I feel a bit of background might be necessary, but feel free to skip over this if you like...
I recently jumped on the Bitcoin bandwagon in terms of buying coins, but have been aware of it for about a year. I feel I must preface this little story with a small defense of my intelligence, as I fear I might come off a little naive and maybe just downright stupid at the end of it... I'm 26 years old, have a PhD in Civil Engineering and am a senior university lecturer. A bit of smarts and lots of hard work has gotten me to where I am today, which is trying to pay off student loans whilst shouldering a huge home loan. Needless to say, money is an ever-present worry.
And so the story begins...
I regularly meet for morning coffees with my Dad (who is an ardent Bitcoin advocate and owns upwards of 3000 BTC which he purchased back when 1 BTC was less than $3 if I am not mistaken), and in the last year, I have not had a single conversation with him where he has not mentioned the word 'Bitcoin' at least once (he would find any way to slip it in). He is an electrical engineer and software developer and is prone to technical ramblings, most of which are over my head. This is the man who also predicted that the GFC would cripple the US (and Australia) in 2013. He said that we would be reduced to living in a land where guns and fuel were the sought-after commodities. Being currently in 2013 where I have yet to see a gun, and fuel is still bought at the local petrol station, I hope I am forgiven for not quite 'buying into' (pun intended) his passionate promotions of Bitcoin.
Then, one day in October, he pulled out his phone and showed me the current value of 1 BTC - $150. I didn't take any notice.
We met a few days later, and again he pulled out his phone and showed me the current value of 1 BTC - $230.
From then on, his new way of greeting became him simply holding up his phone and flashing the now current value.
Still, I didn't take too much notice of it, but I think you guys can see what is coming....
I remember him showing me the price and it was at around $400 and I asked him if I should purchase some coins myself with some of my meager savings.
He said "I'll answer your question with another question - What is Bitcoin?".
The best I could do was "Ummmm, imaginary money" (please forgive me!).
His response was "Don't invest in something you don't know anything about!"
This was his way of urging me to learn about it... after all, researching is one thing I should technically be good at. So I went away and did a bit of reading... and a bit more reading... and the rest is history, as they say. I was completely blown away by the entire concept, its mysterious origin, the transparent anonymity of transactions, the power of an omnipotent ledger... etc etc.
But, being aware of Bitcoin's volatility and having lived most of my adult life very frugally, $400 per BTC seemed so much to me (and I greedily wanted at least one whole coin, and not some mBTC fraction). Plus, at this point, 1 BTC had already risen in value to over $500! So I waited... and the phone flashing continued... $530.... $697... $800... At one point, I remember lamenting to Dad "$400 was a bloody bargain!". And it just kept going up! My father was now a millionaire!! And there seemed to be no end in sight. Bitcoin could do no wrong. Ahhhh... as they say "Hindsight vision is 20/20."
Not having a crystal ball, I asked myself "Do you truly believe in the fundamentals behind Bitcoin" and I could honestly answer "yes".
So I went back and collected all my Bitcoin research and pitched it to my husband. I think it was my enthusiasm (which was probably bordering on reverence by this point) that did it - he agreed to redraw on our home loan. I told him that time was of the essence and if we didn't buy now, it would be too late. This was the night of Wednesday 4th November. The very next day I went and bought 7.7 BTC for $9000. The very NEXT day.... well you all know what happened - everyone got scared because of 'the China situation' and dumped their coins. I won't deny, the last few days have definitely tested my belief in Bitcoin. But I stuck to my guns and held. I still maintain that one day in the near-ish future, I will tell my sister's grandkids that I once owned 7.7 BTC, and that they be all wide-eyed and gob-smacked "No freakin way!!!!".
Anyway, over the past few weeks, I have become a little obsessed with tracking Bitcoin (my husband yesterday made me delete all Bitcoin apps (bar the wallet) from my phone because he was so fed up with the constant updates and my constant chart-checking). These forums have been a godsend, and have basically fueled this little addiction. You are all certainly right - it is one hell of a ride.
I had a bit of a hypothetical question to put to the seasoned veterans of this forum... Many of you are clearly Bitcoin-wealthy and I would imagine your collective hoard is considerable. I know that many of you viewed the recent 'crash' as a result of scared 'weak-handed' newbies dumping coins in response to China's supposed ban of Bitcoin. Clearly, since the Bitcoin community is still so small (relative to the number of dollar-users), any significant event like this will cause the price to wildly fluctuate. I wonder... if everyone here sold 10% of their Bitcoin stash over a prolonged period of time (say, a good few months), and then made a coordinated effort to buy back the amount they sold at exactly the same date and time, do you think this would cause a noticeable increase Bitcoin's value? I am by no means proposing this, but was just curious as to what you all think. My sincere apologies if this question has already been asked!
Thanks for reading
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