3 years ago...let's reminisce

[oda.krell]

Three years ago I was buying silver and gold like an idiot.

Oh well, lesson learned. Don't buy into all the hype.

Yup, I was in the exact same boat. If only I had reversed the percentages of my portfolio for metals and bitcoin.

Hmm, won't people buying bitcoin now be considered "buying into all the hype"?
Or maybe in a few years...

Despite the bulls who like to say with certainty "not a chance", I'd answer: sure, it's possible. I can think of several scenarios in which Bitcoin, more or less, fails, and people who bought coins at $650 would be thought of as "buying into the hype".

There are still two good reasons to invest nonetheless: given the (admittedly) huge upside potential, the expected return might still be positive. And: I don't see most "failure" scenarios if one of them would happen as happening over night, so you could hope to get out in time before price approaches zero.

In other words: it's rational to buy at this price, in my opinion. Just don't delude yourself that it's "riskless" or "a sure thing".

[sgbett]

...

In other words: it's rational to buy at this price, in my opinion. Just don't delude yourself that it's "riskless" or "a sure thing".

the wisest of all words.

[TwinWinNerD]

I hope there is a thread like this in 3 years and I can write: "I invested nearly everything I could afford to lose into this".

Hehe

[sgbett]

So I just came across an old spreadsheet I used to track my orders on bitcoinica and calculate my zhoutong price...

These are the orders I had in on bitcoinica when it went bust with about $700 in it....



Granted they wouldn't all have filled in the end, but they were nervous times. I spent hours arguing with myself about whether I should buy more coins for more than $3 and how much I should hold back to buy on dips.

I was making a real play for the vladimir club hehe

Didn't turn out quite as I expected

[picolo]

2011 really set off a strange series of events for me.

If my brother hadn't been living in Japan at the time of the Fukushima thing, I might still have been asleep to the world. Instead, I now had a vested interest in the situation, so I started to try to find some real news about what was going on.

That started a trip down the rabbit hole that inevitably led to bitcoin. I think by June of 2011 I was telling everyone I knew about how cool bitcoin was and how it would kill the banks and topple governments. I couldn't figure out why everyone just laughed or looked at me funny. 

and then I found this place 

Thanks for sharing

You were very ahead of most, I am dreaming on what will be said in 3 years of time

[Torque]

So I just came across an old spreadsheet I used to track my orders on bitcoinica and calculate my zhoutong price...

These are the orders I had in on bitcoinica when it went bust with about $700 in it....
<snip>

Granted they wouldn't all have filled in the end, but they were nervous times. I spent hours arguing with myself about whether I should buy more coins for more than $3 and how much I should hold back to buy on dips.

I was making a real play for the vladimir club hehe

Didn't turn out quite as I expected

That is amazing.  So I'm guessing you had (or still have) hundreds of coins from back in the day?

[picolo]

So I just came across an old spreadsheet I used to track my orders on bitcoinica and calculate my zhoutong price...

These are the orders I had in on bitcoinica when it went bust with about $700 in it....
<snip>

Granted they wouldn't all have filled in the end, but they were nervous times. I spent hours arguing with myself about whether I should buy more coins for more than $3 and how much I should hold back to buy on dips.

I was making a real play for the vladimir club hehe

Didn't turn out quite as I expected

That is amazing.  So I'm guessing you had (or still have) hundreds of coins from back in the day?

He could have a few thousands or 50 depending on if he hold strong or not

He has 0.005 BTC in his donation address and 0 in 16oZHZ62XZsoLjfZDpw3gUZAbp4zWMAmR3 that is showed on his website

[Cryptopher]

So, almost exactly 3 years ago a lot of us were euphorically watching as bitcoin blew through the $20 range and into the $30s.  Not long after reaching nearly $33, there was a series of relatively large sell-offs into pretty thin bids, and that ultimately bottomed out around $10.

The price "recovered" to around $17 and then we were all epically goxxed with an insane hackcrash from $17 to, basically, $0.  It was gut-wrenching.  I was on my way to the gym when it happened and casually opened the price app on my phone to see the price was under $10.  I was a little disturbed, but it's bitcoin.  At another stop light I checked again and the price was under $5.  That's when I called my wife and frantically attempted to explain to her how to log on to MtGox and put in a sell order...by the time she logged in the price was $0.25 and I said, "well, shit, it's pretty much all gone..."

Share your story.

So what happened next, did you keep them to one side and hold, or did you recover what you could? I hope that it was the former.

[giveBTCpls]

3 years ago I saw some stories on bitcoin at slashdot and other places and stupidly ignored them

Oh, basically this. I saw it getting mentioned in some news, but ignored it as it was linked to criminal activities, didnt research further. Since then a feeling of bitterness conquers my mind a lot throught the day. Hopefully Bitcoin goes to 100K a coin during the next 10 years or I will be too old to enjoy the money fully. 

[tabnloz]

Really interesting thread.

Everyone can look back in hindsight and say 'I should have done that' but to get into something like bitcoin so early on meant you would have had to navigate some uncharted waters. And it also meant you had to have some intelligent 'influencers' or defining experiences. Or just be really switched on, Roger Ver style. Kudos to everyone who did and is still here.

I've really found it an enjoyable trip down the rabbit hole. For me, there was no more influential experience than losing a pretty penny during the financial crisis. Before that it was follow the herd investing even when I didn't understand what I was doing (stocks/ options etc). But it led me to educating myself and in about feb of 13 to bitcoin.

[spazzdla]

I have an bad feeling we will be re-testing the $360..  HODL.. remember 2011-2012.

[CoinDiver]

I have an bad feeling we will be re-testing the $360..  HODL.. remember 2011-2012.

2011 was a one time event. It would be very unlikely to see another drop followed by a long sustained decline again. The bubble of 2011 seriously shook confidence in bitcoin. It took a year and a half to recover. That bubble, and the two in 2013 have all tempered the market. Each new raise and drop will have that history and the inevitable rebound to consider. Of course, it's on a logarithmic scale... so it's still pretty turbulent.

[wachtwoord]

I have an bad feeling we will be re-testing the $360..  HODL.. remember 2011-2012.

2011 was a one time event. It would be very unlikely to see another drop followed by a long sustained decline again. The bubble of 2011 seriously shook confidence in bitcoin. It took a year and a half to recover. That bubble, and the two in 2013 have all tempered the market. Each new raise and drop will have that history and the inevitable rebound to consider. Of course, it's on a logarithmic scale... so it's still pretty turbulent.

Indeed. Pump and dump or ponzi schemes never recover so a tremendous amount of confidence was gained by people around the world when the price of Bitcoin recovered and beat the ATH. Every time this cycle is repeated base trust get's higher. It's kind of silly, as everyone that truly gets Bitcoin knows it's not a ponzi scheme, but that's what it is.

[Bit_Happy]

So, almost exactly 3 years ago a lot of us were euphorically watching as bitcoin blew through the $20 range and into the $30s.  Not long after reaching nearly $33, there was a series of relatively large sell-offs into pretty thin bids, and that ultimately bottomed out around $10.

The price "recovered" to around $17 and then we were all epically goxxed with an insane hackcrash from $17 to, basically, $0.  It was gut-wrenching.  I was on my way to the gym when it happened and casually opened the price app on my phone to see the price was under $10.  I was a little disturbed, but it's bitcoin.  At another stop light I checked again and the price was under $5.  That's when I called my wife and frantically attempted to explain to her how to log on to MtGox and put in a sell order...by the time she logged in the price was $0.25 and I said, "well, shit, it's pretty much all gone..."

Share your story.
This was written the night before Gox was due to finally re-open:

When the Hot Deadly Lava from MtGox is Inches from Your Feet how Will YOU React?

"In ancient Pompeii many people were needlessly killed the day their fine city was flooded by the local volcano named Mt. Vesuvius.
Later today, many good people could lose a lot of money when our fine community is flooded  by the local volcano named Mt Gox. 

Question: What really caused all those needless deaths in Pompeii?
Answer: People panicked.

The open gates of the city got blocked by a massive stampede of terrified people. The first dozen, or so, in front wanted to leave but their legs were pinned under 5 or 10 other people, who were about to die because they were also trapped under the people behind them.

Question: What can we learn from about all the needless deaths in Pompeii?" ...
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=19880.0

[picolo]

I have an bad feeling we will be re-testing the $360..  HODL.. remember 2011-2012.

2011 was a one time event. It would be very unlikely to see another drop followed by a long sustained decline again. The bubble of 2011 seriously shook confidence in bitcoin. It took a year and a half to recover. That bubble, and the two in 2013 have all tempered the market. Each new raise and drop will have that history and the inevitable rebound to consider. Of course, it's on a logarithmic scale... so it's still pretty turbulent.

Indeed. Pump and dump or ponzi schemes never recover so a tremendous amount of confidence was gained by people around the world when the price of Bitcoin recovered and beat the ATH. Every time this cycle is repeated base trust get's higher. It's kind of silly, as everyone that truly gets Bitcoin knows it's not a ponzi scheme, but that's what it is.

There has been a lot of market manipulation but it is actually players making moves and the market volatility has not prevent the price to go up every year

[Bit_Happy]

...the price to go up every year

3 years from now, a much bigger group of members will be talking about the huge Rally in late 2014!

[thisisthis]

...the price to go up every year

3 years from now, a much bigger group of members will be talking about the huge Rally in late 2014!

I really hope so, I'm holding and won't sell even if we hit single digits.

[InwardContour]

...the price to go up every year

3 years from now, a much bigger group of members will be talking about the huge Rally in late 2014!

Maybe it can take some months, maybe an year, but bitcoin will surely hit a new ATH sooner or later, just hold and wait for it.

[Baitty]

...the price to go up every year

3 years from now, a much bigger group of members will be talking about the huge Rally in late 2014!

Maybe it can take some months, maybe an year, but bitcoin will surely hit a new ATH sooner or later, just hold and wait for it.

We can never say 'surely' as there will always be risks in Bitcoin and there will be no guarenteed result otherwise it would of already been adopted by many of the rich people in the world. It's a experiment which I think will pay off if people can hold and trade at the same time otherwise if too many hold and dont trade with it it becomes worthless.

[maok]

We can never say 'surely' as there will always be risks in Bitcoin and there will be no guarenteed result otherwise it would of already been adopted by many of the rich people in the world. It's a experiment which I think will pay off if people can hold and trade at the same time otherwise if too many hold and dont trade with it it becomes worthless.

yes everyone should be active in trading with a portion of their bitcoin stash, it provides liquidity and helps discover the real market price, otherwise Bitcoin becomes liable to market manipulation which we've seen so many times.