Bitcoin and Fear Discussion. Fact from Misinformation

[Eric Carr]

I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind about Crypto, specifically Bitcoin, nor do I expect this post to be popular or liked by 95% of BP users

I really like the money podcast and I’m listening back and am starting to see that @Mindy Jensen's hate for bitcoin comes from a total lack of understanding, which like in all things, leads to fear. To a lesser degree @Scott Trench as well but only because so far, he’s had less to say. But from what he’s said, doesn’t seem to understand it and doesn’t seem interested. Scott mentioned he thinks something else will come along – sounds logical, and I have friends who know little about BTC that have said the same thing. No one knows. But if you look at the fundamentals, growing support, dominance and market cap, and understand it, you end up with a better platform to base your decisions from. One example, a better Amazon hasn’t come around yet. A better internet either. There are thousands of crypto, which Mindy calls all of them Bitcoin, and at some point, I think we will see a lot of them disappear. Scott also says it has “no intrinsic value”, another phrase I see repeated often. I have friends who have said the same thing but can't define the word "intrinsic".  I’d like to ask Scott what the word intrinsic means to him, without looking it up! Because you could say the same about printed fiat currency. Money Show 86 with David Stein was telling. 

But don’t we think it’s important to understand what crypto is, what makes it useful, and the differences between all of the offerings? Just like any other asset class? They are not all the same.

David Steins advice that one should be able to explain something before investing is solid fundamental advice. On the other hand, wouldn’t everyone agree that one should be able to explain what something is before they hate and recommend against it? Not understanding and not investing is one thing, it’s a good reason not to invest in fact, but actively hating something that isn’t understood seems dangerous, especially when giving financial advice.

For instance, Mindy recalled something that might have happened in Greece that caused the price of BTC to sink to $6k – details are fuzzy, such as what exactly happened, when, what the price was before and after, and how it affected BTC

In this episode (86) there were a couple of points that had fuzzy or non-existent details and facts – don’t we think those are important when deciding for or against something?

Doesn’t it seem like giving financial advice out of fear, emotion, or/and lack of understanding, is dangerous?

One thing Mindy said did make sense, it is volatile. If the volatility is beyond your threshold, even when you believe in something, you might avoid it. But undersatand it first! 

When I started investing in BTC, it was early 2015 when it had fallen from previous highs of over $1,000. I bought at $246.

I held since and have seen gains in the 1000%. Not even my real estate purchased at the bottom of the last crash, has performed that well

Even given the volatility, since 2009, we've not seen anything perform like BTC. Look at Apple stock January 2015, which traded at around $110. It's at $227 today. Do the math from the same period against BTC. 

I invested no more than I could afford to part with, I understand it, I believe in it, adoption is growing, and I could write another two pages

I think if anyone has rational questions, not emotional hate, post up and we can discuss things. 

What's past is proglogue. People hated the automobile, MP3's, electric elevators, and were afraid of flight. Anything can happen, but if you're curious, I'm here to have a discussion