I love you, my bitcoin

In my last post, I wrote about people hating bitcoin without even understanding the technology behind it. We discovered the fear of change and how this interferes with accepting new things. Many people contributed great comments, thank you. This time I will explore the other side of the story. Let’s analyze the deep love people have for all things crypto and a reason for it. I will not mention crowd mentality, FOMO or bubbles as we are all tired of this oversimplification broadcasted by mainstream media.

In their 2008 research paper, Tuckett and Taffler described the mania of investors in the dot-com bubble. They discovered a unique phenomenon and called it “phantastic objects,” these are mental representations of something (or someone) which fulfill an individual’s deepest desires to have what they want. These scholars also researched fund managers investment behavior and looked at greed, fear and hope. Greed was not the biggest motivator in their decision making. Excitement and an imaginary personal relationship with an individual stock was the most significant influence. So by buying bitcoin or other crypto assets, they represent unconscious fantasies. For example, the desire to be a wealthy playboy, a smart internet guru or an astronaut flying to the moon. These powerful drivers remain hidden under our thoughts; it is like you have a personal relationship with bitcoin.

The power of these unconscious desires can be extreme and can lead us to make poor financial decisions based on emotions and not objective data. We do not want to marry our crypto investments, and the concept of hodl makes it worse. Without consistent self-reflection, it is difficult to identify why we do what we do. We think we're smart and in complete control of our financial decisions. However, what drives most of us is emotional. Identify the emotional drivers in your life, and you will find patterns.

Until this week, many investors have bid up the prices of some cryptocurrencies to mindblowing levels. Even after this week's correction, the values are still sky high. Many projects don't have a real product yet and are just a token and a white paper. Other projects are just a token with a copied white paper. Many ICO teams have had no business experience, but now control millions of dollars. This new asset class has captured our minds, hearts and perhaps hidden desires. So as the markets are crashing, I ask you to consider these questions.

Do you love bitcoin (or your "special" crypto)? What emotional drivers push to you invest?

Share your thoughts and ideas below.

Disclosure:
I am not short bitcoin or any other crypto. I hold modest long investments in crypto.