I am wondering why @Baron is not a Bitcoin Billionaire (Maybe he is is ) Because I remember back around 2011, perhaps even earlier, he said he was very interested in Bitcoin. So I had always thought he was buying BTC from back then. But maybe i got the wrong impression, maybe he was just interested in creating discussions and subforums for the ET community and not really interested in owning it himself in those earlier years.
I remember reading the white paper back in the day when it was $15. I remember it going from $30 to $12 then up to $150. I didn’t buy it because it wasn’t that easy to buy as it was buying stock, etc. That was also more or less the time they froze my full tilt online poker account because it was illegal blah blah so I never pulled the trigger. I wasn’t comfortable buying something I wasn’t sure I’d lose my money on and not for th reason of it going down in price. There are countless reasons. It’s easy to look back and say I should’ve, but back then it was such a different vehicle to invest. I’m not a computer geek so that didn’t help. You see being interested and pulling the trigger without having rear view mirror ain’t so easy.
I wish I bought a lot more but I was too poor and too broke, living paycheck to paycheck and working OT just to make ends meet (ca 2013) I saw Bitcoin in the news during the Cyprus crisis when the price jumped but was too busy too look into it A few months later, spent some time, read a bunch of stuff, it took me a couple of weeks, an hour or 2 every few days because I was still working too much OT and often too tired It clicked for me, signed up with Coinbase but they didn't accept credit cards so quickly exhausted what little savings we had Custody was not difficult for me as I'm a computer tech plus online wallet blockchain dot info (before it was dot com) was good to store a small amount 5 btc give or take (now I wouldn't keep any btc there now) The price kept rising and towards the end of 2013, it was close to $1k , which was worse for me, made it more financially difficult to buy more In 2014, I discovered some ways to use my credit cards (i.e. Virwox and some sites) and within a few months all my credit cards were maxed out. I was all-in in 2014 Then bear market (crypto winter) started Circle became available in the US, the easiest way to purchase bitcoin using credit card or bank account. I would deposit $50, $100, $200 whenever I could, but honestly, the price kept crashing My biggest regret was not getting a personal loan in 2015 or even in 2016 to purchase bitcoins for the same price as in 2013 and lower price than 2014 Sometimes I look back and wish that I got in to Bitcoin in 2015 or 2016 and probably would have gotten more but maybe if I didn't experience the boom and bust of 2013/2014 I would not have gotten in at all [Worth mentioning is that Bitcoin and altcoin mining in those early years helped me to appreciate and understand the game theory and incentive mechanisms of the p2p network]
I still think it's very early if we look at the supply and demand over the long term There are 56 Million millionaires in the world Even if half of them want to add bitcoin to their portfolio of assets, they will only be able to acquire a fraction of a btc According to JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Blackrock, there's overwhelming demand from their clients...
My BTC maxi friend has been stating the same, but lately, it just comes off as he is trying to convince himself of his blind devotion rather than make any real argument for me to pump his bags. Why is there this assumption that every millionaire will rush out and buy BTC? Or any crypto, stock, property for that matter? Considering the current macro environment, if there is one thing that all millionaires will likely rush to own, it will be farmland. In early 2021, it seemed as if institutions might rush and buy up BTC as Saylor was riding high and doing his 3 day conference. Well, we see how that worked out. They just aren't that interested. If there is overwhelming demand from JP/GS/MS/Blackrock clients, then what's the problem? It's easy to buy BTC, even easier to have BTC price exposure. Their actions speak plenty. Check out the record Greyscale discount. And last I checked, Goldman was pointing more attention to ETH, rather than BTC. Maybe why ETH has pumped so hard and is leading the market from the recent lows. I regularly check with a couple boutique fund managers I know to get a feel of what those guys are thinking. The answer is always the same, they kinda think it's all a joke. But they are willing to play the BTC/crypto game, just another ponzi scheme to milk on behalf of clients.