For those new to all cryptocoins, from Bitcoin to Litecoin to Ethereum to CryptoKitties to (of course) Steem, welcome one, welcome all!
My poor boyfriend bought his first cryptocurrency today: two Litecoin. He unfortunately timed it poorly: the market was at $380. Right now, LTC is hovering at about $330.
I'll be honest: I bought some more cryptocurrency today too; about $100 worth of Bitcoin, $500 worth of Ethereum, and $750 worth of Litecoin. Forget spending my bonus on gifts--Imma get me some cryptocrazycash.
And all of my investments from today? They're down. I've lost money. And that's ridiculously hard--until I remind myself that today isn't the last day to invest in cryptocurrency--or make money off of it.
My boyfriend checks his phone almost every hour, frustrated as he refreshes his ticker. When Litecoin dropped below $300, he anxiously asked me if he should sell. I felt a moment of panic, reverting to every new investor's fear: what if I lose it? What if I made a mistake?
And then I calmed, remembering the facts.
Even hovering at $330, Litecoin is still up about 30% today.
Ethereum is up 20%.
Bitcoin, even with all the hype, is up 2%.
We don't invest in cryptocurrency to day trade--or at least we shouldn't. Crypto is an investment that should be made over the mid- to long-term. I told my boyfriend what I've told all other new buyers: today is the best and the worst day to buy, but a year from now, you'll be kicking yourself for not purchasing. Hold your investments for six months and then check in. You'll likely be doing more than just fine.
Right now, I'm considering grabbing a few CryptoKitties (AKA Beanie Babies gone wild on the blockchain). If they fall through, then fine, I'm out a couple hundred bucks. But if they succeed? Given my success with other cryptocurrencies, I feel like it'll be worth it.
SO, as a note to new investors and seasoned investors feeling the roller coaster alike, just remember, keep calm and HODL. Future you will thank you.
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I'll be perfectly honest with you - it sounds like both you and your boyfriend are flying by the seat of your pants and buying out of emotion rather than taking the time to plan your investments and have an exit strategy.
I could be totally wrong but my $0.02 are to plan out when to enter and exit a market and stick to your plans, not to let FOMO or emotion overshadow your investment goals. Best of luck!
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Ha! A fair assessment--maybe. I think that there's a good argument that all blockchain currency investments are emotional investments since there really isn't a solid distilled way of "predicting" the market.
Think about it this way: structurally, why is BTC worth so much more than other cryptos? At the end of the day, it's much more about it being a legacy currency than anything structural about how it was created or distributed. When I first got into buying crypto, I bought Litecoin because of its infrastructure especially when compared to Ethereum, but that doesn't guarantee that it'll perform well. I had a price in mind where I was going to sell LTC, but the market literally blew past it in one day. At this point I've said, "If it pays for my downpayment, sell. Otherwise, hold."
Who could have predicted Dogecoin's massive failure? Or PayCoin's embarrassment of a scam?
The blockchain is still so underdeveloped that claiming that there's a science to these kinds of investments is a joke. I think we're doing the best with the knowledge that we have, but, like any other currency, cryptocurrencies are only valuable if other people think it is. I only see the hype growing. Sure, there will eventually be a bubble, but I don't see that happening for many, many years to come.
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I agree with you, actually. Don't panic, everything will be ok. I am sure, the next year you will be happy for buying it. Also, you are wise investing your money instead of wasting it on shopping (as I usually do) =)
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