Bitcoin Forum

I just need to get this off my chest…

I found out about bitcoin in 2011 by listening to the Stefan Maleneoux (f$#% spelling) Podcast. It was just after the big crash from $30 and the price was hovering around $3. My first reaction was skepticism of course but I took the time to read the Satoshi Paper and did my research and poked around on some forums and came to the conclusion that this bitcoin thing was legit, and possibly the future of money for the world.

At some point I got a bonus at work that was rather substantial so I thought I'd use that bonus money to dabble in this Bitcoin thing. I bought 500 BTC for about $1500 bucks on TradeHill. I then used some of those bitcoins to purchase some Casascius coins. I bought 10 1 BTC casascius coins and one 25 BTC Casascius coin. (all of which were the 2011 with the error) I made an offline wallet with encryption in a flash drive made 3 copies of it and bought a safe to store the coins and the flash drive in and gave the other two encrypted flash drives to two trusted people with safes as well and I was done and happy.

Some time passed and I was watching the price religiously. Almost an entire year passed and it was only hovering around about $5, and my best friend bought a motor cycle, and he needed someone to ride with, and I wanted a motorcycle. So I cracked open the safe, put in my password, and since TradeHill was out of business created an account on MtGox and sold all of my coins in my wallet at $6 a piece, and I went and bought a motorcycle for $3000. (which I still have, Ninja 250r)

A while later I moved out of state and the price of bitcoin was around $200, I was so sick with myself for what I had done that I was kind of delirious and so as a going away gift I gave all 10 of my 1 BTC Casascius coins to the 10 closest people to me in my life. And so I was left with only the 25 BTC casascius coin.

I owned 500 BTC and 11 of the most valuable collectable items that will ever exist, and I was left with just the one 25 coin. It is safe to say I will never own 500 BTC ever again in my life for as long as live.

AFter the climb to $1200 and crash, and with a new job, I started buying again. I have not even recovered the 10 BTC I gave away yet but it's cool. The experience taught me a valuable lesson. Don't underestimate Bitcoin and what it can do. In the moment it seems silly to invest so much in what seems like such a crazy dream, but do it anyway. And I also learned the secret investment strategy for Bitcoin which is this: Buy low, Buy high, and keep buying and buying and buying. Just keep converting worthless fiat into Bitcoin at every step of the game, ignore the price, and convert fiat into bitcoin at a steady and consistent rate. Never sell. Never convert bitcoin into fiat, it is always a bad move in all circumstances, especially considering you can buy anything you need with bitcoin now.

Sometimes when I think about it, or I do the math in my head, I feel like I just got kicked in the stomach and I need to throw up. But I keep buying more bitcoin every check I get, and I won't stop until I'm getting paid in Bitcoin directly. Hopefully my story is interesting to you. Cheers.

Hey, don't worry about it. Bitcoin will crash back down to $1 eventually and you can buy back those 500 coins and get ready for the next jump to $1000.

The OP sounds alot smarter and happier than dumb ass like you.

We know you lost money thro bad trading.... get over it dumb fck. The fact that you just turn hater because you sold your coins cheap means you only care about making "money"

Now you can go buy some scamcoins and pray, ok pumpkin?

"...and sold all of my coins in my wallet at $6 a piece"
I had ~100 BTC that I sold around $7.00, so I know something about how it feels. The "rally" from $1.9996 to ~$7 took so long and the price seemed pretty high at the time.

Ehhh.... i sold over 1k btc when it was ~$9

I dont cry like a bitch like some of the "hero members" on here tho. I'm actually happy for bitcoin and community. Remember, the early TXs are needed for btc to grow.

I know that it would not sound like much, but I assume that you are young. Programming or building businesses in bitcoin are a great venue for you to recover 500 BTC and then some. After all, 500BTC is "just" 300K, which is what some very good programmers are being paid in a year or even less.

This actually makes me feel better…. thanks serious coin!

With all due respect, why would anyone want to take YOUR advise?  By your own admission you failed as an investor.  Wouldn't we be better off listening to someone who was actually successful?

I was just burned by some idiot on Paypal last night. I lost 4 BTC. Thanks - your story made me realize other people have had it worse.

Ever heard of learning from mistakes?  ::)

Just because he made a few bad decisions - and only bad decisions in hindsight - does not mean he cannot provide sound advice.

Yet if OP was in the same circumstances again he would had done the same thing again.  The proof is all those people who invest early in alternate coins and then make thousands (or more) and decide to sell.

I don't understand the rationalization but we live in a world where most people are into instant gratification.  I'm not really sure what thousands of dollars can get you in this world, beyond a toy like OP's motorcycle or the stories of people who sold to buy gaming computers.

Motorcycle is good. You will own those 500 bitcoins again, don't worry, the price doesn't look like it's going a lot higher and could go much lower over time, so just keep buying.

and they say it is a currency, but it is an asset until it reaches 1million dollar each after which people will start using it as a currency

can you expand to make others aware?

Thanks for sharing your poignant story
I have no real consolation to offer other than to wish you all the best for the future
God bless

The good thing is you recognized BTC as a wise investment in the first place so i have faith for your future. Keep plugging away and good things will happen again.  Trust yourself.

Terribly tough luck
May your fortunes turn around and you get the breaks you merit!

Eh, if I were you I wouldn't regret the decisions you made. They were the right ones at the time. Personally, I like the notion of never letting the past hold you back, while you learn something from your mistakes you shouldn't berate yourself in the long term for poor decisions. At least you have 25BTC, there are people who have it a lot worse. I personally didn't do much buying until it popped up to $100 and I was around when it was worth 2c a pop. If anything I'd be happy with what you have, $15,000 US from like $80 is a pretty damn good investment for the span of three and a half years.

I find myself wishing I had found bit coin much earlier. Other times I realize that if i had I would be posting threads like this one because I undoubtedly would have been one of those that sold at a nice profit and spent the money a long time ago. I also would have been one of those that had a lot of holdings in MT GOX. Instead I spent a lot of time reading this forum and learning from others mistakes before I bought a single satoshi. These stories make bit coin safer for newer bit coiners and I appreciate them. 

99% would not do that. thats the reason why he sold his 500BTC. most people are not patient enough.

when bitcoin drops 30%, they sell.

Me too.  I'm sure there are a lot more similar stories than we know.


That's called learning from your mistakes.  2 of the 3 biggest threats to your investing strategy (whatever it may be) are fear and greed.  In this case, greed got you.  Don't let it happen again, stick to your plan.

I learned how to tackle fear and greed, but in Bitcoin, I got nailed by #1.  Misinformation/little research.  If I just bought BTC instead of throwing it away to Butterfly Labs.  I would be doing much much better today.


if they see Bitcoin as nothing more than part of their portfolio, then that's a smart move.  Even smarter is to sell at 10% drop.

Don't look back OP, look forward. He peak/plateau is yet to come. Everyone here wished they had bought more when they had the chance. We cannot change the past, seize the opportunity now and don't loose sight this time round.

If you still can enjoy ridin' your motorcycle then fine.

25 Bitcoin is still a whole cake. So to say I'd be very happy to own your Casascius piece... :D

Look forward and if another person tries to convince you to spend your coins... HODL... ;D

ya.ya.yo!

I wouldn't say i "failed as an investor", I just missed a huge opportunity. I doubled my investment when I cashed out and the Casascius coins are worth many times the bitcoins they hold. I didn't lose anything, I gained more than double what I invested, I just could have gained much much more. I wouldn't say I "failed" unless I had lost money. My advise is based on 20/20 hindsight and it is this:

Buy low, buy high, never sell. Always convert fiat into Bitcoin, and never the other way around. If you must use your Bitcoin holdings, then purchase what you need with those Bitcoins, don't convert them back into fiat to make your purchases.

That is my advice, take it or leave it.

Unfortunately you are not alone in this story, there are very many with similar outcomes. It  is unfortunate, but don't give up. Life has a way of surprising you if you stick to your guns and do the right thing. BTC is here to stay.

Well mate.. you did a good job, you made 100% out of your investment which is pretty good... surely it could be much more comparing to the chart... but it could also made the other way round to a 100% loss..

;-)

Some cliches have value because they contain wisdom, and here is one:
You cannot change the past, but you can create a better future.

I had spent a lot of time worrying about when to sell or if I would. When I finally sat down and read rpietila's "(SSS) - A Sane and Simple bitcoin Savings plan plan" thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345065.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345065.0)) I felt like I could move forward confidently.

With a plan like that I feel like I can reward myself with smaller rewards along the way, and still experience exponential growth through the end.

If bitcoin meets the expectations of a lot of people in this community (>>100K usd/the end of fiat/crypto ruling the world) you will still be considered a rich jammy bastard early adopter. Really, how rich do you need to be? Just stick with it this time.

damn, it seems like some bitcoiners will proect it with their lives.

The only way that 99.999% of people who were involved in Bitcoin back then, still have all of their BTC's is if they were (luckily) in a coma since then ;)   

It's moronic to buy something at $1 and not sell at least SOME at $10. Unless of course you wait till $1000!

I was involved in Bitcoin in early 2011, and while I wanted to buy many thousands of them, there was no reliable way to do so back then. I would have definitely sold some along the way, but would have at least 25% of them now.

So, if we're looking for a charity case, I say boo hoo to the OP, send some to me instead ;)

Just one word: Tragedy!!

But then do remember, the loss you feel is all in hindsight. If Bitcoin was to be outlawed earlier on and had gone to $0.05, you would have been in a greater mourning.

Going forward, I guess, Bitcoin will work exactly like a Bluechip Stock on Stock Market. Presently very few retail investors are aware of Bitcoin, once they get on the bandwagon, BTC will skyrocket.

In my opinion, it's still quite cheap to lap it up. So, there, Cheers! :)

In the early days of any new tech, scammers and thieves will abound. I'm almost done with all exchanges and am looking to circumvent this type of thing happening in the future. The immediate future will involve p2p with escrow. The longer term will entail very regulated businesses (in the US).

I'm sorry for your loss. The best thing you can do is learn from this. Ask yourself what attitudes you had at the time that facilitated your actions that led to your loss. Recognize these attitudes in the future and act accordingly. It may work out that your decision making was not flawed and the mistake could not have been avoided. Proceed with new knowledge and without fear.

It sucks that you could have made so much more money, but if you look at it from a strictly numbers perspective...You bought at $3, and then sold at $5...which is still around 67% profit. That is huge profit for an investment, when you are lucky to get 10% on most successful investments.

Yeah, I know. Bitcoin will never be $1 again. I was just trying to make him feel better.

It sure does, but hes not the only one, there are great number of us that went the same path.
Most i had is about 400 btc, and 24 600 LTC, sad thing is that i sold everything for so low that its not worth mentioning.
Never going to do the same mistake, but also wont gamble too much.
Maybe it helps hearing that you are not the only one.

Anyway you have made a good investment buying at 3 and selling at 6, for most people 100% it's just a dream.

I used to have 200 BTC. Unfortunately I was hit by a car and spent some months on a medical leave, with a reduced income, which forced me to sell a bunch at $5. At least I can say that I had to sell, not that I did it willingly.

I'm a retired engineer and recently found out about bitcoins.

I think this is the exchange currency of the future and have invested a small sum to acquire just under 20 BTC.

It's a start.  I can see huge advantages using this as travelling currency, no exchange rates, no coins in your pockets, can't get stolen.

We just need to get more acceptance by the tourist industry.

Hope to use BTC on my next trip.



 

Expedia!! Welcome to the Bitcoin community. It's fairly probable that it will not only be the exchange currency of the future, but THE currency of the future. One day you will tell the story of when you bought 20 BTC back when the going rate was a meager $600 just I am telling the story of buying bitcoin when it was meager $3. $3 didn't seem meager then, just as $600 doesn't seem meager now, but the day you trade $600 for 0.1 BTC you'll remember the good ol' days that is now our present. Welcome aboard the gravy train! And happy travels!

One big lesson for me is that if you plan to give away coins make sure you replace them in your stash that way you won't feel as bad when the price explodes in the future.

In your dream, that will never happen. There are far too many people in bitcoin now.

You dont "sell" bitcoin for FIAT period. You just wait for people to start accepting 1 BTC for a good house, in about say 5 ~ 7 years, or as they may say by then, 100 Million Satoshis for a good house. That's a lot of satohshi's for just one house.

I actually calculate prices in Peercoins these days.

Look on the bright side. You probably would have sold all your 500 BTC and 11 coins today.

The lesson need to be learn is to, only cash out a small bit of your bitcoin, if you absolutely need the money, and keep the rest in your wallet. The price will keep on going up in the the future. So use bitcoin as your pension, or long term investment. That is what I am doing right now.

I had to sell my bitcoin as I mined to buy more mining hardware.

Didn't have the luxury of having extra money I could just throw at it, outside of my initial purchase of three 5830's (for four total, already had one from months prior).

... though I suppose I would have made a lot more money just mining with those four 5830's and never expanding, but that's just how it was w/ Bitcoin... pretty crap mentality for most things.

i like this story!

so much hostility between certain people.
oh i'm not saying stop... :)

Seems like its a contest to see who lost the most BTC..

anyways yeah.. hard to tell if you would of kept you 500 bitcoins or sold for $7 or $8 or blah blah upto $1400

guess we'll never know. I have a similar story, only more tragic heh.. we all do... :}

Lesson learned here always HODL.

Read all of a thread before you respond.

dear friend, everyone regrets doing something wrong, but this is life, unpredictable! Keep believing in btc, and u might have ur dream come true one day!

"Very good" programmers (not running their own business) aren't paid $300K or more. Unless I missed an extreme boom in salaries, the real numbers are much lower.

Top programmers at some of the big SV companies are paid more.

Agreed, I can't see this happening ever again, but hey weirder things have happened.

Because of the uncertainty of price, my strategy is neither buy bitcoin nor sell it too. Just keep earning it by providing services.

In speaking of, does anyone know of a good services market place like freelancer.com that paysout in BTC?

I buyed @ 1100.
End of the story.

There is no good one as of yet. Most of the deals take place at Services (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=52.0) or Project Development (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=12.0) sub-forum of BitcoinTalk.

You may have not have won the lottery but you have ten happy friends, a solid motorcycle and a 25BTC error'd coin all at a cost of $1500. Sounds pretty good to me.

A motorcycle has got to be better than some coins you can't touch or ride along a mountain road  :D
It's true though, it can be very hard at times to hold, retain your believe in BTC and just pull through...