Bitcoin for All?

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We realise that Bitcoin isn't for everyone. Bitcoin has its dark side. It gives bragging rights to man who is financially illiterate. It defies all logic. It tells you that FOLO (fear of losing out) is actually a good thing. It throws college education out the window.

Suddenly the uneducated Joe that decided to invest his kid's college fund is richer than the neighbourhood lawyer that charges $200/hour. Here are the few lessons that I learnt in 2017.

What goes up, will continue to go up

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Bitcoin started the year at $1,225 and today it is at $14,188. If this is a bubble, it is a reinforced steel bubble. It is a bubble that can bounce. Every setback give it a trampoline like effect where the next bounce will be higher than its previous resistance. Reminds me of a failed diet where the victim ends up being fatter than before the diet starts.

Zero Skills

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The expert always say, equip yourself with knowledge otherwise you will get burned. There is an old chinese proverb that sound something like this, 'Even the old grandpa needs saliva when he chews on the biscuit'. The simplest task requires some skill or effort.

In the case of bitcoin, you can have zero knowledge, some money and lots of guts. The guts is to withstand the naysayers that will be bugging your ear with rumours of doomsdays. It takes a lot of strength and ear buds to withstand the fear mongering.

Even the Taxi Driver is a Bitcoin Expert

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The irony of life is this, it is so unpredictable that even those who equipped themselves with all knowledge may not fare as well as those without knowledge. The man who flips burger for a living may not have that much time to monitor his bitcoin investment. Took out some $600, heard from his nephew who is into bitcoin mining that bitcoin is the next big thing and plonked part of his life savings into it. Didn't even remember about his bitcoin until 3 years later that he worth half a million for his ignorant investment. Suddenly, he is the next Warren Buffet. Afterall, he has the result to show.

The educated learnt in their conventional textbook that any investment that returns 30% within a month is a miraculous feat. It is just like finding a Pheonix in a gaggle of crows. He would in exercise of conventional wisdom, call it quits and hope for a dip when the profit taking sets it. It never happen. That expensive education and the networking in Harvard Business School suddenly made him feel like a first class jackass.

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Rumour Mongering is Good

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Noone who invests in Bitcoin wishes bitcoin to skyrocket until they have garnered substantial amount of stake. So, who can ever blame them when they speak of age old wisdom like,

'Why test your luck with Bitcoin? If you have money, lock it is Fixed Deposit or buy blue chips.'

'What if the world was correct, it is a scam, you lose your retirement funds.'

It is difficult to find fault in wisdom such as the above. So being cautious, Joe took the safe path. He didn't lose his money apart from losing it to inflation. He has his retirement plan safely intact. But what he didn't get was the living the life of Hugh Hefner or save some endangered species of wildlife from extinction. Maybe unconventional investment isn't for everyone. Some people are made to live life on the edge while others play it safe and worry about whether their interest is 3% per annum or 4% per annum.

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Suddenly Everyone is a Financial Expert

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The new economy has taken the world by storm. Blockchain sounded like something which is for the lumberjack industry. The man who is a financial noob, throws caution to the wind, takes all unwarranted risks, doesn't read the papers, gives no concern whether China is clamping down on crypto exchanges and ICOs is suddenly the most educated and financially savvy investor.

We live in the new age, where conventional education makes us dumber. Its time for us to be silly, live life like watching strip tease is seedy downtown whereby the last $20 is given for a good lap dance. This is the new economy, so lest we forget, think less, read less, embrace what the lemmings (rodent like creature that move in herd) of the world fears and you will be handsomely rewarded.

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