First Bitcoin Purchase

My first experience with the highest valued cryptocurrency and without a doubt, the most widely known.

As an incoming sophomore, Bitcoin first caught my attention during September of 2017 when I heard some of my friends talking about it. Around the time, it was valued at a grand amount of $4,000 (just 1/5th of its peak which it would hit only 4 months later) which was a huge difference from its starting price of just 8 cents. Surprised at its exchange value, I sought out to find what this “coin” was having no previous knowledge. By watching youtube videos and reading articles, the general consensus I found out about this cryptocurrency was quite lob-sided. The majority believed that it was in a “bubble” and that it was subject to collapse and lose all its value. Taking advice from those sources, I focused my attention away from Bitcoin thinking that it would either decrease its value tremendously or crash.

4 months later, I randomly stumbled across a video which talked about the release of Bitcoin futures. To my surprise, in those 4 months from September to early-December, its price nearly quadrupled from $4,000 all the way up to $15,000. Seriously regretting my decision of not investing earlier in the year, I decided to not take any advice from outside sources and to just go with my gut feeling. I agreed that I should invest an amount I was comfortable with even if I could potentially lose it all. Therefore, I decided to invest $200. Now that I had the money, I just needed to find the right time to invest. Knowing the extremely volatile nature of Bitcoin, I waited for a minor crash to then put my money into. It went down to $13,800 and that’s when I officially became an investor in Bitcoin. After a week of constantly checking my phone for price updates, I finally saw it rise to $18,000. I agreed to sell my share of just 1.1% of one bitcoin to ultimately gain a profit of $35.17.

My time as a bitcoin owner (well 1.1% of one) was rather short-lived, but nevertheless a happy journey. I learned that I shouldn’t always take other people’s word, especially when I can generate some pretty good advice of my own.