What Do Cryptocurrency Investors Want?

When I discovered cryptocurrency in 2014, I didn't think much of it. Bitcoin was around $200-300, too expensive for my tastes. I stumbled across Dogecoin and bought $20 worth. 50,000 coins. That peaked in value earlier this year at about $800. Talk about a win-fall. It would have been if I knew what a Private Key was back then and saved it. A $20 lesson learned.

Hindsight is an amazing thing. It gives you a chance to look into your past and analyze your successes and failures. And you get to make a choice about whether you laugh at your missed opportunities or relish in your well-timed successes.

Looking around the cryptocurrency environment today, you will see a much different situation. You have competing perceptions all battling for the crown of representing what cryptocurrency is all about.

There are the noobs, the short-hand for 'newcomers'. These people are in it for the hype and the short-sighted hope that they will be able to cover some bills, maybe even buy a house someday. They mean well but have superficial dreams of an easy dollar. So they jump into this crazy new thing called cryptocurrency. They don't quite get it but they know that other people have made millions and they'd like to too.

There are the investors. These outsiders come in from the traditional markets for the short-term. Like the noobs, but with more capital, these investors are out to make money. That also means they are what we call 'weak hands'. When the market turns negative for a spell, they exit and take their money to greener pastures. Usually we classify these people as market manipulators, taking advantage of the volatility of an emerging market.

There are the lifers. The ones who see cryptocurrency as the future of the financial world. They have no intentions of selling their cryptocurrency. Quite the opposite. Every time the market dips, they buy more, 'hodl-ing' until the Apocalypse. These are very intelligent people, they flood comments sections and Discord servers with great information and build some great relationships with other lifers. But in the eyes of outsiders, they're kind of boring.

So enter the 'life-tainers' to fill the void. A clever term I just made up to describe the people who have unfortunately dominated the visible landscape of cryptocurrency as of late. These are the YouTubers who drive Ferraris and Lamborghinis. These are the investors who offer training packages, "so you can live a life like this" <insert video of a big house next to the beach with fancy cars in the garage>.

Sadly, this has become what a lot of people think about when they consider entering cryptocurrency. You can usually tell when you're talking to a noob because they'll mention buying a 'Lambo', in a non-sarcastic manner. We joke about it because it's a subconscious response to the image being portrayed by the most visible cryptocurrency investors. 

So what do we really want?

If you were to poll the entire population of committed cryptocurrency investors, the answers would vary greatly. If you were to drill down into the answers, I think the two underlying answers would be quite simple: 

1. Freedom
2. Control

We live in a world dominated by debt. We all have it. Student loans. Mortgage. Car loan. Credit cards. Finding someone who is debt free is like finding Bismuth Crystals out in nature. If you don't know what they are, look them up. Pretty awesome.

Do you really want to own a Lambo? Yeah, they look really cool. And yes, all the ladies on Rodeo Drive will swoon when you drive through. The reality is you'll spend most of your time worrying about it. Someone scratching it, someone damaging it, yourself damaging it. Did you know most of the supercars you see out on the road are leased or rentals? That's because even the rich dude driving it knows he doesn't want to live with that constant concern.

The problem with all those things that are promoted as the 'dream life' is that they all cost a lot more than the price tag you see attached to it. Do you know how much insurance costs for a Lambo? What about property tax and home owner's insurance for that beach house in Malibu? Whatever you think you need to earn to buy those things, triple it. That's the minimum to afford to own it for more than six months.

Financial freedom is only one type of freedom. The reality is far more boring than what you see on YouTube so people don't cover it. 

The cryptocurrency investor who pays off his modest house in a nice neighborhood that's in a nice city with good schools is the one you want to aspire to be. The one that is making decisions that will result in financial freedom for as long as possible, not as extravagant as possible.

That leads to the even more important type of freedom. Freedom from concern. What would you do to be able to wake up every day for the next 40 years without concern? The Lambo is nice and the beach house is amazing. But can it compare to knowing that your retirement is taken care of and your children's education is paid for?

That's most of us. We don't want to be famous. We don't want to be "rich". We want to be free; free from debt, free from concern, free from the uncertainty of the future. 

That freedom leads us to control; to be able to take control of your life. Want to take a week long trip to Costa Rica next month? You plan it and you go. Want to put a new roof on your house because it's needed? Contractors will be here next week. 

So often we sacrifice control to our ability to afford things that we need. We have to choose between a vacation and a major home project. We have to choose between a new outfit and new tires for your car. 

Freedom and control. That's what most of us want. 

So if you're a noob, an investor, or a lifer, understand that most of you have similar aspirations of what digital currency can do for you. Don't let the perversion of extravagance distract you from what you truly want out of cryptocurrency.