My portfolio may look like I'm down 40%, but I see it as being up 60% and paid my "Crypto tuition" fees

Obviously, nobody like seeing red in their portfolio, and unfortunately for many in the crypto class of 2021 and 2022, our portfolios are deep in the red. However, a simple change in perspective can shift the negative feeling you have about your portfolio to a positive feeling. Here's how I do it.

I started buying crypto in March of 2021. The only coin I have realized gains on is DOGE. Everything else is a realized or unrealized loss. I could see this as a total defeat and think crypto is a scam and a money pit and walk away. However, when I think about what I did before crypto, it becomes clear that my return is positive.

You see, I still follow general financial advice. I contribute to a 401k and IRA, have a savings account with 6 months of expenses, and have a whole-life insurance policy. All of those things are auto-withdrawn from my paycheck. Before I got interested in crypto, I would spend my extra money on things like micro-transaction for mobile games, designer clothes, and weed. Putting money here resulted in a 100% loss.

Since getting into crypto, I've entirely stopped spending on mobile games. I no longer smoke weed. I have not purchased designer-anything. The "game" I'm playing now is "how large can I make my portfolio?" This game has a few upfront costs. Learning is probably the biggest cost for this game. In the 1.5 years, I've begun to understand how to do research into coins, red flags for scams, and buying rumors-selling news strategies. I've learned how to self custody my coins, use DeFi, and mint NFTs. I've lost money (thankfully not a lot) learning about all these areas.

To have learned everything I've learned, and only have lost 40% of my investment, I am thrilled. Over the last 6 months, I've been able to average down my cost bases and have got my portfolio to a place where I am very confident in it's long term outlook. I no longer need to the check the charts every 15 minutes to see how it's doing.

The best part is shifting from gaming, weed, and restaurants to crypto has resulted in a retention of wealth. Like most people, if I have an excess of money, I'm tempted to spend it. I know this about myself. I've come to realize that I can spend the money on things that immediately go to zero, things that retain some value, or things that grow in value. While right now, crypto has only retained a percentage of it's value, the knowledge I've gained makes up for the unrealized loss I see in my portfolio. And one day, I am certain I will actually see a gain.

Tl;DR- Even if you're down money, but you would've spend that money on things that don't give any return, you are still ahead. When you add the fact that you gained knowledge and wisdom, the loss may not even be a loss. If you stick around long enough, you'll have gained knowledge and wealth, which is a powerful combination.

EDIT: So this was cross posted to r/buttcoin, and because I’m banned there, I will post my comment here.

“Thanks for the terrible reading of the post. My point was the money I put into crypto was have been put into other trivial purchases that had 0 return.

$100 into a mobile game purchases is a $100 loss. That $100 averaged across all my crypto purchases is $60 right now, and a $40 loss. Add on top the knowledge about how markets work, how a publicly distributed ledger works, the risks and benefits of both a centralized and decentralized system (admittedly neither is perfect), how money works on a federal level, etc, I consider the money well-spent.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m certainly more knowledgeable today than I was 2 years ago, and I have a greater net worth today than I would have if I never began investing.”