Bitcoin Forum

Genuinely want to know what prevents your friends/gf/ colleagues from investing? Did you have any barriers when you first started?

Genuinely, I hesitated to invest in bitcoin when I know about it first and it took years almost 2 to 3 years precisely to understand I missed the early train now let's get into the investment and make some money then only I introduced into bitcointalk and understand the concept of decentralisation and why it is important in this world especially the depreciating fiat money keep all the people in the trap.

And the biggest fear is what if the value of the bitcoin goes to zero after I invested, obviously I don't have any doubt now but at first I thought in the way and realised reward is great compared to risk.

Probably, financial illiteracy prevents friends and colleagues from investing in bitcoin. That is, people don't want to see / try alternative directions, because the traditional financial system seems familiar and reliable to them. Of course, we will agree with the first one, because nobody don’t want to go beyond the limits of comfort, while with regard to the second, many here will categorically disagree.

My barrier was not understanding the basic principles of the bitcoin and not knowing how to interact with it. That is, where and how to buy, how to make transactions and where to store. All this can be learned, you just need to try it once and see for yourself how it works.

If I had not been too lazy to find answers right away, then my acquaintance with BTC would have taken place earlier, when it was much cheaper.

When I first heard about Bitcoin, I was intimidated by its number of zeros. At the time, my boss offered to pay in Bitcoin, but I was dumbfounded by what my payment would look like. I did not believe in Bitcoin; it was just at the time when Liberty Reserve ceased to exist that there were many accusations against this digital money, and I thought that everything new that was created at that time would have exactly the same short lifespan.
I moved in very narrow circles and was too lazy to step out of my comfort zone to learn more about Bitcoin, and now, of course, I really regret it.
As for further trials and attempts to invest in Bitcoin, I have always been wrong about the price. As soon as I had free money when I could invest, the price rose, and buying a small amount, I always sold on the dip.
But I got a good experience, and this is much more important than the loss of not quite a lot of money.

My biggest fear is my government going after me! The next fear of mine is everyone's fear. That is getting rekt, scammed, losing principal and volatility.

What I eventually discovered was Bitcoin being a safe option than anything. It may be volatile but in every two to three years it's does give a boost to its dollar value. Which is enough for anyone to invest in it. 

In my case, I was a bit hesitant at first but I was more willing to try and explore it. Just with the help of my friends who are more knowledgeable, I was able to explore and learn until I become the one that influences others. Based on my experience introducing it to others, it's normal to be reluctant and afraid since you don't know anything. But since my friends are aware that I'm earning through crypto and they trust me, they also have the urge to learn as well. Sometimes, they're the one who will come to me and would ask me to teach them. The barrier that I could think of when I was starting and when my other friends are starting is the limited amount of money to invest and the fear of losing it, cause who would want to experience losing during your first try or when you're just starting?

Few years back then, my fear was that I could lose all of the money if I will invest it since I only had very little knowledge about crypto. I believe that it nature to us of not investing to things we do not know about.
However, back then my first investment was to shitcoins.
I don't have any idea on how can I know of potential scam projects and sh*tcoins. To give you a brief idea, there was some times back then that I really gotten into no-utility coins and lose some of my earned money from doing certain jobs in crypto space. It was a good lesson though, so I'm fine that I had experienced that.

For our friends or anyone, I think they also are afraid of starting to invest in crypto since it is a gray area to them.

Some other factors might be related to the fund security, and the volatility risk of cryptocurrency. People think that it can be hacked. Also, as we know it, cryptocurrencies are real volatile assets. But in the case of Bitcoin, I believe that later on, it'll be less volatile.

Honestly, they are afraid of the risks.
They were briefly interested in entering when they asked me to tell them how to get some of the items I bought from crypto earnings. Until they slowly loosened up after getting the general advice in this space, I said that there was no guarantee that they would get the same thing as I did. Even if they will, it will not be instantaneous because it has taken me several years and experienced various risks to reach this point.

Well for me I just thought it was some kind of get rich scheme that always turns bad for its members as I never actually had a right notion to what bitcoin actually was, well you couldn't blame me though as my neighborhood was filled with so many scheme of such that left people regretting for ever trying such things and ever since I got proper education on bitcoin in this community, I have also tried to share it to my colleague but same old barrier that I was facing was edging between them and this wonderful initiative and it alway feels like a wasted effort for me.

I actually had more courage than I’m used to. I just knew it’d be a good idea staying away from the unknown and continuing to learn. So I made mistakes every now and then but nothing significant.

Even today, I have a lot of courage but I’m still trying to sit far away from the unknown and start discovering new things slowly. Step by step.

The only barrier is adequate knowledge.

When I first started, I was very scared not to lose everything I had because I heard that there is a very big risk in Bitcoin investment. Therefore,  I stayed to learn and get a little bit of basic knowledge about the entire cryptocurrency process before starting in order to avoid losing my money due to a lack of knowledge on how to manage my entire Bitcoin investment.

My biggest fear when I came to this bitcoin forum was that I would run into administrative problems. Because Bitcoin is still illegal in my country. Bitcoin is illegal in my country so transactions are very confidential. Then came the second fear when I started investing. After investing in the first stage, it seemed that this cryptocurrency site was doomed. It was a new situation to be afraid of everything here but now I am definitely enjoying and investing my time here. No more fear works in my mind. Even so, I'm still working somewhat undercover here. Because people can get into administrative trouble if they are hostile.

Lack of knowledge and trust is the obvious reason why people are hindered into investing to Bitcoin.  Another one is lack of money to invest.

If you are asking us about our biggest fear, on my part when I was starting with cryptocurrency, my biggest fear is to suffer losses on my investment.  Since I am new to the industry, I am yet aware about the market practice.  An indepth research will not remove that fear, after all researches never remove the risk involved in an investment.  It can help minimize but will never remove the risk in investment.

I live in an environment where people are naturally skeptical of anything as a result of the fear of falling for a scam. So naturally, they want to see someone else succeed at an investment before they go ahead to put money in it. This is the story with Bitcoin investment. It was very difficult at first to convince anyone to invest in Bitcoin, but as soon as I bought some items purely from the profits I took from Bitcoin, boom, they became convinced and interested. So they knew that they could both make some money by investing in Bitcoin and also be sure that they are on the right side of history.


For me, the only barrier I had when I started investing in Bitcoin was money, aside that nothing else mattered.

Well my biggest fear was getting scammed because I came to know of bitcoin  when ponzi scheme was so rampard in my local community  and it made it seems that every opportunity to make money was scam even affiliates marketing  seemed like a scam to me too.

When I started getting involved with bitcoin and cryptocurrency  in general, I also had the fear of failing and it really retarded my plans on getting involved monetarily.

I grew last the fear of failing and moved to fear of people's  opinion if things don't work the way I planned.

I wouldn't have to speak  for others but I would say that one of the reasons my family and close ones haven't invested in crypto  directly through my preaching is simply  because of over familiarity and they don't think I'm  qualified  to tell them about it hence they need to see that I'm doing very fine in the industry hence seeing is believing.

I didn't have any inhibitions when I started and instead I had to learn a lot quite rigorously after some time since knowing him. My interest increased, I started to find something that made me more optimistic and I'm still holding on. I know it's risky especially when it comes to trading and investing, but that will only change once you understand how the market works from cycle to cycle.

If it is about trade and investment, then the main barrier is capital. Obviously that's the average problem faced by beginners, but when you come with good capital strength, then your problem will be different.

I'm sure all of us must have initially felt fear or doubt when we first considered investing in Bitcoin. I think this is natural considering the unique and complex characteristics of the cryptocurrency market.

I myself initially had fear when I got to know bitcoin investment because bitcoin can lose money. This fear of loss made my confidence when I started investing in bitcoin even more doubtful. Apart from that, in my country, investing in bitcoin still has pros and cons in the government and also among the people. But after I learned day by day that bitcoin has grown rapidly and has lasted more than a decade, this is the reason that made me interested in investing in bitcoin and made me even more confident.

I think it is because of this Ignorance that we feel fear. The thing is that once I already know about bitcoin investing and I fully understand the concept and technology behind bitcoin, my fears and doubts about bitcoin will disappear. I proved this when I introduced bitcoin to my family, they were immediately interested in investing in bitcoin.

In essence, a lack of understanding of how Bitcoin works, its security or how to manage investments in cryptocurrency can affect confidence and fear in starting a bitcoin investment.

Well, short of finances that is mostly the barrier that I've got when I get to know about Bitcoin. And the other people that I've talked to before, they've said the same thing "If I've got money, I'll buy Bitcoin". That's what I do hear a lot every time the price of Bitcoin goes high. They do recognize the opportunity that has been missing them but they don't do actions on it because they're short on money. The volatility of Bitcoin isn't scary at all, it's even lovely to see that there's such an asset like this that we'll enjoy even for the short run.

Barrier none. When I first embarked with crypto and bitcoin, I am full of curiosity and that not stop me from learning it up to this day. Some of my friends are bit hesitant about that and obviously due to lack of knowledge about it. But I did introduced to them properly and some believed me. But due to experiece on bear market many have been discouraged and felt neglected about it. Though Im still incline to some of them.

We usually have alot of barriers when beginning  anything new .... I'm not really gonna say Bitcoin is that new to everyone but I think one-a-half of the percentage of peeps see the orientation as "new to them".
When you have alot of orientations on what you're joining, you'll be very confident to the point that there's no reason to be inquisitive about the durability of this whole cryptography. That's why you would normally them neigh-sayers proposing that - "a learned mind is a free mind" and that's true.

Sandra 🧑‍🦰

It may seem surprising to some, but the price fluctuation is what prevents many of my friends from investing, in addition to the lack of legal clarity and the fact that Bitcoin is an intangible currency.

Some of them say I do not want to lose and therefore I am looking for something guaranteed that increases by a fixed percentage every year and does not expose me to loss, and others are afraid of going to prison and want to see all the friends they have invested without fear, and others want it like cash, where I can smell it.

At first, i'm hesitant to engage myself in crypto due to my past experiences. I got scammed from my previous investment online, the reason why it's not easy to trust again. But as time goes by, after learning about crypto particularly Bitcoin I proved to myself that it is different to the investment that I joined before. The doubts and worries were replaced by optimism after I experienced to profit with my investment, even it takes time.

On the other side, the common barrier on why some people are not investing in crypto is lack of capital. Even they gain knowledge and aware that it is profitable, lack of money that is meant for investment is a hindrance to engage themselves.

Not only your friends, but my friends also feel afraid about the price fluctuation in crypto. They can't imagine if the prices always decrease after they buy some crypto coins. That happens because they don't know the whole side of crypto world. Most of them only view the risk side, they never learn the potential profits of the coins. They also don't want to try learning how to deal with price fluctuation, so they don't have an idea that crypto investment has a positive side. Moreover, there are too many FUDs spreading about the negative sides of crypto. People who don't know the truth about crypto, will instantly trust the FUDs.

Regarding intangible currency, modern people shouldn't be worried about it. We are already familiar with digital currencies, it is not so different with crypto coins. The difference, legal digital currencies are made by the governments and they are centralized. The government fully controls and manages the legal currencies. While most crypto coins are decentralized currencies, so the government can't control or manage them.

in last 5 years i was hesitate to invest in crypto before that so my friend also involved in this industry to make huge money that is why i was decision to invest money to trade with small amount . so on that time my experienced was bad but time to time i did to try yourself empower to learn about blockchain to goes in right direction. now iam profitable Trader. so i will suggest you to make investment with high potential projects

When I first heard of Bitcoin, I dismissed it right away. I didn't even try to get to know it. And then I heard about it being a digital currency of sorts and I wasn't at all convinced. Who in his/her sane mind would risk his/her money for something like that? It doesn't have any kind of guarantee or insurance. Doubts abounded. I also knew it had a good price run but not being anchored on anything makes it a castle built on sand. It could fall just as fast. It was a house of cards.

It was only when I started reading about it that I got finally convinced. The word decentralized was very interesting and attractive to me. I am not a technical person but I appreciated how those who thoroughly understand Bitcoin made it appear as if Bitcoin is invincible.

Oh, they're all actually so excited to know about cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, after knowing I could gain some money from here. But, unfortunately, they just want advice on which one they can buy to make a lot of money without wanting to learn the fundamentals first. I always share some basic knowledge with them, but without a strong will to know more, I think it won't work well. I not only share the sweet side of this field but also the bitter side, so they know they can fail too. Probably, the uncertainty, volatility, and difficulty to analyze compared to stocks are some of the reasons why these people avoid jumping in. While I personally jumped in 2016–2017 when Bitcoin was beginning to get hyped, I'm curious but also anxious about this new thing because it's not familiar. I thought it was only a money game, but then I found interest in learning it further from YouTube, and here I am, still kicking after a couple of bear and bull 

Initially I was really misinformed about bitcoin and cryptocurrency entirely, I thought it was a ponzi just like Mmm, but I never knew what it's really entails, my ugly past experience of ponzi scheme really make it very had for me to even consider it at the early stages of it development, but know I feel ultra confidence about bitcoin because I believe it is the future of money.

When I started back in March 2020, the prices were way down so I thought this thing is crazy and is the best time of the year to invest. I was also worried as the covid was about to spread and my university was closed and we were asked to study from home. So I gave it a go, put some amount that I had with me into BTC and here we are today. I have been in the ride from $6k to $69k, that is almost 10x and it's really crazy where It can go in upcoming years.

The very first time I have bought cryptocurrency was a purchase by credit card. So my biggest fear was to type cards data on a exchange webpage. As a newbie, when I did not know anything, it was buying air with real money. I was sending money in exchange for pixels. All those internet stories when scammers steal cards data and funds only worsen situation. That time it was my only card with all my savings.

Personally, I have never hesitated to invest in Bitcoin since the day I first learned about it. The concept of digital money resonated with me and after extensive research, I became a Bitcoin fan. From the beginning, I believed that Bitcoin had the potential to gain a crazy value in the future and that belief has proven to be true.

I'm grateful that I discovered Bitcoin years ago unlike some people who only recently learned about it when its already expensive for some now to invest. I feel like investing in Bitcoin early on has provided me with advantages that newbies may find challenging to attain due to the current high price of Bitcoin.

For the OP question, I feel that some people's hesitation to invest in Bitcoin comes from a fear based mindset which leads them to believe that Bitcoin will be destroyed by the government or that it's simply a bubble. These people may not fully understand or have explored Bitcoin in depth which contributes to their skepticism. It could be a result of their passive approach to learning about crypto.

Yeah people are looking for safety, not risk. Only few of us would truly risk something. If Bitcoin didn’t always have ATH after ATH, many of those replying in this thread would be doing something else instead of posting here and believing in BTC. So it shouldn’t be surprising, this is a natural thing apparently, many of us are just scared of uncertainty.

Not actually they are looking for safety but rather for big profits since most of the time we see so many scam victim which target big profits this is why we see a lot of them get scam by hyip or any investment platform since they had been deceive that they can earn decent money by just putting money into their platform.

Even by know this exist and many people still fall on this trap since greed of money lead them up to go on this situation.

When I started in crypto I had almost zero savings and no job, so the risk of losing the little I had was compensable by the hope of multiplying it. In addition to that, I invested primarily my time, because I finally took this as a hobby, so the potential loss was even lower.

The few times I talk about crypto with friends or relatives I'm aware that they won't have my interest on the topic, so the only way to enter here would be with their hardly earned money, and this is why I have never encouraged them too much. Like one friend of mine used to say: "because, if they lose their money, they will blame you for it, and if they win, they won't thank you...".

Of course, the biggest fear for newbies, and it's better for them to be cautious, is to be scammed or lose all their money out of ignorance.

The most important point that has occupied my mind since I entered the crypto world, whether before or during the first investment, is that Bitcoin loses its decentralized properties, according to what is determined by the Satoshi protocol. There are central actors in the field of crypto, such as the few mining companies that only two or three of them monopolize the entire market, and such as the trading platforms that establish a centralized system for crypto that contradicts the most basic principles of privacy. Fortunately, there are good developers working for the bitcoin community and support decentralization and privacy.

In the past, my biggest fear about crypto is losing money due to high volatility of Bitcoin and other coins and tokens, but that happened because I lacked the knowledge about how crypto market works and once I embark on the journey of getting more exposure and learning more about crypto I came to understand that it's all my fault.

There are times to invest and there are time to stop buying, when the market is pumping it's already too late to buy, the earlier you get into the market when fear and uncertainty is going on the better, you've secured a better space for your portfolio and you will reap good profits if you have enough patience.

I can tell you a hundred reasons I've heard and noticed with people in my circle but Honestly bro there was nothing that even stopped me even a bit from jumping into this field because even I didn't notice when I jumped into the market.

Because I've entered the crypto market unknowingly your student life. Hustle to make a few dollars and manage to boost my pocket money and show up in front of friends, this was the reason I got into the crypto market. Unintentionally after making mear efforts on Youtube, Facebook, and Blogging, I decided to join marketing then from some native YouTubers I got an Airdrop opportunity in the Blockchain wallet Airdrop was of XLM and I really got 25$ That was the happiest day of my life on those days Alhamdullialah after that I got many as well. After joining 6 months of scam Airdrops on Telegram I decided to quit and I did it. A few months later I got an email from the project HEX that "Airdrop has been distributed to your provided wallet" and then I started checking my Aidrop wallet and came to know if I got any tokens some are worth a few cents and some are few dollars but HEX was within $9. something. Luckily I was not sure how to withdraw and I never learned it for a few months again then when it reached around 30$ I decided to learn how to withdraw them. After that crypto became an important part of my life.

I didn't face any fear because I never took entry as an investor in the market, I learned and educated myself and now I am a minor Trader, Investor, and I don't know what to say more. That's all thanks if you are reading my story -Hamza

Honestly, it was all about the early days when people were talking about that Bitcoin is only a tool for illegal trades, drug deals and all of those stuff. But after having that cleared thought and did a research as well, digging in the past isn't important.

What's important is foreseeing the future with it. Well, all of them, none believed me and it's just me that continued and it is my thought during the early days.

It was also taking risk, a lot of risks because it's still new and only a few have believed and those that have done the same will say that it's worth it.

Your friends who are afraid of fluctuations are those who are weak and do not know anything about crypto. Even though price fluctuations can be utilized properly to take advantage. If you only think about the risks, then there are many risks that will occur. Such people will be easily affected by FUD and choose to no longer trade in crypto, but when prices rise and continue to rise they are also easily affected by the FOMO effect and buy at high prices. This also relates to a person's mental problems.

Can't really say but as an individual there's always something trying to push us back even if what we're planning to get is profit, is like a force depriving us from achieving our goal. Well, the fear of missing out on that potential profits can lead one from making that impulsive decision, such as investing more than they can afford to lose and sometimes the fear of missing out FOMO is frequently heated up by social media and news coverage about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. With the way Bitcoin prize is going I believe we have those who are still afraid of HODLing.

The most difficult thing is to start buying, and decide on the storage method. When I decided that I would store bitcoin on a hardware wallet, it was a difficult time to start buying, but in the end I decided for myself the level to which I would buy and try to do it every week, or every few weeks.

You should have a clear plan for how you will act in different situations. Think it through ahead and just follow it.

Fear of the unknown was my challenge. Back then when Bitcoin became rampant in 2010 ponzi and many scam projects were also hovering the internet so the fear of going for the wrong investment became my biggest challenge, I still ended up falling for many scam projects and ponzi but that also opened my eye to understand that research is the key base for making any investment and not until i read Bitcoin white paper to understand what the coin is all about i was still in doubt of Bitcoin. But the paper made my doubt vanish.

Fear of losing their hard-earned money.
I'm not speaking in behalf of my friends or colleagues here because at first place, I didn't tell to them to invest into Bitcoin, or into any cryptocurrency, but they'll be the one who will decide for that. I'm saying it just because for me, it's the main reason why people aren't investing into cryptocurrency.

They are afraid that they might lose their money for different reasons. It's either the market is very volatile, or they might get scammed. This is the problem when people aren't guided with regards to investing in crypto. They are afraid of losing their money especially if that money is the one where they worked for it for a month or two. They're afraid to take the risk, and to ask help with people around them who has been into cryptocurrency for quite some time already.

Yes.

Like most of the newbies here, I'm also afraid of losing money back when I was starting in cryptocurrency. What did I do? I invested my free time watching videos, reading articles that's related to crypto. I've spent the last months learning, and learning until I know the basics of crypto. Of course I will not with the complex ones because I don't have time for it, but the bottom-line is I learned first before I invested.

Nowadays, most of the newbies aren't doing it anymore. They just throw their money into something that they think will make money for them without learning it, and the ending? Most of the time they're losing their money. I just hope that people will learn first before investing, so that they can lower their chances of losing money.

It’s the high volatility of the market that makes investing more risky to take. And the fact that investing does not guarantee profitability because of its price fluctuations, I guess they started to fear to invest than to be more motivated. However, for me its the fear of losing my money that I really think a thousand times if crypto investing will be profitable for me or I just end up losing all my hard-earned money. Until I decide to take the risk by myself and only by then, I realized that crypto investing is never easy but it’s a lot profitable if you have the knowledge and high patience to make it work.

The fear of losing their money seeing crypto investing could end up into a big scam. And maybe it’s also the reason why I never invest at an early time because I still doubt crypto if it’s really legit and profitable when I first know it. But upon reading a lot of positive reviews that crypto investing can create life changing profits, that’s when I start taking the risk and prove it to myself that crypto investing has a lot of potentials to bring wealth into your account.

Only Satoshi believes that his creation will become big and reliable in the future while the rest are in doubt. That is why we call this a risky investment but some did try and test it, and that is the beginning of a huge change in crypto space. Well, of course, that fear (fear of losing our money) is very common to all especially newcomers, with a lack of knowledge and market experience, you can really feel like that. But conquering this feeling is the only way to success and so we must have to do it.

Yes there were obstructions both physical and thoughts. Physical in the sense that people were discouraging me to invest because they don't trust the asset the from my personal thoughts which I was also thinking thinking that investing in bitcoin is a waste because I have invested in different platforms that I have been scammed so I was not having the interest again for anything as investment online. But a friend of mine convinced me very strongly to invest. Most those who are not interested in bitcoin will discourage you to invest. Another group of people who prevent someone nto invest in Bitcoin is Pastors or Christian. They believed that bitcoin is to scam people so they against it. These are some of the things and people which I know that prevented me to invest at the early stage of my bitcoin journey. Though everyone has their own part of the story.

Losing money is main concern by many since we don't know if the project we look for is legit and can able to give us profits since mostly the one we encounter especially upon dealing up with those project are scams.

Only few of those project give us a profit that's the reason why many got afraid to invest on crypto since scamming is rampant and there's no chance for investors to get back their money if this was been stolen by those criminals.

Also main problem is its volatility since this also give fear to people if the value of their holdings drop if they are away and they can't do anything especially if there's no internet connection where they are.

Why it is difficult to decide about storage? It is easy to store in Segwit wallets or any other private wallets. Just avoid storing Bitcoin on CEX wallets since it is not your own wallet. And you will get a problem once the exchange turns out to be a scam exchange.

Of course, before buying Bitcoin or altcoins, we must have a clear plan about them. Decide wisely about the target for selling and know well about their potential in the future. It is nonsense if we invest in a crypto coin but we don't know how we plan for the coin in the future. It is the same as throwing money into random coins.

People always hesitate to invest in things they don't know and understand. Its like you are giving your money to unknown people without an assurance they will come back again; try to tell them about bitcoin itself if it catches their attention more in bitcoin there's a potential on it but if they don't want to push them too much because you cannot change others people perspective not until they regret to be part of it. Prove it that it is more worth it.

My biggest obstacle is fear, when I first got to know Bitcoin I was still confused about this one technology. Question after question arose in my mind that made me want to find out more about Bitcoin, my curiosity started from how to get it, then where to store it after buying it.
After understanding how to buy and have a personal wallet, I started to find out how to do further transactions. Then another question started popping up, what if the Bitcoin doesn't go to my wallet after I buy it. This is the reason why I spent more time in my first year when I was first getting to know Bitcoin.

After volatility is the biggest fear of why people are afraid to invest in Bitcoin, we can also add the regulatory risks and scams/frauds.
Because some government rules may have a big impact on the price and legitimacy of some cryptocurrencies while scams/frauds are very prone in cryptocurrency because in cryptocurrency some could hide their identity, which for some scammers are advantage.

Mine was technical barrier when I started but I think my curiosity and urgency to learn helped me navigate some of that. I admit it hasn't been easy even till now. For my friends and those I try introducing to this game, theirs is more of fear than technical hurdles. Fear that Bitcoin is a scam and that they could easily be swindled. It used to astound me why they didn't want to give it a try first without sounding unnecessarily scared from bad press. Scam is everywhere in every sector of human endeavours. That's what I always tell them.

Right. The high risk of losing their money instantly. Especially when I also get to pinpoint that crypto investing will not make you profitable easily and does not guarantee profitability all the time. That’s where they start hesitating if they still go into crypto or not. But I always say if they want to invest, start with a small amount so that they won’t be badly affected once their investments fail. However, as for me, I was never that early to enter into crypto because of its high risk too, and that time it’s still hard for me to invest since I’ve no enough money for its capital. And scams are also rampant those days so I doubted crypto investment at first if it’s legit or just sort of scam that will make my funds vanish instantly.

My challenge was not having proper understanding about bitcoin. When I heard about bitcoin, I just know that people are making money from it but I didn't have proper understanding about what bitcoin was really about, people  were making money from bitcoin and I also wanted to make money. I started doing more research and I started understanding what bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general was all about, then I have to start trading, I was losing money in trading since i didn't have anybody to guild me, I later gave up after wasting lots of money, but i don't really know what motivated me to continue trading but I was more careful this time around and I stopped future trading.

Honestly, they’re afraid to be scammed on their funds and crypto investing is not an exception. So they really have a hard time believing that crypto investing is legit and will never scam their money. And as much as possible, I don’t want to dwell on their own investment as I don’t want to take the blame in the future. But somehow I also make clear to them that crypto is never a source of scams, that’s for them if they won’t still believe and would still doubt crypto.

I can only speak for myself and not for them; their reasons may differ from mine, therefore everyone is free to form their own opinions about bitcoin investment. The reason, or rather, the barrier that prevented me from joining earlier, was that I detested anything to do with possessing or gaining access to its information online, especially when it involved money. I've been duped before due to my lack of knowledge about online investments and ventures.

I am afraid of such things, therefore I avoid them even though I could have invested earlier and reaped the rewards by now. Nonetheless, I suppose I am not too far into the adventure after gaining a thorough knowledge of bitcoin and how it operates and its potentiality in the coming future.

To be honest, very early on, 5 or 6 years ago, when I first became interested, I was wondering if this was a ponzi scheme or something like that. The first thing I saw was that it was linked to the purchase of drugs and forbidden things through the deep web, then the mt gox scandal appeared, so the first information I had was not flattering.

But in the end, I decided to investigate a little more, I read Satoshi's Paper, some videos of Andreas, and more sources of information of this style, informative, and I dedicated myself to get involved.

It took me a month to get attached with Bitcoin and crypto, yes it was that fast, at the time I have nothing I was really doing and I was looking for a way to get busy doing something with my life, Bitcoin just fit perfectly for my needs so I started doing some practice on Bitcoin and Blockchain, I learned how to configure a pool and also how Bitcoin wallet works.

I was a teacher of myself as I never had anyone who thought me a thing about crypto, the only supporter I had was my father, who to my surprise didn't pressurized me, because in some families, if you get to a certain age your parents will be expecting you to have gotten to a stage where you start providing and have something doing with your life, my father wasn't like this, and it makes my life more easier.

I had so much interest for bitcoin then, but finance was a big challenge for me. Then my biggest fear was to start an investment with all I had. What I do earn as allowance was not just enough for me to invest and if I had eventually invested then I'm not sure I would have been able to make it because all my concentration and focus will be in the investment and I will have this serious fear of losing money when I know it is all of my money I invested.

But the fear was never a weakness for me, it was just only there for me too do right thing by not investing the money for my daily use. I considered making investment the right way over greed to make money from bitcoin.

Quite similar to your story there to be fair. I was quite hesitant since I thought that Bitcoin were only for criminals of the darknet and that misconception costed me quite a lot since Bitcoin kinda went up during those teenager years and I could have bought it at cheaper price during those years.

I did not regret it anyway since I was still able to get it regardless. I could have regretted it more if I hadn't stepped forward to clear out the misconception in my head.

My colleagues thought also that Bitcoin was a scam, and now they're regretting that they had not cleared out their misconception like me.

When I started I didn't use much money. I try with a little money to keep trying to add to the maintain.  So I didn't think I would lose money because I was ready for all the risks. After feeling sure, I did add money to make it easier to make a profit. So at this time I started to feel scared, losing money, this is because the money I use is a loan even though it is not in the bank. But indeed the incident did not happen, even for less than a year I was able to return the money. 

Lack of experience and lack of money was my reason for not investing in Bitcoin from the very beginning when I joined the industry back in 2015. I wasn't capable of sparing the money that was needed to buy as Bitcoin as them I was a very youny man that was just struggling to get food to eat and was schooling at the same time and taking care of myself all alone. Things will be different now if I was just starting because the means to generate the money has been known. Also lack of experience played its role because when I finally had some spare money for myself I didn't invest them wisely and lost majority of them in the 2018 bear market.

I never for one day believe the stories of Bitcoin been a scam, I even got to know about bitcoin from a ponzi scheme (called MMM) that took over my country and every young and old then was caught in the fever. Before then I never knew anything like investing so Bitcoin caught my interest and I to this day, it has had many impact in my life. I don't regret any decisions I have taken upto this day because they all taught me a lesson and all part of my story. I won't do things exactly the same if I had a second chance to start all over because the experience I have gathered are very valuable and I believe they'll help me in the journey ahead.

If we are, to be honest no cryptocurrency investor never had a form of barrier when started the crypto journey. The barriers I have when it all started is that I don't learn about crypto through BTC, I learn it through a shitcoin which all quench off the market and I almost lose hope have the feeling that crypto is a scam until I try again.

What prevented my friends and relatives from investing in crypto from the beginning was the fear of losing everything. When one doesn't actually know much about something, they will try so hard to avoid those things they do not understand. They lack all the knowledge it takes to understand what crypto currency is all about, and all this crypto currency stuff was just like a scam to them, adding to the fact that it gained popularity in my locality just after the collapse of some Ponzi scheme.

Personally, I gained interest in crypto from the very beginning when I started running all sorts of airdrops. 1 out of 20 might actually be what sometimes gave me some couple of dollars, which was just like a total waste of time, but I later realized there was more to crypto than just doing airdrops. That was when I started planning on how to get a few and hold for myself. The greatest challenge that I was facing was financial, which took me quite some time to finally squeeze out a few out of my monthly salary from my computer operator work. I was very comfortable using and holding my crypto with my etherwallet before all kinds of hack news and all that started spreading online. I actually lacked a lot of knowledge regarding how my wallet works, so I sold out my eth, which I was holding back then, in order not to be a hack victim.

Adding up to this, people and the media seemingly have the misconception of Bitcoin itself being a scam. I also blame myself to be fair of thinking Bitcoin to be an illegal coin before but that's quite a different discussion.

News media commonly see Bitcoin as like a scam whether as an investment or even as like a digital money and it is quite sad that they don't realize that even paper money is being used to launder money and do crime activities. :/

The reality is that nobody want to lose money, so my fear then of not losing money has kept me away from Bitcoin since the first time I heard about it because many people claim to be losing money online, and I have therefore perceived it as a scam. However, after meeting with some of my friends who are in the cryptocurrency industry, who were able to explain it to me in greater detail and provide me with proof that they have been in the space for a long time and make me understand Bitcoin is not scam,before I was able do my own research and found out the true about Bitcoin before I start to invest in Bitcoin.

Many people that are yet to adopt and invested in bitcoin and they have heard about it, they fear is that they don't want to lose their money.so with that fear they never interest in doing their own research to found out the knowledge.

It is not just one thing preventing them from investing, my friends all have different reasons, some is because of fear of being scammed after being victims of thieves online before, they have not been able to overcome that fear and move forward. I have another who knows about bitcoins but say she does not have enough money to invest for her basic needs so does not have to invest. I met someone who their own barrier is not money or fear of being scammed, but just that they do no believe bitcoin will do well for investment so they have invested in other things. Another person is  lack of enough knowledge sufficient to invest. Many people have their reasons, but it takes personal effort to overcome the different barriers.

They don't know anything about bitcoin and they just base those misconceptions from the news that many has been scam due to investment schemes so they assume that bitcoin is included on scams. If they could just do deep research about it for sure they will never call bitcoin as scam but rather a currency or a technology which us good to adopt.

But we can't force those people to believe on those so maybe let them discover and prove that they are wrong about what they say about it.

It is quite difficult to examine about the fears you are facing with, sometimes these are the decisions you choose about to unlock your assets and sometimes looking forward to. I didn’t face something else like that, because I believe that this is not fear, these are the challenges of your road map and you should choose the right way. Trade in any crypto is really a technique to earn some profit using your trade standard coins.  As a beginner, put a little effort into developing your skills and making a study of the market before determining what is happening. Learning with experience and mistake also help you for your next intake in the forex exchanges

To be honest I got involved with Bitcoin many years ago.  Even my friends around me didn't know much about Bitcoin then too. and then the price of bitcoin was not as high as it is now and also bitcoin was not as popular as it is now so I was not too interested in investing in bitcoins. and that's why I invested some money I had in Bitcoin without borrowing money from anyone. my first bitcoin investment amount was only $10 and this amount was huge for me then. this was my first bitcoin investment budget

This is kind of similar to me when I know about Bitcoin and didn't invest in it because what I did before is join bounty campaigns which I did earn money and that's why I didn't invest in Bitcoin. The other reason is that I don't have much knowledge about where to invest and what I should do when I have money to invest. During that time, I didn't regret joining bounty campaigns and trading because it is the reason why I was able to earn $2000 which is a lot of money when it is converted to my local money.

You’re not alone mate. I was also same like that when I started investing in bitcoin. There’s always this fear of losing my capital once bitcoin investment turns into a big scam knowing most of the online investments that time end up as ponzi schemes. However, I managed to take the risk and overcome my fears. Yes, I always believed DYOR is the key, without it bitcoin investment will still fall into gambling.

Yeah. I guess it's all for the money? Those people just gotta scrape the bottom of the barrel just to make something new for the audience. Can't do anything about them anyway. There would still be pro and against Bitcoin regardless on how good of a technology it can bring to people who does not want any authority being involved with their money.

Some would not trust it at all like why would you not trust something that does not have any authority anyway. It's just like the usual Apple and Android hates.

To be honest, it’s the fear that crypto investment will eventually turn into a scam like most investors online have experienced. That’s the reason why I seldom invest online, same with the reason that I have known from my friends and colleagues. I have only started to invest in crypto when i read some positive reviews that it took me some courage to try and invest for just a small amount. And when it worked, my faith has been deepen that I started to trust crypto more and increase more of my capital.

I can clearly remember how I felt, but if I were to imagine myself in that situation, I'm sure I'd feel anxious. Whenever I attempt something new, I'm always curious to see how it turns out. Going on the air was just another chance for me to spread the word about how incredible this innovation is as I progressively tried to contain my excitement about being involved with cryptocurrencies and, more specifically, was looking for ways to educate people about the entire process. Even after that, I still need to continue learning, especially from forums and research. Knowledge is essential for success, but the biggest issue is maintaining security in any environment where money is involved. Scams are also not far from such environments.

"MMM" made me to believe that all online investments were scams. After a lot of people lost their money to the ponzi fraudster. In fact i had that fear until I joined bitcoitalk and began to have a better understanding of bitcoin, that first it is legit and not a ponzi scheme. So I'll say my greatest fear was getting scamed by someone that I haven't seen before and I can not sue.

Guy, na you be the real OG but after you will sey I'm the wan 🤗.

I believe those of us who got here pre–2018 all suffered that same fate. It was mandatory for us to learn through the reality that it's not all rosy in this industry. You win some, you lose some. I remember believing all the shitcoins (it was later I knew what that meant) that I bought  at $0.000001 would do half as much as Bitcoin was doing in price, at least 😆.

You're right about MMM. However, I didn't get involved in that because I saw the module as "robbing Peter to pay Paul" type of arrangement and that was why I stayed out of it. There was no real business transactions with MMM. During that same period other similar Ponzi schemes also sprang up in the country.

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My early experience of Bitcoin (first heard of Bitcoin in December 2016) was that of curiosity and not scam. I was really fascinated about its price of how it "dusted" the dollar with so much gap. Bitcoin was slightly above $700 then. It was that perplexity that drove me to digging about it and then I stumbled on this forum through the CMC.

The barrier I had that prevented me from investing in Bitcoin initially was my mindset. I thought that I had missed the train so I opted for a shitcoin because I thought it was going to make me a lot of money in the shortest amount of time. I sold my car so as to have enough funds to invest in the shitcoin which they promised was going to the moon. It didn't. I lost everything. It wasn't until I decided to do my own research. I read some Bitcoin books for beginners, watched a lot of Crypto YouTube channel, listened to podcasts and engaged actively with other Bitcoin enthusiasts that my mindset began to shift and change.
When that happened I bought a small quantity of Bitcoin and started to invest in smaller units monthly.

My biggest fear in starting crypto is getting scammed, I've already gotten scammed and rugged a lot of times before and it makes me feel bad and felts terrible, well scamming and fraud are really common in this crypto world so always be careful on that and this is a really common experience for a beginner so we should learn a lot of things first before we try something involved a money.

I was a victim of online scams too before I got to know about Bitcoin. People that surrounded when told me that I should be careful when I've discovered Bitcoin but I told them that it was different that time and it's unlikely a scam wherein I was too naive with those scams that victimized me and I was younger.

Sadly, it's common in the internet and there's the negative thoughts about it when people talks about crypto. It should be for everything online and crypto was just exploited by these scammers.

The biggest fear when I started investing in crypto was losing money on the investment I made. I feel that the crypto investment that I did at first will not get any profit, because I only see short-term gains. When I made a long term Bitcoin crypto investment I felt that this profit was extraordinary. The fear that initially made me doubt, finally made me believe that crypto provides bigger profits. But the risks that will be experienced are also greater, so you have to be more vigilant with crypto investments.

Here are the things that make me hesitate when i first started
Way back 2011 my friend ask me for us to invest in bitcoin, my first reaction is its a scam that make me regret everything:

• Aside from thinking that its a scam which later i realise its not, is because i don't have the money to invest
• I thought there is no other way than investing money, later I found out that you can earn without investing money
• Some Friends discourage me not to invest since its a waste of time , unlike working 8hrs work
• Ransomware before i thought having bitcoin will me look like a scammer, since some office are being ask for ransom
• Lastly lack of support will really bring you down, but try to focus on it if you like , you may find the light at the end and finish at the top someday

A lot of people fall into this. They just start with a shitcoin that would most like always be shit.
In some cases, these people just see all cryptocurrencies as scams and they might go ahead to miss out on the opportunities that they can get from investing in Bitcoin.
Shitcoins are really a problem and the people that always portray them as the next best thing after Bitcoin are a bigger problem. They always present it as something that is without risk which is the first red flag. They mostly target people that are new to the industry.   

The fear of losing your money is what unites everyone who is facing cryptocurrency for the first time. This is not only due to the fact that newcomers know almost nothing about how the cryptocurrency market works, but in fact they are not legally protected from fraud.

Fear is normal, everyone must ever feel that feeling for the first time investing in crypto. I also feel it when I was a beginner, I ever feel that how if the crypto disappears after I spend money on some crypto coins. Moreover, I read some cases about many people getting losses with huge money at that time. But after a few years in crypto, I realize that it was just  FUDs. There are people who want we sell crypto with cheap prices, then they will take an advantage if crypto coins drop the prices drastically. You must understand that this way is used by whales to manipulate crypto market. 

For Bitcoin, it is not really proper for a short-term investment, you need to hold for at least 4 years for bigger profits. Unless you have big capital, you can get enough profits by holding it for months. If it is for the short term, I prefer to choose altcoins. They have higher volatility, so we have the potential for bigger profits in a short time.

It is important that when we have a lot of experience in the crypto market, it will be a reminder that no one is safe. FUD will always come and give a bad situation to the crypto market, even some time ago I tried to enter in memecoin with a few dollars left, but in the end the price continued to fall and was worthless. It is better to invest in coins that are truly trusted.
Bitcoin is the main investment, but not how long to hold it for up to 4 years, but about the target to be achieved. Of course we have the same target, namely the new ATH in Bitcoin or Altcoin.

Actually, I doubted... whether this is a fraud or not... but after hearing the experiences of my husband's friends who have been involved in crypto for a long time, it really motivates me now to get started.

The only hesitant for me was when I first heard about Bitcoin in 2013, I was a nobes so I could not fully understand what Bitcoin was only that I know it was used to play games or buy stuff online, but how to get access to satoshi became a big set back for me, until recently when I finally had the resource to invest and hold bitcoin.

Presently, I have tried to encourage a few of my colleagues into holding some of their savings in Bitcoin, but their major drawback is that Bitcoin has been used for many unretrievable transactions, but I always tell them that even the dollars are also used for such transactions and that is what makes a currency of total control once you own it, it your responsibility to sustain and secure it.

What has been preventing my friends from investing in bitcoin is mostly not having the financial capacity to do so, the news they heard about bitcoin from the media, bitcoin being illegal to purchase from banks, taking bitcoin as a Ponzi scheme due to its volatile nature.

I understand their reasons and fears for what prevents them from investing in bitcoin, I have had one of the challenges of not investing in bitcoin a few years back due to I have no financial capacity to do so. But thank God that I can do that today without having anything preventing me to invest in bitcoin any longer

The lost of my money was my greatest fear when I wanted to start investing in bitcoin. The issue is that bitcoin was not my major concern, I knew that it was not going to dupe me of my money, I read enough before believing it is what I can invest in. But the fear comes from the bad eggs out there, they can use some means to scam me of my money. The wallet to use was the reason for the fear at the time and I was not opportune to know a bitcoin forum at the time.

Worrying about losing money is one of the most common reasons that hold someone back when they first start investing. This mindset makes a lot of sense, especially Cryptocurrency investing is like a double edged sword. But behind obstacles or doubts there is always a way to overcome them.
For those who are just starting Cryptocurrency investing, never invest more than you can spend, you must allocate cold money so that it is not too risky if the worst happens.

I always adhere to the principle "no risk, no profit", big or small the risks faced are inseparable from everyday life even if you don't invest in Cryptocurrency. I always try to take risks with the amount of money I have to make a profit by investing, Bitcoin is always my first choice because it has been tested and has strong fundamentals. After getting to know Bitcoin better, I feel safer saving money in Bitcoin because I think it's safer there than keeping it at home which is very at risk of theft.

Probably most of us have fear of losing our hard earned money because of how unsecured and volatile the investment is. That's the reason  why only few take the risk and brave enough to enter Bitcoin investment even if there's no assurance to be successful and profitable. But when you start experiencing its profits, there might be a change of mindset afterwards. Now, I realized that you won't gain anything if you never take some risks, so one should take some risk but do it with high caution. Invest at your own risk.

Maybe this is common and often said by people. In my opinion, the main thing is still capital. But, the main base and fact and I have felt is When I started in crypto my biggest fear was ignorance and the feeling of losing significant money. those emotional peaks and it's obvious especially when you see the price taking a free fall like it was a while ago.

Yes. this is what makes the psychology of the user react and I think it is very important to control and understand the risks and invest according to your risk tolerance because the first intention is to make even a small profit.

Looking at your portfolio and seeing that your coins depreciate in value is kind of scary, especially as a new person but with time, it becomes part of you because it is something you have no power over. However, that shouldn't be mistaken for investing in a bad coin, putting money in a coin that is full of hype, deceit and fake promises are dangerous and that is my greatest concern with these coins, buying them doesn't guarantee anything in return but we are always hopeful with a historical cycle that the halving effect should always occur but when you invest in a bad coin, even in good times like this, it will become a difficult task to get your capital talk more of the profit.

My biggest fear was the fear of missing out (FOMO) and this very common in the industry but I'm glad im getting over it because I'm already willing to buy and hodl at every time I have the spare money to buy.
And the second fear was the fear of regret if there was a loss at my end because I've always known bitcoin  to be very volatile with absolutely  nothing guaranteed  in it, hence I always try to stay very careful while hodling a d that's why I don't joke with  risk management.

I knew about bitcoin a long time ago, and over the years i've witness how much people have elevated in standard through bitcoin investment, but i have been hesitant to join the trade because one needs another source of income/job in order to have an effective trades, not until last year when i decided to start a search for an in-depth knowledge about bitcoin pending when i'll invest into it.

In my opinion, the barriers that prevent many individuals from investing is lack of source of finance to maintain a consistent trading.

I know that many people want to invest in bitcoins or trade them, but they don't have enough budget to get started. On the other hand I think you can start in a simple way, like saving first from your income and after you have prepared a budget then you can invest.

If you are consistent in this way, then you will probably have more bitcoins in a year or in a few years if you have known for a long time. Another problem is sometimes not about the budget, but it can also be because of their doubts about their potential and their fear of loss. I can say that if you can't invest in high-risk assets, then it might be difficult for you to decide to invest earlier than someone else.

I had a bumpy start to crypto. Looking around on the internet on how to make money, I got introduced to a ponzi scheme that didn't go well. I bought bitcoin and invested in it and it turns out it was a scam. As a result of that experience I distanced myself from Bitcoin because I thought Bitcoin was a scam too. I was afraid of been scammed the second time and it took me some time to overcome it. Some years later, Bitcoin came up through a discussion with a friend. So I decided to source for more information about it and then I got to know that it was just a medium through which I was scammed and that bitcoin is actually real.

i think fear and doubt are the most factors that hinder someone from investing. everyone who does not fully understand how to invest and knowledge about investing will definitely be one of the inhibiting factors.

the obstacle that i experienced the first time might be considered difficult to understand because of a lack of references when i first learned about crypto. but the more we often read and interact with people who are equally interested in crypto, the more references and knowledge we will have.
and in my opinion at the first time to learn it takes determination and strong enthusiasm because before in my opinion it really spent time, energy and mind to learn what cryptocurrency is and how to invest in crypto.

Ponzi schemes is everywhere on crypto so expect that this is the first thing introduce if you learn crypto outside of this forum. To many scammers wandering on social media sites promoting their scams there and luckily we have bitcointalk which we can hear a lot of feedback and many people here are filtering scams and pointing out those possible best investment to take.

Common thing what people fear about crypto is the scams happening and people need to be aware about it.

My experience I started to learn Bitcoin when I was just a student, I try to find ways how I'm going to invest in Bitcoin but since I'm a student my biggest barrier was the money, as a student I do not have the money to invest on Bitcoin, And I imagine now that if I did but bitcoin that time, it's going to be a huge profit since the market price of Bitcoin that time as just around 400$ if I did have enough money to invest on Bitcoin I did make a big amount of profit.

I would say that knowledge as well is really plays a big part here, I don't really have enough knowledge on Bitcoin at that time so I don't really know what to do at that time, If I have the knowledge that I have today that time I'll probably going to buy with my own money using my allowance just to invest on Bitcoin. I'll probably still make a decent profit if I did that. Money and knowledge I guess was probably the most common that prevent beginners and newbies on starting on investing on Bitcoin.

Interesting question OP.
Before bitcoin I invested heavily in various PTC, RevShare, MLM and Forex programs and mostly lost money everywhere.
I have heard the words, "This is new and revolutionary and will bring huge profits to everyone" so many times that I have almost stopped believing in such announcements, I have simply heard it too many times.
However, a friend persuaded me to join this forum and after some time I gained confidence and faith in bitcoin and decided to invest my money. It was the best decision of my life.
Today there are so many scams on the internet that it is very difficult to distinguish between good and bad projects and that was my biggest fear, that I made the wrong choice again  ;D