Sad Bitcoin Story

danny1213 on 03/01/2021 - 16:27
Last edited 07/01/2021 - 17:18

So I bought Bitcoin back in 2017, put $10,000 in there and bought while the prices were driving up insanely. They were worth around $18,500 per Bitcoin at the time.

During the next 3 years it drove down and down and I started feeling really miserable about it considering my $10,000 was worth a mere $2,000 at one stage. I decided to leave it and stop looking at it.

Late last year my friend started talking about Bitcoin again, so I began getting interested in looking at it. The value of Bitcoin slowly crept back up and stayed stagnant around the 18,000 - 19,000 mark - so I decided to sell. I just wanted my money back, I sold breaking even, getting my $10,000 out (and maybe a $100 profit)

A couple months later now, my original $10,000 investment is worth around $23,000 and I am just kicking myself in the foot.

I feel like I am the most unlucky person in the world when it comes to this and am trying to get over it - but it just burns!!

Has anyone had any other similar experiences, and what's the best way to just move on without thinking "coulda, woulda, shoulda" :(

Financial Cryptocurrency

Comments

    • buffalo bill on 06/01/2021 - 17:26

      Feeling very December 2017ish. It hits an unsustainable point and the buyer depth disappears. Then comes the scramble of crashing and offline exchanges as all coins and tokens freefall.

      Of course, not everyone can get out their $35,000US bitcoin, because some people only paid a few dollars them.

  • Cave Fire on 03/01/2021 - 19:58
    +1

    it was $5 - $10 per coin at one point. remember thinking $200 was expensive. At that point ($5 - $10) exchanges were kind of dodgy. You were putting in money into someones btc wallet basically. I also used to go on Livejournal a lot and read the dev blog of twitter about two years before launch. If you keep an eye out, you will find the next opportunity. "failing" or mistiming the investment is also giving you experience for the future.

  • The-Kremlin on 03/01/2021 - 19:59
    +2

    LoL it's just $10k…put your mind into building something more substantial.

    Hindsight is 20/20, move on and start listening to successful people in various facets of life, be it investing, business, relationships etc.

    Don't listen to those who think they know what they're talk about but they've got no idea and have achieved nothing in life…this is most people.

    • netjock on 03/01/2021 - 20:09

      LoL it's just $10k…put your mind into building something more substantial.

      Nothing better than rent seeking, the idea of sitting on your back side and assets just inflate themselves. A bit like investment property. Property prices have gone up above rate of inflation. Simply because you put in $20 and the bank will lend you $80 then you wait for the prices to go up.

      Unfortunately the way property prices are going people will be lucky to be able to buy one property and their grandkids be able to pay it off.

      Notice how Japan is so ahead of us: zero interest rates, money printing, astronomical property prices. Only thing that hasn't happened is a share market bubble that took 30 years to recover from (The Nikkei has reached the same levels when it busted in the 1980s).

  • original15 on 03/01/2021 - 21:41
    +1

    Father had a buy order for after pay when it was in the low $6 range, for $25k worth of stock.
    Opened something like 4c higher than his buy order, and he just canceled it, rather than adjust and buy at the rate

    Fast forward to now, that $25k would be worth about $500k (stock price is something like $120)

    • luminousfox on 04/01/2021 - 17:09
      +1

      Dunno why you're getting downvoted, i too hate the feel of missing out on a stock cause you wanted a bargain or what you were going to pay in your head.

      • original15 on 04/01/2021 - 17:29
        +1

        maybe as there is no actual loss, just loss of what could have quite easily been. Still makes for an uplifting dinner time story from my old man every month or so..

    • endolphin on 04/01/2021 - 19:37
      +3

      Back in March I had a buy order for $8k worth of APT for $8.50. This was when everything was tanking. It opened at about $9.50, rapidly hit $8.70, and I adjusted my buy order to $8.00.

      It hit a low of $8.05 that day, and the next day it was well over $10.

      I could sit here and say I missed out on $100k+ but in reality, there is no way way I would have held on until now. The temptation to sell within a few days and make a quick $10k would have been too strong.

      (not actually a fan of APT at all but was trying to ride it back up).

  • Cluster on 03/01/2021 - 22:07

    I have had bitcoins in the past and sold them for a tidy profit, but obviously I would have far more money now. Hindsight is 20/20. Never subscribe to the 'woulda coulda shoulda' school of investing. You'll go insane with stress and regret.

    Bitcoin could blow up tomorrow and drop 90% within weeks. Its happened at least four times before in history.

    • whooah1979 on 03/01/2021 - 22:27

      Bitcoin could blow up tomorrow and drop 90% within weeks.

      Hodlers are halving wet dreams.

    • redfox1200 on 05/01/2021 - 10:04

      yes, when institutions were not involved.

      now the big money is starting to roll in, so don't expect another 90% correction. i doubt we will see 20k again.

      • whooah1979 on 05/01/2021 - 10:16

        A $20k dip at a $35k spot price would be big, but small when the spot price is at $343k.

        • redfox1200 on 05/01/2021 - 10:20

          yeah i expect bitcoin to stay above 20k now that institutions are involved

          • whooah1979 on 05/01/2021 - 10:35

            @redfox1200: Michael Saylor and his billionaire friends will make sure it only goes up. They (companies, family offices, trusts, etc) will scoop up every sats that the weak hands drops.

  • this is us on 03/01/2021 - 22:36

    I did the same with Ethereum years ago… Bought some, missed the opportunity to more than double the money, then sold for the same amount I bought, and then again saw Ethereum going up… That's part of the cryptocurrency risk. At least we haven't lost money as many people did…

  • dddddog on 03/01/2021 - 22:57

    my friend once said he bought something illegal (ill leave it for your imagination) for 3 bitcoins! at today's rates, that's about A$135,000

    • trapper on 04/01/2021 - 16:03
      +1

      I know a guy who did that with 70 bitcoins!

  • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2021 - 06:34
    +5

    Why be disappointed. You got your original investment back and avoided a large loss.

    You've watched the movie "Rounders"? The quote at the end of the movie is "you can't lose what you don't put in the middle, but you can't win much either" is apt. Bitcoin is gambling. It has no intrinsic worth other than it is a scarce resource others have temporarily given value.

    Bitcoin is subject to whether demand remains, national laws permit, theft, protocol changes, and miner availability.

    So a volatile asset just bubbled rapidly. Well, you missed out, but you also don't have to worry about whether it will continue to bubble or pop in the next few days. Maybe ease of mind is worth something, too.

  • mrmachine on 04/01/2021 - 08:04
    +3

    Bought 5 btc when they were AU $13, in order to pay for a VPN anonymously which cost 3 btc for 12 months. At the time I was worried the price of $13 was crazy and would drop and is lose my $70.

    Never even used the VPN in the end, so at a current price of $112k that was an expensive And pointless exercise!

    One day someone told me btc was worth $700 which again I thought was crazy so I sold 1 btc, and kept 1. Later it dropped to $250 and I told all my friends to buy in. They were kicking themselves that they didn't buy in at $13, but still didn't buy in at $250.

    Just before the last big crash one friend had finally bought into crypto and was telling me he was up $60k trading alt coins. I decided to follow his lead and diversify my 1 btc when it was around AU $30k. Kept 0.8 btc.

    Then the crash. My friend who at one point had 6 btc worth of alt coins had practically nothing. Down $60k. I was kicking myself for wasting 0.2 btc on alt coins and not selling at the peak.

    Now my 0.8 btc and 1 eth is back up to AU $36k and I am again thinking should I sell. But then I think, what if in 5 years it is up to $100k?

    So my plan is to hold until I actually need the money for something, and not just try to pick a good moment to sell. Because even if I sell right at the peak, it will probably recover to new highs and I would again have regret.

    If I sell when I actually need the money, any value over $10 will still be a net gain and I think any cash at a moment when really needed will be more useful than selling just to cash out on a win (and have that win later turn to regret).

  • MontyMacaw on 04/01/2021 - 08:36
    +2

    O.M.G! Get over yourself. Sounds like the guy that backed a 100 to one shot for a place, made a killing but complained he should have put it on for the win. Clearly you should not be speculating at all like this. Put it in your super and be glad you got your money back and get on with living.

  • MrRichie on 04/01/2021 - 08:40
    +1

    Hey OP check out theta token. Crypto at potentially bargain prices compared to three months from now 🤣😜 (this is not financial advice, I’m a cat)

  • electronicbits on 04/01/2021 - 08:59
    +3

    Here is my best advice

    • Opportunities like the one you had, will come around many many times over in the future. Not just on bitcoin. There are thousands other markets to take advantage of. If you keep feeling bad, you will stay busy feeling bad and not able to watch the next opportunities when they come around.

    • What you did, was mere gambling. You did not examine your risk, as pretty much you did not know what you were doing.
      If you want to stop gambling, then start by understanding market dynamics, fundamental analysis and technical analysis.

    Hope this helps.

  • OzHunterNSW on 04/01/2021 - 09:54
    +5

    Imagine the guy who bought a pizza

    • Cluster on 04/01/2021 - 12:24

      10,000BTC for two pizzas, or 215 million AU dollars per pizza. This is a fundamental problem with BTC. If it's worth more tomorrow than it is today, why would you ever spend one?

      • Hunter14 on 04/01/2021 - 14:32
        +1

        I think people have the wrong idea about BTC.

        It is unlikely to be used as a replacement for fiat money. It is seen as a digital commodity to replace gold in the future. Since there is a finite amount like gold, that is what makes it valuable. So the more people buy, the less there will be hence it increases in value. However, it is still very speculative given the value is only what people give it.

        • MontyMacaw on 04/01/2021 - 18:44

          It is a vehicle to move money around. That is one use. Especially internationally. But you still have to pay a transaction fee one way or the other.

        • Cluster on 05/01/2021 - 11:03

          The thing that people always forget about is Bitcoin's 21M limit is by agreement only. It only requires a few lines of code to change and 50%+ of the network to run the new code for their to be as many bitcoins as people wish. Try doing that with gold.

          Bitcoin has also been forked half a dozen times. When Bitcoin Cash appeared suddenly 16M tokens that acted just like Bitcoin appeared. Many billions of dollars flashed into existence where they did not exist seconds earlier. Bitcoin is also a fiat currency.

          • whooah1979 on 05/01/2021 - 11:10

            @Cluster:

            It only requires a few lines of code to change and 50%+ of the network to run the new code for their to be as many bitcoins as people wish.

            Hard forks don't work. They crash and burn.

          • Hunter14 on 05/01/2021 - 14:16

            @Cluster: It's not that easy to just 'change the code'.

            Theoretically someone could create a Bitcoin2 but that's equivalent to someone trying to create Google2 to compete with Google.

            BTC being the original and the first mover is an advantage that cannot be replicated.

    • PopCounty on 04/01/2021 - 18:16

      I am thinking otherwise. That is for the guy who ‘sold’ pizza 🍕

  • mrvaluepack on 04/01/2021 - 11:27
    +4

    You are unlucky but as others have said please don't call this an "investment". This falls under gambling or speculation. Same thing as going to the casino and betting on games.

    • macrocephalic on 04/01/2021 - 11:41
      +3

      I'm still waiting for my tulips to go back up.

    • apexplosive on 04/01/2021 - 14:15

      Still have to pay taxes like an investment hence it's technically an investment.

      • mrvaluepack on 04/01/2021 - 14:17
        +1

        If you win consistently at poker you have to pay taxes too but its still gambling.

    • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2021 - 18:15

      Some of the biggest funds and names around are doing crypto these days. The longer you think it's just gambling, the longer you're missing out on money.

  • macrocephalic on 04/01/2021 - 11:37
    +1

    So you lost the opportunity cost of $10k which could have been in another investment for a few years - that's it.

    I also didn't buy AAPL stocks in the late 90's, I could have been rich!!!

  • itbargainhunter on 04/01/2021 - 12:04

    I was close to someone who was a successful professional gambler.

    According to him, the main difference between a normal person and a professional gambler is the different level of risk adversary when the same people is losing or winning.

    He highlighted the below cases.

    Just say a person has $1000 to start with and gambles on $100 in each bet in a game with 1:1 odds would withdraw the game if

    • He loses Y amount of money OR
    • He wins X amount of money

    He then says the majority of people are happy to take X less than Y. (More risk-averse when they are winning consecutively while ignoring risk while losing). He then added in many case normal people are ready to loss all of their money (Y = 1000) while happy to make just 400-600 and leave. Noted it is a 1:1 odds game in theory.

    He then added a pro gambler will know exactly how much he is willing to win and lose with the same risk assessment, in any seating and move on. (Win-lose control, or cut-win/cut-loss)

    So for OP, besides move on, I would suggest reviewing your investment objectives before going into any investment.
    Cut Win / Cut Loss and don't look back as I am pretty sure this is exactly what the wall street people do.

  • he11bent on 04/01/2021 - 12:08

    WAIT! So you're story is not sad at all? You got your money back.

    Try putting $10k initially at $850 Bitcoin, try then putting in another $110,000. Try then learning to day trade from scratch, try then being good at day trading to the point it allows you to to leave your day job and do it full time.
    Then try, learning the hard way, what the market gives, the market taketh, and going back to having $5000 left only.

    Still at it though, a lot wiser and a lot more risk averse, and it's all about protecting funds then chasing bigger % profits. Building my own trading system little by little.

    • whooah1979 on 04/01/2021 - 12:22
      +2

      Noobs getting rekt is a necessary Rites of passage to separate the ones that deserve gains and those that don't.

      Those that pick themselves up, learn, change and continue are the ones that will most likely to succeed. The rest learn nothing and give up.

      It's 👍 that you're sticking to your plan.

  • darkmattersunB6c0MV on 04/01/2021 - 12:36

    HODL.

  • Venustrap87 on 04/01/2021 - 12:53

    Danny which site did u go on to do your bitcoin or any good sites

    • darkmattersunB6c0MV on 04/01/2021 - 16:37

      You can use binance, btcmarkets etc.

    • rover100 on 04/01/2021 - 19:04

      Binance for altcoins, independent Investor for bitcoin, Eth.

    • danny1213 on 04/01/2021 - 23:20

      I was using Btcmarkets

  • manbearpig on 04/01/2021 - 13:22
    +1

    If the price went back down to $2000 instead of going up, you'd be kicking yourself that you didn't sell it at $10,000 when you had the chance. But you did, and you got your money back. Be happy that you're not kicking yourself over losing money because that'd be a worse feeling.

  • JayM on 04/01/2021 - 13:27

    I sold my 1.5 bitcoins i mined for $660. I spent about ~$2k on the equipment.

    • danyool on 04/01/2021 - 19:45

      Time to fire that bad boy back up! ;)

      • JayM on 05/01/2021 - 09:38

        That machine has long since been replaced by a gaming laptop. It wouldn't be able to mine Bitcoins any more due to mining requiring specialised mining cards. Only good for mining Ethereum or Litecoin now.

  • ankor on 04/01/2021 - 14:00

    How is this not just another pump and dump? Crypto is so volatile that you'd only ever want to buy when there's blood in the water.

    It's pure gambling imo. Having said that, I wish I bought btc during the crash of 2018.

  • drprox on 04/01/2021 - 14:00
    +2

    Oh poor you, you got out with all your money. Where are the real front page worthy btc gamblers!?

  • Huz Huz on 04/01/2021 - 14:24
    +2

    I bet $150 on Trump to win. Considering I lost, but he won, I feel incredibly unlucky.

    I’m now off to buy some XRP and Chainlink.

  • EdisonsMen on 04/01/2021 - 14:37

    Don't feel bad, it can always be worse:

    https://www.wired.co.uk/article/bitcoin-lost-newport-landfil…

    • fredk1000 on 04/01/2021 - 14:56

      Good read, but that was silly wasn't it.
      Plus he probably should of backed it up.

  • Blargman2001 on 04/01/2021 - 15:20
    +2

    Trying to time the market is a suckers game. Like trying to win at the casino, sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. Once you start hearing about an asset class in the news most of the gains have already been made.

  • Smol Cat on 04/01/2021 - 15:23
    +1

    I had a crap ton of ETH once upon a time. I also know people who threw away hard drives with thousands of BTC years ago. Your story is but a drop in the bucket when it comes to crypto. You didn't even lose any money wtf mate.

    • vid_ghost on 04/01/2021 - 22:46
      +2

      i formatted away 100's of BTC's .. they were worthless lol back in the day.. oh well it is what it is.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2021 - 15:43

    I turned $300 of litecoin into $27,000.

    The only way to make money was to be an early adopter.

    Everyone who got in during the middle or near the end got absolutely (profanity) over hard.

    I also put $5000 into litecoin last year and cashed out last month for $20,000.

    Not as big a profit but when I out that $5000 in I had accepted that it was lost and I was never getting it back which made me not go mad and check the market everyday and stress out.

    • Chchnu on 04/01/2021 - 16:43

      If you did 5k initially then 300 last year you could of got $451,200.

      • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2021 - 18:29

        That is $40k+ that I didn't have to work for. I'm still happy as Larry.

        Moreso when reading these little stories from people like OP.

  • Briefcase Mong on 04/01/2021 - 15:56

    Bitcoin is pure speculation there is no fundamentals unlike stocks yes it is at an all time high but when you start seeing it going down you won't know when to sell

  • Poor Ass on 04/01/2021 - 15:56
    +2

    what a tear jerker

  • giftcardinspector on 04/01/2021 - 16:20
    +2

    I bought 12 bitcoin in 2012/2013 for $12 each.
    $144 then, $500k now.
    I don't lose any sleep over it

    • Smol Cat on 05/01/2021 - 02:10

      As in they’re gone or you still have them?

      • giftcardinspector on 05/01/2021 - 07:10
        +1

        They're long gone.
        I spent them on darknet markets.

        • sund00bie on 05/01/2021 - 08:34
          +1

          canrelate

          Could have had a LOT of money now but….. had a lot of fun back then :)

        • Smol Cat on 05/01/2021 - 13:26
          +1

          Yeah who knew back then. Water under the bridge.

  • magster on 04/01/2021 - 16:37
    +2

    I wish I was in your position. I put in around 50k in various Altcoins during the hype back in 2017/18, and was down 80% at one stage. They are still only worth about 40% of what I put in. I wish I could just break even, sell and move on. I was also kicking myself for not converting them to Btc before just leaving them around. I’ve blocked them out of my mind and tried to think too much about it, life goes on. I just tell myself I’m really bad at trading and never to dab in high risk investment like stocks and crypto again, it’s not for me.

  • Chchnu on 04/01/2021 - 16:38

    Imagine if OP actually lost money.

  • ratoloko on 04/01/2021 - 16:46

    Well, you didn't lose anything, you have your money back and you learned to never listen to family and friends regarding finance.

    Bitcoins is luck. Yes, there are people making a lot of money but it is an uncertain world.
    If things go bad like has happened, you lose everything.

    Bitcoins is an investment that you don't need for a long time. You apply it and forget.
    You might check after 10y or so.

    Well, everything that comes easy, goes easy!

  • daddydirtsurfer on 04/01/2021 - 16:48
    -1

    I don't understand how does bitcoin work?

  • t_c on 04/01/2021 - 17:43
    +1

    Hey hey hey https://youtu.be/yIL9wLxG01M

  • Bunnyburger on 04/01/2021 - 18:13
    +1

    This is good for Bitcoin

  • ryf on 04/01/2021 - 18:28

    Better than the poor dude who chucked out 7500 bitcoins

  • Dave Bowman on 04/01/2021 - 18:52

    Try not to be too sad when BTC hits 6 figures this year.

    • netjock on 04/01/2021 - 18:59
      +1

      Just sad for the idiots paying 6 figures for open source code.

  • luminousfox on 04/01/2021 - 19:20

    I always tell myself "i would have been too scared to hold further anyways to make any profit" which helps a bit, makes me feel less stupid about the times i've walked away and its gone up more later

  • maddoglee on 04/01/2021 - 20:11
    +1

    Unlucky… If it makes you feel better. I never bought into any of it so you're $100 better off than me

  • daft009 on 04/01/2021 - 21:34

    If only I started in Bitcoin when my friend told me in 2010 to start. He was mining 20 btc per day back then

  • MessyG on 04/01/2021 - 22:12

    You got your money back after a high risk investment AND you learned a lot. Win!

  • vid_ghost on 04/01/2021 - 22:40
    +5

    I mined 100 bitcoins back when they first came out on a AMD Radion 5870 :) they were worthless back then and when it came to reinstalling windows i didn't even bother with them them and formatted my hard drive :)

    Then there's that guy who used 20,000 bit coins to buy a pizza :)… times have changed and i wish i could turn back time.. but i cant and life goes on.

    If i kept my coins and mined some more i would be rich today but i may have also crashed my Lamborghini and died.. so who knows whats going to or would of happened.

  • taoz on 04/01/2021 - 22:56
    +2

    If this is the unluckiest thing thats happened to you. Then you may well be a VERY lucky person.
    In the scheme of things, i wouldnt lose a wink of sleep over it

  • AustriaBargain on 04/01/2021 - 23:01
    +3

    Again, you stopped gambling and you broke even. You did the right thing and you should feel proud of your decision making skills in the end. Don't let anyone here or anywhere else tell you anything different. 10k isn't enough to top yourself over, but it's still a whole lot of money, probably two months gross wages for most people.

  • danny1213 on 04/01/2021 - 23:18
    +1

    lol thanks everyone for their responses, I guess I just didn't want to keep bringing it up with my close circle of friends - it can be so annoying when someone keeps bringing this crap up, so decided to write up my thoughts on a forum. Some of the insights are quite interesting and I appreciate the responses I received to this.

    At the end of the day I am not losing sleep over this, and letting it out has helped me move on from it too - so thanks everyone.

  • umoddbro on 04/01/2021 - 23:53
    -2

    The only people making motza off bitcoin are the habitual gamblers most people sell out at the slightest sign of profit very few ride the wave till 40k.

    • mohan76 on 05/01/2021 - 00:16

      40k or 1k ?

  • dcep on 05/01/2021 - 00:17
    +3

    i remember i commented here on 23/3 when APT was $8

    and some ozb name mskeggs said to wait 6 months till the market bottoms

    turns out market all time high after 6 months

  • Cusack on 05/01/2021 - 07:55

    The most unluckiest person would've sold it when it was $2000 value.

  • Penguin30 on 05/01/2021 - 08:10

    Best advice ever… Don't follow the sheep most the time they are buying to top and selling the bottom. Do the opposite and you will in the long run more than likely make more.

  • Herbse on 05/01/2021 - 09:10

    Wait for the next crash and you'll be happy again

  • Homr on 05/01/2021 - 09:42

    OP did not lose money, this is not "sad" at all.

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