why I sold my bitcoins....

[Peter Lambert]

Bitcoins biggest selling points are its ability to be anonymous and decentralized.  Most people do not care about this.  The only services currently offered that really are served by bitcoins biggest assets are illegal ones--Gambling and Silk Road.  The current run up is 95% related to speculation that "everyone will get rich by just buying and hoarding bitcoins".  This will end like the last run up--crashing down to reality.

The fact that bitcoin is well suited for illegal activities does not make it ill-suited for legal activities, just as cash serves me just fine for my day-to-day purchases even though it is widely known that criminals prefer to be payed in cash.

[dopamine]

please sell I need more bitcoins 

[Bitcopia]

Maybe in 2022 BTC will  be $1000 or $0.00001 I don't care, because it's just play money to me. I don't live out of BTC and if you do, then you're in serious trouble!

How do you not care if bitcoin is worth $1000 or nothing? Even if you only own one, it would seem nice for that one to be worth $1000. And if that side of your maybe turns out to be the one that comes to fruition, then those living out of bitcoin will certainly be in the opposite of serious trouble.

[Bitcopia]

Sounds like a solid philosophy, and you're definitely right... don't bet more than you can afford to lose comfortably.

[Domrada]

Very brave to make your decision public, OP.  I will save this thread and bump it when we hit $50. LOLOL.

[FreeMoney]

Sounds like a solid philosophy, and you're definitely right... don't bet more than you can afford to lose comfortably.

This is super common advice, I don't mean to pick on you at all.

I think it's terrible. What's wrong with taking chances, risking pain? Does this advice mean that you shouldn't hike in the wilderness or ever ride in a car? You could lose your whole life.

Besides that, whatever you do has some total risk. Leaving your wealth in the generally accepted forms just means that if you get wiped out so will everyone who might be able to help you.

Be bold, temper it with a little thought. No matter what you do you could lose everything.

[Cluster2k]

Common contrarian advice is to sell up when others are shouting how rich they're becoming and how the market is only going to rocket further up from here.  Think back to famous past bubbles, whether it be dotcoms, housing, or bitcoin's bubble in 2011. 

Where is the peak in the current bubble?  Who knows.  Almost no one can predict it in the future and everyone always predicts it when looking back after it has burst.

[TTBit]

- "I sold my bitcoins to buy farmland"
- "I sold my bitcoins to buy gold"
- "I sold my bitcoins to start a business"
- "I sold my bitcoins because I'm worried the USG will shut down MtGox"

The above seem like logical arguments. But to sell bitcoins to buy USD is certain death. No one argues the USD is a good investment, not even the USG or Federal Reserve.

[Vandroiy]

Sounds like a solid philosophy, and you're definitely right... don't bet more than you can afford to lose comfortably.

This is super common advice, I don't mean to pick on you at all.

I think it's terrible. What's wrong with taking chances, risking pain? Does this advice mean that you shouldn't hike in the wilderness or ever ride in a car? You could lose your whole life.

Besides that, whatever you do has some total risk. Leaving your wealth in the generally accepted forms just means that if you get wiped out so will everyone who might be able to help you.

Be bold, temper it with a little thought. No matter what you do you could lose everything.

"Do not invest more than you can afford to lose comfortably." This common advice is really good advice. There is a multitude of reasons for that.

Admittedly, it is not the most enlightened of phrases; actually it is meaningless to an expert at statistics. Such a person will try to find an exact solution for his personal risk strategy. But as a simple phrase, spread as a meme to help people, "do not invest more than you can afford to lose comfortably" is a good choice.

There are important things people who do not heed this advice should know at the very least, but often don't.

• The Kelly Criterion helps to determine the height of wagers in probabilistic bets. An important property: betting a little less than the optimum doesn't hurt much. Betting above the optimum does.
• To even be able to use Kelly -- and for any kind of speculation in general -- it is useful to do a self-benchmark. Know your own precision and also limits on how well you know it. Overestimating oneself is one of the biggest flaws of humans, so be careful and rigorous on your self-assessment.
• Similarly, do not forget about any additional uncertainties from the surroundings. Expect the unexpected, not just on one market, but in personal life and everywhere else too. When going in deep, hidden risks that are normally acceptable suddenly become very relevant.
• The personal value of wealth to any human diminishes with wealth and grows with poverty! Your last bit of money in times of need becomes more valuable than whatever was spent before.

Of course there are risks everywhere. Speculating with a notable portion of one's savings can be a good idea. But why push a lot into a single thing when a diverse strategy has much less risk?

"Don't put all eggs in one basket" is a similar wisdom. Sure, it's not universal. Some people can prove their one basket secure. But then, better be sure to never ever make a mistake.

[Frequency]

Common contrarian advice is to sell up when others are shouting how rich they're becoming and how the market is only going to rocket further up from here.  Think back to famous past bubbles, whether it be dotcoms, housing, or bitcoin's bubble in 2011. 

Where is the peak in the current bubble?  Who knows.  Almost no one can predict it in the future and everyone always predicts it when looking back after it has burst.

I must say that the current situation is very differrent then the 2011 (really emty bubbel) this new "rally" has an more solid btc economie behind it as u know we are ten steps further then in 2011.. 

[stochastic]

I sold half of my stash the first time the price doubled after I bought a bunch.  That means I have no realized loss or gain.  I am just neutral.

[goldlyre]

BTC sold at all prices by some previous holders is a very good thing. It helps consolidation of certain price range after a significant bull run is accomplished. No sell, no bull.

[flaab]

How the dow looked in 1950:

You could easily say everything you have said about BTC about this chart, sold everything for your perfectly logical reasons. Unfortunately the price then proceeded to do this:

Measured in dollars, that is. But the dollar has been devaluated since then a whooping 97%. The Dow measured in gold would be a more accurate measurement. Price is not value. Something can be going up in price and losing value at the same time. If you bought the Dow back then, you would almost break-even at best in purchasing power.

This is something I've been seen neglected in this forum over and over again. Bitcoin would have the same value at 60$ if the price of gold, silver, real estate, oil and so forth would have doubled during the same time. Besides, bitcoin is only internet cash, convenient and that's all. It is not money.

Disclaimer: I gold out most of my bitcoins and kept 120btc as a speculation. (Not investment)

[jwzguy]

[mccorvic]

I like bears who just can't wait to tell everyone after they sold their bitcoins like it's them losing their virginities.

This is a win of a post and on point as all hell.

Also, for all bears who think $28 is over priced for bitcoin then please allow me to laugh you out of the room.

[bitcon]

wiser to be left holding a bag of money than a hdd full of bitcoins. but thats why i'm starting my new business model: beer for litecoins.

[CurbsideProphet]

I sold half of my stash the first time the price doubled after I bought a bunch.  That means I have no realized loss or gain.  I am just neutral.

You can't go wrong playing with the house's money.

[miter_myles]

wiser to be left holding a bag of money than a hdd full of bitcoins. but thats why i'm starting my new business model: beer for litecoins.

I'll beer to that..

[Timo Y]

What's with the yoga pose?

[jwzguy]

What's with the yoga pose?

That's the Nagle pose.