~ Less than 500 people who are all readers of Cointelegraph is not a representative selection of respondents, so the poll results are telling us nothing that can be generalized to make conclusions about the crypto investors' community as such. These respondents happened not to be around in 2017, but many people were, and many weren't newbies and did not buy Bitcoin during ATH (I didn't, for instance, but I also did not sell and it wasn't the best decision). As for willing to wait for profits for years, it's just a typical hodler position, so I don't see what makes them a new breed at all.
They're Huobi users and maybe not Cointelegraph readers.
Maybe you missed the point. Let me expound more on that.
- Many 2017 newbie investors most likely bought bitcoin thinking they are going to get rich. I even read some stories about selling properties and taking out loans because they thought the pump will continue and they're going to earn a lot of money. The FOMO is too strong during those times. They might have been enticed by xx% pumps in a matter of week/s
- 2020 investors, based on the survey, seems more mature and more knowledgeable. They see bitcoin as real long term investment (at least one year), Thus, "new breed"
It honestly doesn't improve my confidence for even the slightest.
Various people can claim that they will be holding their bitcoin for whatever amount of years and such, but then when the price drops enough to the point that it scared their asses off? They dump, saying that bitcoin is dead, or to "buy back lower".
I think it's better to look at how the bitcoin "bulls" acted in the last crash after the bull run, than listen to what they say.
I agree that what you say is different from what you do when you are really in that situation. I've also experienced trying to hodl while the price is dumping but it didn't last. I had to fight my "hodler's ego" and it turned out it's the right decision.
About the bulls' actions, I doubt anyone would spill their strategy in public but I'd be interested to read that as well.
~ I think people are beginning to see that bitcoin is not a ponzi scheme or a get rich quick stuff. They are beginning to see the true reason bitcoin was made in the first place
I failed to include the
"bitcoin is a bubble" in the OP. It's one of the most used attacks around 2018. The bounce back is probably one reason why we see the change in mentality towards bitcoin. If it was able to survive a ~90% crash, it can probably survive anything.
~ Nothing has change though in my opinion, what we are seeing is just a pattern. After a bullrun or even during a bullrun there will always be fresh blood going to pump the market, getting rekt, obviously exited and never comeback. But there will always be some groups that are going to replace them, just like what we are seeing today. As for the age of the new investors, doesn't mean anything as well. As long as these investors know the risk involved, whether was age, race, color, ethnicity or social standing, there will always be investors coming along to the ecosystem.
It could be a pattern/cycle as well but I wouldn't underestimate the exposure bitcoin had since 2017. I believe that was the time it really caught the attention of mainstream media, traditional investors, and financial institutions. It's highly probably that many of the spectators got curious and started researching.
I agree that there will always be fresh blood to be rekt though, especially when btc pumps to $20K or higher, but perhaps we'll see more prepared new investors when that time comes.