2017’s second half has been all about bitcoin/cryptocurrencies. You could have easily noticed your relative, close friend, colleague or any random person on the internet go crazy about bitcoin/cryptocurrencies in the last couple of months.
Among all, the most typical comments from people who are into buying/selling bitcoin/cryptocurrencies were like: “Bitcoin is going up!”, “You know bitcoin just hit $xxxxx!”, “Bitcoin is the next big thing! I bet my life!”, “If you’d have bought bitcoins 3 months ago, you’d have tripled your money by now.”. Yes, I hear and see all that happening. But I also see your desperation to make quick money and get rich the easy way. It’s a fucking propaganda!
Let me give you the truth on point-blank – Most people I know who invested in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies don’t care about the implications (+positive or -negative) blockchain or cryptocurrencies will bring. All they care about is how much money they can make in the shortest way/time possible. Plus you’ll notice people who have invested in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies will constantly encourage or shame people into buying cryptocurrencies they have bought, because:
- That’s how they justify their biased and idiotic decision in investing in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies
- That’s how they increase the value of bitcoin/cryptocurrencies. The more people put faith and invest in something, the more it’s worth goes up. It’s also about comforting themselves when the bubble burst and it’s not just them who took a hit or went bankrupt, it’s their friends and family as well. That’s psychologically comforting.
There’s nothing wrong in that, but in the short run, with induced FOMO (Fear of missing out), FUD (Fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and Peer pressure, it harms two entities:
- The majority who invested in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies for the sake of making money is affecting the real impact cryptocurrencies can bring ASAP i.e. helping individual/merchants/businesses adopt bitcoin once it settles down with its volatility and brings multiple benefits to transactions globally. For more clarity on the benefits of bitcoin/cryptocurrencies, watch this video.
- That majority itself ends up spending a lot of time and energy making a short-term quick buck in peer pressure while losing sight of what’s really important to them in the moment. (Ex. my friend keeps on checking his phone multiple times while conversing with colleagues, playing TT or Fifa, and while eating too)
With that in mind, let me tell you why I haven’t invested in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies and neither planning to invest in near future. Here’s why:
- I don’t want to involve myself in the hassle/stress of when bitcoin/cryptocurrencies are going up or down. I want to live in the moment. When you invest in things that are volatile and is changing every second, it requires your attention to the full extent. It’s not bitcoin’s/cryptocurrencies’ fault. It’s just how it is and it needs your attention. So for me, living in the moment has greater value than giving my 24×7 attention to making few quick bucks.
- I don’t care how much money it’ll multiply me. I don’t get swayed away by FOMO/FUD/Peer pressure. I make enough to live happily every month, buy things I want (sometimes by waiting few months to save – that’s also fun + you value the things you buy with your saved money), travel 1-2 international countries every year. The logic here is that if I keep on running or say yes to every money-making opportunity world presents me with, my purpose is lost. There’s no value to uphold. There’s no focus.
- The repercussions of developing the habit/taste of making quick money are very dangerous. Investment in the real world doesn’t work that way. You don’t multiply your money 100%, 200% or more in just 3 months. Usually, the return on investment rates is ~4% to ~25% throughout the investment industry.
- I am a creative person. I want my time and energy to go into the creative work I am doing, towards my personal and professional goals, towards my fitness, towards making new memories with friends or loved ones, or maybe towards nurturing myself. There are tons of things I have in mind that’ll make me happier if I do/achieve them compared to multiplying my money 1x-5x in the short-term.
But you might say that “oh, but you are earning decent money and maybe that’s why you don’t care”.
Here’s why it’s bullshit: How many people you know who are/were broke but started investing in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies? I know none. I have not seen a poor guy or someone who’s broke has started investing in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies. Everyone who has invested moderately/heavily in Bitcoin/cryptocurrencies is earning or has earned a decent amount of money. Plus if you’re poor/broke and you’ve put money in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies, you’re not investing, you’re gambling. Yes, you read that right! Investing in something without knowing what it does or really means, equals to gambling.
So think twice before investing in things that promise you quick/more return in the shortest time possible. DON’T fall into propaganda.
P.S.: This post is not about robbing you of your opportunity of investing in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies or into anything else. Just by writing this post, I, for myself, am making sure that wherever my time and energy goes, it’s giving me the most value in return in terms of feeling joy, feeling content and feeling worthy (mostly the qualitative metric rather than quantitive). And I get that one cannot apply the same filter to everything that’s happening in life, but bitcoin/cryptocurrencies just don’t cut it to my to-do list when it comes to feeling accomplished for reasons I mentioned above. And I hope that this post will help someone gain that same perspective and choose better for themselves instead of investing in bitcoin/cryptocurrencies or any other quick-money-making investment opportunity in future.
Happy Christmas and choose wisely! 🙂