Some thoughts from someone riding this train since 2017

Back in 2017, my buddy got me hyped up about Bitcoin, so I decided to take the plunge and invest. I didn't know a whole lot about crypto, but I figured it was worth a shot. I bought 2/3rds of a bitcoin for $2000. The market was wild and I remember feeling like a rockstar when I made some gains, and then totally defeated when the market crashed and I lost some of my investment.

But here's where things got interesting: I was too embarrassed to tell my friends that I had lost money, so I decided to just hold on and hope for the best. And eventually, the market started to rebound, and my investment grew again. I was pretty stoked that I ended up making a profit after all that stress. BUT IT TOOK YEARS.

Looking back, there are a few things I learned about investing in crypto:

1. Be prepared for volatility - that's just part of the game. It's important to be aware of the risks involved and to be mentally prepared for the ups and downs. Some people will act like there's a formula or that you can time it. If there is, I COULDN'T AND YOU PROBABLY CANT EITHER.
2. Don't invest more than you can afford to lose, because you don't want to be completely screwed if things don't go your way. Seriously. Multiple times I invested money I couldn't lose because I thought things would go up. Thankfully I didn't get too screwed, and floated some debt long enough to be OK. THIS CAN SCREW YOU OVER.
3. Take profits! I've been too greedy. I could have taken profits when Bitcoin was at 20k in 2017 but I got greedy and thought it would go higher. I could have taken profits when it was 60k, but I got greedy. When the market is doing well, it can be tempting to hold on and hope for even bigger gains. But sometimes it's better to sell and lock in your profits while you still can. I wish I had done that instead of holding on and losing some of my gains.
4. BE PATIENT. People are desperate for a different global financial system. This stuff is going to continue to grow. The technology alone is a reason for it to grow, but people are also desperate and hopeless in our current systems. Crypto is a way up and a way out IF YOU ARE PATIENT.

So, if you're thinking about investing in crypto, just remember: take profits when you can, and don't be too hard on yourself if things don't go according to plan. Crypto is a wild ride, but it can be a lot of fun if you're willing to take the risk.