an indefinite period? Is this piece of paper from a notary public strong enough to challenge unpleasant options in court? How can I check this? I can even consult with people of varying degrees of competence in this matter, but can I trust them? How, in the end, can I roll back the transaction if some minimum amount has already been deposited with the agency, and it clearly does not intentionally lose it (or perhaps it has already spent it)? Perhaps you will say that I am naive, and it was worth paying attention to other points, but how should I know which ones? I do not understand this technology in great detail, but I really needed to use it and quite urgently.

Everything ended well, but I will buy the next apartment only through the blockchain, something like this: the seller signs with his key the intention to sell the object (in his ownership) with such an identifier, for such a cost, to such a buyer. Then he receives the transfer, and at the same time, the very fact of the implementation of the intention and the transfer of ownership. The payment itself is the proof of the deal. Two steps. The third step, if you need the absence of mutual claims (and it is necessary, yes). This, and everything else, can be done without leaving your PC. It's still stress, of course, when you manage the sums or property accumulated over the years of life, but this stress, at least, does not stretch for months (!).

Do you still (if you thought so) believe that cryptocurrencies are another conditionally useless technology?

I've stopped. Before that, I always thought one way or another only about the speculative benefits of working with cryptocurrencies, but after, or in the process of a real estate transaction, I already understood what I consider the most important thing. And I will deliberately leave it in the form of a conditional intrigue, because understanding is not equal to knowledge, and it may be erroneous (yes, I'm talking about mine).

For me, the puzzle was assembled, but, ironically, there was no possibility of any significant savings to buy cryptocurrency now, understanding its investment value.

"Understanding" (2015)
In fact, it's much easier to "understand" something when you have no intention of doing anything. Or opportunities, but an opportunity can be created using intentions. And this year was hard for me, or I wanted to think that it was hard for one reason or another, but there was no money for the crypto. But they were for a small renovation, new sofas, great gadgets, and other good things that you still shouldn’t deny yourself, even if you know that there is a good investment option somewhere. I don't think it's some sort of cognitive disorder.
A good decision can wait.
The bitcoin exchange rate floated around $200-500 per coin, but is it really that important? If he quickly rushed to the moon, I might have bought him faster, even realizing that this is not an absolutely right decision. But everything was relatively calm.

Finishing my story, in 2016 I did decide, and the amount was picked up, and there were no difficulties with the acquisition. Many times I thought for a moment, was it too late for me to jump on the train? I don’t dare to evaluate it, but I still believe that I will buy the next apartment through the blockchain, and every day it becomes more and more real.

Accidentally seeing one article (the translation of which I decided to share with you), I could not resist and read it in one breath. Despite the fact that the narration in it is conducted in a somewhat amusing way, the author of this article touches on situations and problems that are important in my opinion and remain relevant to this day.

This story evoked associations in me, when a person goes from the stage of denial to acceptance and sooner or later comes to the realization that he needs bitcoin. And as we will see from the story (I'm getting ahead of myself a little), it would be better if this happened "early" with the author. And if you look at the situation from the height of 2022, even his "late" has brought its financial benefits.


Perhaps this translation will help some of you who are still doubting the future of bitcoin, having "looked" at its past, draw conclusions for yourself in the present.

For others, I hope this story will resonate in their memories, because, as I believe, the situations described here are familiar to many and took place in their life path to bitcoin.

At the very least, I hope reading this story will entertain you and bring you some enjoyment.

Original text taken from here - https://habr.com/ru/post/405913/. Publication date: August 2017. Now we know what happened at the end of that year, but the author was in for a pleasant surprise.

Well, dear reader, get started.


In 2010, I learned about the phenomenon of bitcoin, and, like any other interesting technology, it captured my mind to a certain extent. But it just so happens that not every technology delights the mind, and in this case especially, and I have something to tell.

In this note, I am not going to once again consider technological features, compare bitcoin and fiat, put pressure on the mind with specific numbers of possible benefits, oh no. I'm just going to talk about the cognitive biases that kept me from buying bitcoin all the time. Maybe if you find them in yours, some questions can be cleared up (in any direction). And if you don’t find it, then most likely you know what to do without these thoughts. Another advertisement? Well, yes. In a marketing form? Well no.

"Why didn't I buy bitcoin on the exchange" (2010)
Anyway, all the time since 2010 I have seen people, notes, or news about bitcoin in various other forms, and sometimes it grabs attention. One day a friend said to me, “Hey, have you heard about such a thing as bitcoin? They say this is an interesting investment, because in a couple of months it has already grown by 10%.” This is how many per annum, I thought, 50%? Wow, this is definitely worth considering.
   
In fact, the exchanges of that time were clumsy and inconvenient. I confess, when I first went to BitcoinMarket.com, I did not even understand what to click. Well, really, where is the big "exchange" button? Then I began to understand that in order to exchange something, you need to have something, and somehow enter it first, and this is a separate quest with its own subtleties, and after tormenting Google for an hour, my motivation was depleted. Too many obscure words, phenomena, and processes that I could not trust.

 What I thought: "Some kind of nonsense, I've had enough".
 What I have told others: This is something too specific, no one seems to need it. Yes, and not really trying to talk like that, there is something else to talk about.
 What was actually happening: My basic training in finance was clearly lacking. Even now, I start a paragraph with the words "actually." Although, was that the case? Well, at least I still want to believe that this was the case.

"We won’t buy, so we’ll mine" (2010)
I added a note on the word "mining" to my bookmarks while I was still studying the first results on cryptocurrencies. Then there was some free time, and I decided to return to the question. It seems that money can be generated, it sounds interesting, but at the same time suspicious. How so, money from nothing? I was always told that this does not happen, that money, they say, is the equivalent value of labor, and you cannot sell something if it is not produced. However, the notes, of course, were not on this topic, but something about mining software. At that moment, as a programmer with already five years of experience, I decided that I would deal with programs. It’s still very simple, we download and run the miner, and the money begins to trickle into the account, at least that's how it's written. I ended up downloading something, but it didn't work. Yep, it says it needs a wallet address. How to get wallet address? Yeah, you need to put the client and generate it. It didn't scare me, of course. And I downloaded Bitcoin Core. For some reason, it did not start on the first try, and I would remember what exactly I changed in the configuration, but it worked on the second try. And I was very unpleasantly surprised by the fact that it began to count some hours (or rather days, but then the figure began to decrease faster than in real time) until the synchronization was completed. Is it like that at all? Yes, during this time I can download a whole series, not just one episode, but the whole season. No, I'll wait, no problem. Only the browser began to slow down disgustingly, and I didn’t think of anything else to do with myself. “Well, no!”, I thought, I don’t want to fill my computer with some incomprehensible rubbish, and closed the client.

 What I thought: “Well, to hell with him, anyway, free cheese is only in a mousetrap”.
 What I've told others: The technology is immature and geeky. What should people do in life in order to enjoy it all? By the way, did you know that free cheese is only in a mousetrap?
 What actually happened: I'm impatient, that's my thing. Well, I also possessed close to non-advanced hardware at that time.

“Wow, it has increased 100 times!” (2011)
We casually touched on this topic with a friend at regular gatherings in billiards. By that time (closer to the middle of 2011), the BTC rate had already reached $1.0 per coin. Which was an excellent newsbreak in the media: it even leaked to relatively popular technical resources.
- "So what do you think you're going to buy?"
- "Yeah, that would be nice, though," I replied.
- "But after all, no one gives any guarantee, what if now the rate goes down, and you just throw away money? How much would you bet on this?"
Then the conversation turned to the fact that it is most reasonable to bet amounts that you don’t feel sorry for, it’s not scary to lose. Only then I was afraid to lose any penny! I decided that it was hardly possible to make a fortune on sums of tens of dollars: simple arithmetic.

I invest $10, the rate grows 100 times (but of course I did not believe in this), and I have $1000. Is it too much for me? No, not at all, programmer salaries were already significantly higher then. Life will not change.
I invest $100, the rate drops to zero (I thought it was probable), and damn it, I'm very upset. This, by the way, is the cost of a very decent video card at that time.

 What I thought: Maybe I'd better just buy a video card and not think about it?
 What I said: I'll think about it.
 What actually happened: greed is not a vice, but really a real barrier. I looked at losses more vividly than at gains. My self-confidence was based mainly on the absence of “losses”, and not on “cool wins”, and money can’t buy that back. Was it scary? No, it's a little different combination of words, but I think this psychology can be understood.

"I'll Think About It" (2011)
While I was thinking about this (well, that is, of course, about anything, but not about this), the rate somehow miraculously jumped another 30 times, literally in two months. To be honest, I would not like to know about it, but if you surf the Internet, you often come across different things, some images, for example, I would really like to unsee.

I didn't want to know about it at all. It was a disappointment.

"I could have..." is my thought. This is the first meeting in life with lost profits. No, it certainly happened one way or another before, for example, a good vacancy where you were not taken.

-“How much could I earn if I worked there, oh.”
-“But he might not have made money!”, and really, who will foresee all the complex factors? But here the situation was different, there were no complicated factors. Here is the rate of $1, but $30, and everything else has not changed. This is the most real "if", among all the "if".

I screwed up. Bottom line: I don't have bitcoins, but now there is disappointment. A real "lose" as I felt it to myself.

 What I thought: Well, to hell with it! You never know where you will find, where you will lose. What I started saying: Bitcoin is some kind of lottery.
 What actually happened: Nothing. The rate grew 30 times, that's all that happened. It happens.