The mentality of an average wannabe investor

[coolcoinz]

I was reading some of the mainstream press the other day, just typical news and politics, and among the articles was one about the fall of cryptocurrencies and "enormous losses that Bitcoin investors have to endure". What got me reading were the sarcastic comments below. Idiots wanted to buy fake money and got burn. Ponzi scheme. Bubble burst. They bought something that doesn't exist. It's going to 0 because it's worthless! There were a few saying that it's the best time to invest if you thought about it during the bull market and thought the price was too high, but those posters were downvoted and ridiculed.
 
The average investor is always on the loss, because he's always angry and negative.
When it's going up, he doesn't buy and says: why would I buy something that went up by 500% last month? It's clearly a bubble!
When it's going down, he also doesn't buy: why would I buy something that is worth 30% of what it was? It's clearly dying!

Go to some mainstream forums and talk to people outside the tech space once in a while and you'll see why they aren't making money and why they will never make money.
This is also the reason why bull market cycles are so similar and why they will keep repeating. The vast majority of people never learn, even when they see the same thing happening again and again. You'll see it when we have another bull market and Bitcoin reaches a new high. Let's say that it will be 50k USD, followed by a year long bear market that will take us down to 6000 USD. The society will continue to call it a ponzi scheme that is going to 0 this time for sure and they still won't buy at the bottom. They'll say that those who bought in the previous bottom were lucky and this opportunity will never come again. Don't be a grumpy investor!

I'm sure that less than 10% of the people around you knew about Bitcoin in 2017 and had the opportunity to buy. Less than 0.5% actually bought. Out of those, most sold at a loss and didn't make any money, or lost the coins at scams, casinos, hacked exchanges, ICOs.
If your coins have more value now then at the time of buying, you can be proud. You're among the elite!
 

[Dimon8]

I learned about Bitcoin in 2013, but then, unfortunately, I did not believe in it. I created my investment portfolio in September 2018, at the moment all my coins show minuses, but I don’t regret because I firmly believe that the time will come when my portfolio shows XXX.

[butka]

I see comments like that on my local news websites all the time. And I don't pay much attention to them. I always remember the saying: "He who laughs last, laughs best." That time hasn't come yet, but it will, for sure.

The general population will always buy high (when the hype is great) and sell low (in panic). That's why, on average, most wannabe investors lose. That seems to be inevitable.

What I firmly believe in, is that these bear runs are good for the entire space. They will purge the weak coins, so that the winners may continue stronger than ever.

[eroejoe]

I do not know what these people doing on bitcointalk forum if they did not believe in crypto future, especially these people which saying that Bitcoin will go to zero. Emotion driven investing decisions usually are bad decisions. I am glad that I did not invested more than I am willing to lose, so my emotions about my investment are not that strong.

[Kakmakr]

Haters will hate and fools will lose money and blame other people or the commodity or stock, but never themselves. This is just how people's mentality works. Most of these people have never invested before and 2017 was their first experience in currency trading.

You cannot blame people for being human. So, the best thing we can do, is to show them where they made their mistakes and then hope for the best. <8 out of 10 time, these same people will make those mistakes again.> 

That's just how humans work. 

[Harkorede]

The average investor is always on the loss, because he's always angry and negative.
When it's going up, he doesn't buy and says: why would I buy something that went up by 500% last month? It's clearly a bubble!
When it's going down, he also doesn't buy: why would I buy something that is worth 30% of what it was? It's clearly dying!

That'd always be it, I've come across people who bought BTC for around ~$9,000 that aren't moved with the current trend because they believe in what they Invested in and are definitely not in it for the temporal benefit but the future, while you'll see people who bought BTC for about $3,500 create a new thread daily to rant about losing $20 - $100. My take on it is that people will always choose to either be positive about an investment and some would always find a reason not to be.

[jrrsparkles]

Simply humans ar act just like sheep,they will do what others have been doing for long time but when someone is at the end of investment cycle they are not going to make anything that is why average investor is at losses always.Be different and create your path rather than following others to be more successful investor.

[ShadowBits]

I was reading some of the mainstream press the other day, just typical news and politics, and among the articles was one about the fall of cryptocurrencies and "enormous losses that Bitcoin investors have to endure". What got me reading were the sarcastic comments below. Idiots wanted to buy fake money and got burn. Ponzi scheme. Bubble burst. They bought something that doesn't exist. It's going to 0 because it's worthless! There were a few saying that it's the best time to invest if you thought about it during the bull market and thought the price was too high, but those posters were downvoted and ridiculed.
 
The average investor is always on the loss, because he's always angry and negative.
When it's going up, he doesn't buy and says: why would I buy something that went up by 500% last month? It's clearly a bubble!
When it's going down, he also doesn't buy: why would I buy something that is worth 30% of what it was? It's clearly dying!

Go to some mainstream forums and talk to people outside the tech space once in a while and you'll see why they aren't making money and why they will never make money.
This is also the reason why bull market cycles are so similar and why they will keep repeating. The vast majority of people never learn, even when they see the same thing happening again and again. You'll see it when we have another bull market and Bitcoin reaches a new high. Let's say that it will be 50k USD, followed by a year long bear market that will take us down to 6000 USD. The society will continue to call it a ponzi scheme that is going to 0 this time for sure and they still won't buy at the bottom. They'll say that those who bought in the previous bottom were lucky and this opportunity will never come again. Don't be a grumpy investor!

I'm sure that less than 10% of the people around you knew about Bitcoin in 2017 and had the opportunity to buy. Less than 0.5% actually bought. Out of those, most sold at a loss and didn't make any money, or lost the coins at scams, casinos, hacked exchanges, ICOs.
If your coins have more value now then at the time of buying, you can be proud. You're among the elite!
 

As I see from the past people that had got in this crypto space is only here because they only want to get a lot of money from here.

[hugeblack]

If we think that this forum is for Bitcoin lovers, people who really believe in it, and we look at the comments after each collapse, we will see panic and panic. How do you expect it for those who think it is as a bubble?
We are looking to invest in Bitcoin as an easy way to make a lot of money, which makes it just worthless speculation.

Be a believer when you buy, or look for a guaranteed way to speculate.

[Mhd-Bobbi]

Go to some mainstream forums and talk to people outside the tech space once in a while and you'll see why they aren't making money and why they will never make money.

Not only investors can lose, but almost all now, because they have seen a market that is not too friendly. Indeed, today is the best to buy and collect as much as possible, I am sure investors are also collecting now, because they believe that in the coming year, market prices will rise high, so they only see that bitcoin is down to fix and settle.

[ATMD]

I was reading some of the mainstream press the other day, just typical news and politics, and among the articles was one about the fall of cryptocurrencies and "enormous losses that Bitcoin investors have to endure". What got me reading were the sarcastic comments below. Idiots wanted to buy fake money and got burn. Ponzi scheme. Bubble burst. They bought something that doesn't exist. It's going to 0 because it's worthless! There were a few saying that it's the best time to invest if you thought about it during the bull market and thought the price was too high, but those posters were downvoted and ridiculed.
 
The average investor is always on the loss, because he's always angry and negative.
When it's going up, he doesn't buy and says: why would I buy something that went up by 500% last month? It's clearly a bubble!
When it's going down, he also doesn't buy: why would I buy something that is worth 30% of what it was? It's clearly dying!

Go to some mainstream forums and talk to people outside the tech space once in a while and you'll see why they aren't making money and why they will never make money.
This is also the reason why bull market cycles are so similar and why they will keep repeating. The vast majority of people never learn, even when they see the same thing happening again and again. You'll see it when we have another bull market and Bitcoin reaches a new high. Let's say that it will be 50k USD, followed by a year long bear market that will take us down to 6000 USD. The society will continue to call it a ponzi scheme that is going to 0 this time for sure and they still won't buy at the bottom. They'll say that those who bought in the previous bottom were lucky and this opportunity will never come again. Don't be a grumpy investor!

I'm sure that less than 10% of the people around you knew about Bitcoin in 2017 and had the opportunity to buy. Less than 0.5% actually bought. Out of those, most sold at a loss and didn't make any money, or lost the coins at scams, casinos, hacked exchanges, ICOs.
If your coins have more value now then at the time of buying, you can be proud. You're among the elite!
 

Lol, this is an interesting insight into the mentality of investors, thank you

[jimbo2000]

I think the error starts at the very beginning for these people. They often invest in to something they know nothing about and have little interest in. It then becomes difficult to follow the market and fully understand the potential and the trends. They just see their BTC as fiat.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Idiots wanted to buy fake money and got burn. Ponzi scheme. Bubble burst. They bought something that doesn't exist. It's going to 0 because it's worthless! There were a few saying that it's the best time to invest if you thought about it during the bull market and thought the price was too high, but those posters were downvoted and ridiculed.

I would have been singing in that chorus back in 2012 or so when bitcoin seemed like a ridiculous form of electronic currency that was completely unnecessary.  It reminded me of that digital currency Whoopee Goldberg used to promote (Flooz) back in 1999 or so.  People thought the internet somehow needed its own form of money.  Nobody ended up needing it or using it, and it died.  It took me a while to figure out how bitcoin is different, how it's P2P and not under the control of any corporation or government.  Some people still don't understand this, but as far as the world needing bitcoin, I can see their point.  Right now I don't think we do, but if there came a time when fiat money suffered a severe crash, it'd come in pretty damn handy.  It's also useful for online anonymous transactions.

The other things you mentioned also happen in the stock market.  When prices are up, people think it's too expensive to buy; when the market crashes, they get scared and don't want to buy something that's obviously on sale.  Even worse, if they sell at a loss when the stock they own starts to plummet.  The markets are a weird taste of human psychology.

I do not know what these people doing on bitcointalk forum if they did not believe in crypto future, especially these people which saying that Bitcoin will go to zero.

A lot of them are trolls, though I'm not sure why you'd have an account on bitcointalk if you really didn't believe there was anything to bitcoin.  My guess is that at least some of them are bitter about losing money at some point, and they're trying to spread the misery as far and wide as they can.

[dothebeats]

I guess this is already embedded within an average investor's psyche: trying to time and game the markets for maximum leverage and discrediting the opportunities arising thinking that he can always make one if he so do want. I've seen countless of posts regarding not buying early when the price is slowly rising and not buying late when the price is already at the lowest ebbs of the current cycle. Most can't just fully commit into investing, and just end up leaving comments on the sidelines without actually experiencing the market conditions first-hand.

This will never be changed. Everyone wants to profit, but not everyone has the guts to start it.

[coolcoinz]

I do not know what these people doing on bitcointalk forum if they did not believe in crypto future, especially these people which saying that Bitcoin will go to zero.

A lot of them are trolls, though I'm not sure why you'd have an account on bitcointalk if you really didn't believe there was anything to bitcoin.  My guess is that at least some of them are bitter about losing money at some point, and they're trying to spread the misery as far and wide as they can.

I doubt these people know what Bitcointalk is. Most of the ones that commented under that article were typical people who work over 8 hours a day, drive home for another hour, eat dinner, grab a drink, and watch a movie in bed. They don't even have time to troll the forums at home. Most of them read news and write comments from work. They get frustrated reading about some kid becoming a millionaire by investing in some fake Internet money, while they have to write reports for 10 bucks an hour. Life sucks if you can't think outside the box.

Some people still don't understand this, but as far as the world needing bitcoin, I can see their point.  Right now I don't think we do, but if there came a time when fiat money suffered a severe crash, it'd come in pretty damn handy.  It's also useful for online anonymous transactions.

Some countries need it more than others. If I were a citizen of Venezuela, China, or North Korea, all I would think of is getting my money out of the country and cutting myself free from the decisions of my government (at least financially because they can still arrest me). If your government is checking how much money you're carrying at the airport and puts restrictions on bank transfers, it should be a brutal wake up call for you. A sign that you might will cryptocurrencies sooner than you think.



P.S For those who thought that I'm talking about Bitcointalk, or Reddit here, I wasn't. These were the comments on a local news site, the one where you rarely get comments from people looking for a way to put their money to work. The average Joe still thinks that Bitcoin is fake money, a scheme, drug money, or a bubble, and even though he knows that it has potential, he's too scared to invest. He'll never make money because he'll prefer a 3% savings account that he doesn't have to worry about.
We are the 1% ladies and gentlemen

[rickadone]

The problem with investing in this market is that people who have not been interested in bitcoin longer than 1 year is seeing only the worse part of bitcoin. They have seen it go up once and they have been in a bear market ever since. This causes them to think bitcoin had a faulty move upwards and going back to what it should be to begin with or even going to die off. That is the wrong type of thinking but thats all they have seen in the past year.

People who have been around far longer like me does know that bitcoin tends to do these kinds of silly moves upwards and downwards but in the end the long term projection has always been high. Even during the worst times if you wait enough it goes back up, we remember what happened in 2014 and afterwards, it took YEARS before it got back but when it did the all time high of 1400 became 20 thousand.

[Oilacris]

I don't know about these kinds of people but their thinking is incurable if they only think like that. What a bunch of losers wherever you put them they would just eventually drag you down if you know them. Investing is very risky so, if you invest you should know that the risk is already there that your investment might burn or gain depending on your analysis.

[exstasie]

The other things you mentioned also happen in the stock market.  When prices are up, people think it's too expensive to buy; when the market crashes, they get scared and don't want to buy something that's obviously on sale.  Even worse, if they sell at a loss when the stock they own starts to plummet.  The markets are a weird taste of human psychology.

Yup, it's a universal thing. Markets are all about psychology, which is why gauging sentiment can be really useful as a trader. I always watch things like the Speculation board, Crypto Twitter, the Tradingview chat, and Bitfinex/Bitmex long vs. short data to gauge what other people think will happen. More often than not, when most people believe something, they're wrong. Like you said, at the bottom people are too scared to buy. At the top, I find people are usually too greedy to sell. It's a whole fear/greed cycle.

[haroldtee]

Well, the thing is that basically, an average investor we get to see in the market today want to get rich but they do not want to learn and adapt to the things necessary to make better investment decisions. Learning in the sense that, they have no clue where they are investing, the reason why they even have to be focused on long term, and what part the market or the technology has to play when it comes to the benefit it serves without just thinking of the increase in value or moon, which is what has made the market extremely speculative till date. Apparently, what just happens is that they will always most of the time stay negative, or if lucky and smart, manage to learn from their mistakes and be ready to make better decisions in the long run.

[jimbo2000]

The other things you mentioned also happen in the stock market.  When prices are up, people think it's too expensive to buy; when the market crashes, they get scared and don't want to buy something that's obviously on sale.  Even worse, if they sell at a loss when the stock they own starts to plummet.  The markets are a weird taste of human psychology.

Yup, it's a universal thing. Markets are all about psychology, which is why gauging sentiment can be really useful as a trader. I always watch things like the Speculation board, Crypto Twitter, the Tradingview chat, and Bitfinex/Bitmex long vs. short data to gauge what other people think will happen. More often than not, when most people believe something, they're wrong. Like you said, at the bottom people are too scared to buy. At the top, I find people are usually too greedy to sell. It's a whole fear/greed cycle.

It is why for years people have had great success in gauging market/group psychology instead of focusing too much on fundamentals. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if something is the best thing ever, what matters is if people believe that it is. BTC could in time fall victim to this, it is one of the most revolutionary things of our time BUT it could be that long-term enough people don't begin to see this, or that they are disillusioned by what they see in mainstream media.