Buy Bitcoin and hold, end of story? Big mistake

[passwordnow]

I think whoever also told them to invest in bitcoin has that responsibility to tell them that everything should be taken with a grain of salt. And they shouldn't make promises that their money will grow easy. Research and finding out the pros and cons of investing in bitcoin should be made. Because if they're only investing because their friend told them to do so without any validation from them and just because they have the money, that isn't right. You're right that they're investing in what they don't know and this is rampant today and when they are in a losing moment, they'll blame the person told them to invest.

Hodling or holding is a long time practice and it does not mean holding your bitcoin for some days, some weeks or some months, it's longer than that. So there is no ending of holding when people feel like this market cycle already ended and the bull market ended while a bear market just starts.

Holding your bitcoin for a long time like some years can minimize risk and increase chance of profit gain. It is shown and recommended by the HODL map and the Bitcoin profitable days.
http://hodl.camp/
https://www.bitcoinmagazinepro.com/charts/bitcoin-profitable-days/

Even without that map or any indicator, we have already proven it by ourselves that holding is actually effective. And holding requires patience and long way of having it without selling. Doing it also needs to be planned that you'll use the money there that you won't need immediately. I think many wants to hold for so long but the problem starts when they are in need of money and they have no other source where to get it but from their bitcoin holdings. In the end, they have no choice but to sell it despite promising of holding long term.

[Obim34]

Security is a major factor on Bitcoin that should be studied early during the time of investing, it is important to learn the basic of protecting seed phrases more than we stack up Bitcoin in the beginning of our investment.

Neglecting to be inquisitive about ideas will certainly result to mistakes because of ignorance, most at time it can be irrecoverable in the case of Bitcoin, if your friend had deleted his wallet software or misplaced device, the Bitcoin in possession would be counted as lost coins.

I hoped you also talked to him about privacy, your involvement in setting up his wallet should be a concern for him, and he needs to fix his coins in a different wallet, you may pose no threat since you helped out but for his own maximum security, it should be moved.

[armanda90]

Its why important to know full about cryptocurrency exactly about bitcoin before all in and investing money in bitcoin, I can't believing how possibility with your neighbor not really understand yet about wallet bitcoin deposit and seed phrase for his wallet. Firstly before investing in bitcoin need to know about wallet, back up seed phrase until know more about which one secure place for holding bitcoin between wallet and exchange wallet.
I think many people nowadays investing in bitcoin regarding hype after watching any influencer giving motivate for investing in bitcoin, they don't know about wallet for depositing bitcoin, how to back up seed phrase and most of them buy bitcoin without make research firstly current price have raise up or not.

[JoyMarsha]

If you have no other reason to invest in Bitcoin than getting rich I suggest you don't, because there are many things that comes along with holding Bitcoin, it is not as easy as you are been told.

What other reason will someone have, if not to be rich? The majority of us are investing in Bitcoin for the reason of being rich(same as you). Don't think that a newbie who doesn't have basic knowledge of Bitcoin shouldn't dream of being rich with Bitcoin someday. They should dream of that in the future, as they get to know about Bitcoin as time goes on. That lies on us to teach them about that because most of the mistakes made by newbies you hear of, mainly are from the wrong mentality and no much explanation was given to them to know about Bitcoin investment and they should deal with it for a successful investment journey

[macson]

1. Someone told me that I will become rich in a year or two if i buy Bitcoin.
2. My family friends are also buying so I feel like I should join them.
3. I know a familiar face who got rich with Bitcoin.

Investing in bitcoin needs to be done with your own awareness, not just following people. You have to really understand the risks and be confident in your own decision to invest your money in them.

Seeing other people make big profits is fine, but don't think that it will change your life overnight, bitcoin is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but a volatile asset that requires patience and an understanding of the risks. So just assume that it is just motivation to invest in the long term but not a shortcut to getting rich quickly.

[henry_of_skalitz]

1. Someone told me that I will become rich in a year or two if i buy Bitcoin.
2. My family friends are also buying so I feel like I should join them.
3. I know a familiar face who got rich with Bitcoin.

Investing in bitcoin needs to be done with your own awareness, not just following people. You have to really understand the risks and be confident in your own decision to invest your money in them.

Seeing other people make big profits is fine, but don't think that it will change your life overnight, bitcoin is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but a volatile asset that requires patience and an understanding of the risks. So just assume that it is just motivation to invest in the long term but not a shortcut to getting rich quickly.

Especially not to follow some companies and such that do it on another scale.. They don't lose anything basically trying it out, whereas retailers are a completely different story.

[Ziskinberg]

There are actually people who are just obedient without understanding why they have to. As long as they've seen or hear the proofs, no questions asked, they will eventually follow the same thing. But that kind of mindset should not be applied in bitcoin. Bitcoin is a high-risk asset, so one should should always have due diligence to research before jumping in, to avoid certain mistakes and losses, and to avoid blaming oneself in the future. The teacher has not realized this, until he starts facing his problem with bitcoin.

[Numeral]

There aren't that many people who thoughtlessly store bitcoins in cold wallets, but they do exist. As a rule, beginners start storing their bitcoins on centralized exchanges, and only later, as they gain experience, do they switch to cold wallets, even hardware wallets in particular. In general, you should treat all your valuables responsibly, whether it's Bitcoin, fiat money, or a bicycle. Bitcoin is not a toy or a freebie; to make money from it, you need to at least use your head and study the issue in detail. And technical knowledge about managing your assets is basic knowledge.

[serjent05]

If I where you, the next advise I will give to that my neighbor is to create a new wallet back it up and move all the coins from the old wallet to the newly created one, the reason is this;

If you were smart, you would not get involved at all. If you help random people, even be it neighbors, eventually such idiots will blame you when they do something wrong. In the lines of "but you didn't tell me this and that too, you just told me something and not everything". Nobody has a duty to fix the fucking population of planet Earth, stop wasting time with these ideas and focus on yourself instead. Most people are not fixable.

There are people who are kind and selfless, unlike others.  They help regardless of the consequences, I don't see any problem on helping people when they come to you and seek for advice or help.  The only thing that @OP did not think is why not just create a new wallet and move the coins there, just like the earlier reply stated.

1. Someone told me that I will become rich in a year or two if i buy Bitcoin.
2. My family friends are also buying so I feel like I should join them.
3. I know a familiar face who got rich with Bitcoin.

This is all they know about Bitcoin, they hold to get rich, people blindly invest in what they don't understand, this needs to stop, and when something happens they brand Bitcoin as scam.

Nonsense. This does not need to stop because it has absolutely nothing to do with Bitcoin at all. This is an issue of personality and intelligence of the person in question and an issue that comes up frequently and is therefore a societal problem. People do the same thing with pretty much any kind of stuff, from stocks to real estate to outright scams. Why do you think people buy ponzi schemes? Look:

1. Someone told me that I will become rich in a year or two if i buy this product/company (actually a Ponzi scheme).
2. My family friends are also buying so I feel like I should join them.
3. I know a familiar face who got rich with this product/company (actually a Ponzi scheme).

Do you now get my point? This has nothing to do with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is just one of many avenues in which this kind of degenerate behavior shows itself. You won't fix a person who is like this by teaching them about Bitcoin. If they don't do it with Bitcoin, they will do it with something else instead.

I disagree, people who are open minded and is genuinely eager to learn will change their perspective.  Most people are just thought the wrong way, reason why they have distorted belief, only stubborn people will cling to this belief and not change but those who are open-minded and smart will surely adjust after knowing what the truth is.

What is better to do is to focus only on core family and good friends and contacts. Do not waste time trying to fix other people. Do not fix people that don't ask for help anyway. Most people get annoyed when their stupidity or lack of knowledge gets exposed.

I read @OP just help his friend about his inquiry, I do not read anywhere that @OP is trying to fix people since he does.... he is just citing on what he believe should be done...

[mirakal]

If you think of it deeply, this is the most common behavior of investors who only invest for quick money. A lot in here do that, and only take the courage to learn seriously when problems start to occur.  And that is a very big mistake and should be discouraged.

This teacher makes a great example. He knows how to accumulate bitcoin but he's never aware on how to navigate his bitcoin account. That's basic for others, but for some who only invest without prior knowledge, that could be the reason of their future loss.

[jossiel]

Especially not to follow some companies and such that do it on another scale.. They don't lose anything basically trying it out, whereas retailers are a completely different story.

I don't think that they don't lose anything.

If the market goes south, they're losing more than what we can imagine. So, getting an idea from what a company does with how and what they are holding, that gives them more losses in paper.

But it's also right that it's a different story from us because in our own story, it's our money that we're losing in paper. Unlike them, it's a combination of their own holdings and their investors too.

[Orpichukwu]

Maybe he made a mistake by not doing more research. But if he can open/access the wallet, he can transfer all funds to other wallets. He doesn't have to use his recovery seed because he can access the wallet and move the funds.

The wallet is safe as long as the user still has access to the gadget which it's connected to, but if the phone crashes or anything happens to it, then everything that has been held for a long period of time will turn out to be inaccessible. There is a need for backup and safe keeping, especially as gadgets can malfunction most of the time without even giving a warning, or assuming the man forgets and gifts the phone to someone who wipes it clean, everything will also be lost.

[NurseHub]

Look at the bright side, maybe after next few years when he remember with his coins, his investment would be worth much. Because some people can't be patient enough to hold their coins, they usually choose to sell even the price only increase for 20%.

There is nothing bright about that because personally I know someone who claimed he wants to just buy and let the bitcoin be without giving or prioritising it based on checking and other stuffs like increasing the size of the bitcoin total he has no clue of the keys to the Waller, but he definitely can track and see how much the wallet balance is left but can't use it, he tried to contract people on the dark web to brute force the wallet but no way, so in my opinion there is no bright side you could loss it in the process.

[tabas]

This is all they know about Bitcoin, they hold to get rich, people blindly invest in what they don't understand, this needs to stop, and when something happens they brand Bitcoin as scam.

I think that many of us are guilty introducers of Bitcoin to our friends. But I am not just letting them blindly invest on it but this has happened in the past, it was long time ago with the past bull runs. I can't remember exactly but I was one of those who told people to invest on bitcoin. Although I don't think that I've branded Bitcoin that way as a scam. Many of them didn't even invest but I always give them the caution that the market is so sick that they might feel so emotional if they see it start to drop a lot. I also told as usual to not rely on someone's knowledge and they have to do it on their own and understand where they are investing their money.

[Marvell1]

I think many people nowadays investing in bitcoin regarding hype after watching any influencer giving motivate for investing in bitcoin, they don't know about wallet for depositing bitcoin, how to back up seed phrase and most of them buy bitcoin without make research firstly current price have raise up or not.

This is the current situation, many people are rushing into the market and investing blindly because of stories about someone getting rich from bitcoin. Or hearing that bitcoin will reach millions of dollars in the future. They invest in bitcoin but don't know what a non-custodial wallet is, what a seed phrase is. The only thing they know is to use a centralized exchange to buy and hold bitcoins.

This is what I witnessed with a friend of mine. He has a pretty large investment stored on OKX, and it doesn't even have 2fa enabled, email or any other layer of security other than a weak password. It was really risky, but I couldn't give him advice because his younger brother was the one giving investment advice. So my friend just listened to what his brother said and ignored what I said.

[Nahl]

Recently there are plenty of people who being fomo that because these people only listen to the people especially the influencers who encourage to buy bitcoin because they were tempting about the words to being rich from holding bitcoin but unfortunately these people seems ignore to know more about cryptocurrency especially bitcoin because all they know is having bitcoin will have bright future because the value of bitcoin always be increase for every year

Reading to OP story i think losing our recovery seed or forgot password is not only dominated by newbie because sometimes too we did those things but indeed invest blindly without know more about our investment could be a risky thing especially for bitcoin which everybody know compared to other investment tools bitcoin is more volatile however i can see OP friend has hold bitcoin into his old wallet for a year and i assume the value of his bitcoin have already increases

[davis196]

1. Someone told me that I will become rich in a year or two if i buy Bitcoin.
2. My family friends are also buying so I feel like I should join them.
3. I know a familiar face who got rich with Bitcoin.

Getting financial advice from friends and family is kinda stupid, but I do get the mentality behind it. Giving financial advice to friends and family is equally stupid.
All the conformity and the "other people are doing this, so I have to do the same thing" mentality is also pretty stupid, but I do understand that most people are followers, not leaders. Thinking that buying a financial asset and doing nothing afterwards will make you rich is another form of stupidity. I guess that the guy was just too lazy to educate himself about Bitcoin, seed phrases and cold wallets. At the end of the day, all the ignorant people will lose their money. That's how the world goes.

[Sandywhale]

ndia plans to launch ARC, a rupee-pegged digital asset built on Polygon, in early 2026.

[FortuneFollower]

Security is a major factor on Bitcoin that should be studied early during the time of investing, it is important to learn the basic of protecting seed phrases more than we stack up Bitcoin in the beginning of our investment.

Neglecting to be inquisitive about ideas will certainly result to mistakes because of ignorance, most at time it can be irrecoverable in the case of Bitcoin, if your friend had deleted his wallet software or misplaced device, the Bitcoin in possession would be counted as lost coins.

I hoped you also talked to him about privacy, your involvement in setting up his wallet should be a concern for him, and he needs to fix his coins in a different wallet, you may pose no threat since you helped out but for his own maximum security, it should be moved.

That's truly important, because without knowing said basics, we can never be chill about our coins, there is always a way it all comes downtown.. Even doing all the things we can to secure our seed phrase / etc., there are chances to fall to social engineering attempts, but we should minimize all the risks we can.

[Uhwuchukwu53]

There aren't that many people who thoughtlessly store bitcoins in cold wallets, but they do exist. As a rule, beginners start storing their bitcoins on centralized exchanges, and only later, as they gain experience, do they switch to cold wallets, even hardware wallets in particular. In general, you should treat all your valuables responsibly, whether it's Bitcoin, fiat money, or a bicycle. Bitcoin is not a toy or a freebie; to make money from it, you need to at least use your head and study the issue in detail. And technical knowledge about managing your assets is basic knowledge.

Your emphasis speak volume, many only consider the failure of those who venture to attain change but never considered their success story. Life has always been two sided, many don't even know the value of what they have and to treat it as such, those who is eager to succeed in anything they laid hand always ask the rightful question and seek appreciate knowledge, to actualize a true success it undergoes stages just as you have emphasize that wiseness, establishing a cold wallet, or self custodian wallet as newbie is not wiseness when the knowledge to secure is lacking there's nothing wrong if one start with centralize exchange and later save it appropriately when required knowledge is gotten. Some op key word show that knowledge is not enough because lossing valuable information or details of your assets seem ignorant before me ,I think 'Numeral' summerize how wise investor or holder need approach anything deem valuable.