96
97

Why I sold half of my bitcoin (self.Bitcoin)

jratcliff63367 が 投稿

I'm only sharing this because I suspect many other people struggle with this decision and what is "the right thing to do".

I will surely end up regretting this decision, but then my life is littered with regret over making bad investment decisions at the wrong time. However, any regret I might feel is tempered by some peace of mind I have gained back.

The simple answer why I sold half of my bitcoin? Because I had risked more than I was willing to lose. It's truly as simple as that.

I have seen my paper bitcoin profit rise by over 400%. Both the current value of that investment combined with the amount I had originally invested was enough money that, were I to lose it all, it would be extremely painful.

Meanwhile, while holding this large paper profit, I had an equal amount of unsecured debt in the form of home improvements/repairs previously financed and my children's student loans.

By selling half of my bitcoin, I was able to completely pay off 100% of my adult children's student loan debt, something which was weighing them down heavily as they try to start their lives. It is a great relief and gift to be able to give them this fresh start.

In addition to paying off this unsecured debt I was also able to pocket substantial profit such that the remaining bitcoin I still hold has a cost basis of essentially zero. All I can lose now is paper profit, but I will always be able to say I made a great return on my bitcoin investment and helped improve the lives of my kids substantially.

Now that my remaining bitcoin has a cost basis of zero, it's much easier to let it ride indefinitely. If bitcoin ever does 'go to the moon' I will still do very, very, well. But if it has a massive price correction I can accept that much more easily.

Frankly Bitcoin is still a very risky investment. With threats of hard-forks and threats from the state, there are no long term guarantees.

I also did it for another reason. Because I had money at risk, certainly more than I was willing to lose, I was finding that I was feeling undue stress and anxiety about the bitcoin price roller coaster and that wasn't helping.

This post is not to convince any hodler to sell, ever. However, for those who are sitting on long-term paper profits and feeling high anxiety about it, maybe my story offers something​ to think about.

全 74 件のコメント
並べ替え:
ベスト
トップ新着論争中古い順Q&A

[–]PenzancePirate 73 ポイント74 ポイント  (1子コメント)

"By selling half of my bitcoin, I was able to completely pay off 100% of my adult children's student loan debt"

Good for you. I'm genuinely pleased to hear this worked out well for you and your kids. Well done.

[–]EvanGRogers [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Sounds like a successful investment to me!

It almost sounds like "he used Bitcoin, and its natural deflationary tendencies relative to fiat, as money to afford things that he wouldn't have been able to with just using shitty government money"!

A real life success story for bitcoin!

[–]sreaka 11 ポイント12 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I sold off about 20% of my holdings and paid off my mortgage and now I"m completely debt free and have plenty of BTC left over. I think it's a very wise decision.

[–]jratcliff63367[S] 4 ポイント5 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Yeah, I paid off my house last year, but not from bitcoin a different investment. Now taking care of my kids student loan debt felt really awesome.

I still own more bitcoin than probably most and that I plan to just hold for years now.

[–]sreaka [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I bet, that's a nice thing to do. Now you can just sit back and not stress the ups and downs.

[–]moleccc [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I still own more bitcoin than probably most and that I plan to just hold for years now.

on each ten-bagger, sell 50% ;-)

[–]YRuafraid 16 ポイント17 ポイント  (8子コメント)

I'm glad this post wasn't about the threat of BU which caused you to sell. That part I'm actually not sure about, I'm confident about bitcoin other than the BU factor

[–]prelsidente 12 ポイント13 ポイント  (4子コメント)

I'm confident about bitcoin other than the BU factor

Don't worry, Bitcoin has survived worse. Way worse. In fact, it came out stronger and has been hitting all time highs.

[–]truquini [スコア非表示]  (3子コメント)

Aren you talking about silk road? Mount gox? XT? Geniunly curious of why you don't see the current situation as a major treath

[–]lclc_ [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

We had a mining pool with more than 51% hashing power.

[–]loserkids [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

However, it wasn't threatening the network, unlike Jihan Wu.

[–]albinopotatoredditor for 3 months [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

More than once.

[–]jmw74 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I thought the fork threat was going to be a problem back when bitcoin was at $200. Glad I didn't sell then.

Forks are going to have to be dealt with sometime. They can't be prevented. Marketing BS is going to peel away some users and push them onto a less secure alternative that may or may not collapse later. I think at some point the chaos will come, and it will be a great buying opportunity for the highest-security fork (which right now is clearly the chain that bitcoin core points at, and also for the foreseeable future).

The question is, when should I set some fiat aside for that buying opportunity? Clearly late 2015 was wrong, even though it seemed like a good time to me then. Is now a good time? I have no idea.

[–]chuckymcgee [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

BU is going to make Bitcoin great again.

[–]MrNotSoRight [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

It's the one thing that could save Bitcoin and people here see it as a threat... Funny and sad at the same time...

[–]evoorhees [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I say cheers to you. Your reasoning is sound, and you've improved the lives of people you care about. What is investment but for that purpose?

[–]Bitcoin-Yodaredditor for 2 months 4 ポイント5 ポイント  (14子コメント)

We understand you. Me myself I was in this kind of forced situation to sell few years ago and I was crying not to sell.
And I didn't sell. I decided that from that moment will accept ONLY BTC for my work.
And that I am doing from 2015, earning only BTC and spend only in BTC. But never sell for worthless fiat.
/r/LivingOnBitcoin/ is real!

[–]jratcliff63367[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (13子コメント)

How do you deal with the anxiety of market crashes and hard fork threats?

[–]Bitcoin-Yodaredditor for 2 months 4 ポイント5 ポイント  (12子コメント)

I have big fucking IGNORE button on my keyboard :)
I started in 2012 buying for pennies, I mined, I played faucets, I bought at any price, anytime I had some spare money. I NEVER EVER SELL!
That's why now for me these fluctuations are shit...
HF, market crashes are just manipulations to make others to shake and sell... I don't, because I know that Bitcoin have long way to go and is the future of my daughter.

[–]jratcliff63367[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (7子コメント)

You have never pulled any value out? Not even large purchases? You are a braver man than I am. I never paid pennies for bitcoin, I paid many tens of thousands of dollars for mine.

[–]Bitcoin-Yodaredditor for 2 months 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (5子コメント)

My first purchase was in Dec 2012, from a friend that was mining. He said to me: buy 1 BTC from me I will give it for less than the market price is, buy it for your daughter. I still have it, in my daughter's wallet. That one will be her future.
I was continuing to buy and store in her wallet.
No matter the price was, I was never tempted to sell. Because in that day of Dec 2012 I realized that this is the future, the future of my daughter.
Yes I was once, like you, forced to sell, because I had some extra big not expected expenses. But you know what I did? Went to a bank I took a credit, paid the expenses in fiat, but didn't sell my BTC. Then next year I worked hard and paid with BTC that credit. Every day for less BTC. Yes is hard NOT to sell when you are pressed. But you have to be strong.
As I said, I understand your frustration. In the end this is life and as you said, now you remain with the other half for free practically.
May The Coin Be With You!

[–]jratcliff63367[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (4子コメント)

And if you lose it all, you can live with that? I mean, if you are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions, isn't​ that going to sting?

[–]nibbl0r 5 ポイント6 ポイント  (2子コメント)

I lost it all... After the $32 bubble my little investment looked worthless, later at the $168 one, came mtgox.... I was angry for not taking profit often enough, you get used to it and hodl.

[–]truquini [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

How do you feel now with the BU situation? Another bump in the road or is it different this time?

[–]nibbl0r [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Altcoins come and go.... I'm not worried, it would throw bitcoin back in price a year or so, but we would activate segwit somehow and catch up.

The miners voting is stalling... 7% still voting for 8MB blocks. I don't think this is possibly an active vote, this is "configured something sometime cause it sounded nice and now don't care anymore" - just like all those non-voters. So I don't believe in segwit with supermajority, but mabye 75% + flagday is doable.

[–]BitttBurger [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

FYI: this Bitcoin-Yoda fellow is /u/Bitcoin_Forever under a new username because everyone was calling him cray cray.

[–]Byzantine-General [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

About faucets. I live in a low wage economy and thought about employing a few young people to play faucets.

Which is the best faucet do you think? Or are faucets a waste of time nowadays?

[–]tailsuser606 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

My experience is that faucets are a TOTAL waste of time for the user. Just to convince myself, I did faucets for several hours one day and made 6 cents (US). However, if you look at the archives on 99bitcoins.com there is a series of articles by the owner on how he achieved modest profitability by RUNNING a faucet site.

[–]moleccc [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

HF, market crashes are just manipulations to make others to shake and sell...

truth!

[–]JohnStoltz 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Honestly, ur decision seems super prudent and wise to me. U kept some btc, and u helped ur family. Nothing to see here, really

[–]Vlad2Vlad 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Nice design. :)

[–]FuckM0reFromRredditor for 1 month 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Definitely one of the best exit strategies. Taking some profits off the table to put you and yours years ahead financially.

No doubt the absolution of stress will improve your lives both in quality and longevity. May Satoshi be with you =)

[–]epiccastle8 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I paid off my wife's law school debt when I sold at $30. She paid me back by having an affair. Now she's gone and so is my BTC.

[–]Jdamb 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Just want to encourage the ones Who HODL.

The day you decided to buy you knew it could go to zero, and nothing has changed. Your not risking any more than you were the day you decided to by.

HODL the line.

To Zero, or the moon!!!!!!

[–]jratcliff63367[S] 5 ポイント6 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Risking paper profit is still risk.

[–]voyagerdoge 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Seems like you have made a sensible decision!

[–]prelsidente 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

This post is not to convince any hodler to sell, ever.

But if you do, I'm shorting it!!! :D

[–]Lite_Coin_Guy 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

By selling half of my bitcoin, I was able to completely pay off 100% of my adult children's student loan debt, something which was weighing them down heavily as they try to start their lives. It is a great relief and gift to be able to give them this fresh start.

I also did it for another reason. Because I had money at risk, certainly more than I was willing to lose

probably the right thing to do for you. everyone has a different risk appetite and view on bitcoin.

[–]a56fg4bjgm345 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

By selling half of my bitcoin, I was able to completely pay off 100% of my adult children's student loan debt"

You'll kick yourself when the debt is forgiven in a few years' time! ;op

[–]chabes [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

What makes you think that's going to happen?

[–]I-am-the-noob 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

ok - congrats - but now hodl the other 50% ;)

[–]_FreeThinker 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I agree with this. Only invest the money you don't need on the short-term; this applies to all sort of investments. I had to sell some of my bitcoins to pay my credit-card bills. I don't wanna risk not paying these debts. So, I know I will regret it, but I can't invest money that I do not have.

[–]dag1979 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Makes sense. I can totally understand why you did it. I might have done the same in your situation. I managed to reach my goal of 21BTC and I told myself I'm going to ride to the moon or into the ground. When I acquired the BTC, it was at a price that was fairly insignificant to my net worth. As the price rises though, it's becoming a measurable percentage, so it's tempting to take profit, but I believe in Bitcoin as a currency and I want to hold it until I don't have to convert it back to fiat.

[–]Byzantine-General [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

That's what I did too. I said to myself pretty much from the beginning, 21 is enough. No more, no less.

[–]the_bob 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

"I liquidated half of an asset that I hold due to being in debt." I feel like this belongs in r/personalfinance.

That being said, good luck!

[–]greetingearthlings 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Never a bad idea to sell of part or all of any investment when you're up big. That's one of the general rules of investing, don't be afraid to quit while you're ahead. Selling half is the best of both worlds.

[–]stevcola1 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Can't argue with that reasoning. Noob question here: What do you mean by "paper" bitcoin profit?

[–]ElscottHavoc [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

He is considering it an unrealized gain or loss.

From the perspective of Bitcoin an asset ultimately held exchanged for USD currency, selling would be a taxable event and the difference between the cost basis (the actual USD spent to initially purchase) and the profit (or loss) would be realized as either long term or short term capital gains (or a deduction against other capital gains in the case of a loss).

But until that point, any gains or losses aren't really realized, so they're considered just paper gains.

The same is true with other assets like stocks. You may have a stock you bought for $10 USD ten years ago now worth $100, but until it is actually sold, its just a "paper gain" thats privy to continued volatility and risk.

[–]RxRobb 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

What you did was honest and good. I'm happy to see bitcoin made a difference in your life.

[–]nomadismydj 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

you took profit. congrats

[–]ICheckedOutredditor for 1 month [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Now that my remaining bitcoin has a cost basis of zero

That's not how cost basis works (for tax purposes).

[–]BigMan1844 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

As the saying goes, nobody ever went broke taking profit.

[–]calkob [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I sold half my ETH, But that was an easy decision.....lol ;)

[–]Byzantine-General [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I found this confusing: "I have seen my paper bitcoin profit rise by over 400%."

Did you mean to over 400%?

[–]AHS1 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

AMAZING! Good for you!! Enjoy your stress free ride to the moon now :)

[–]terr547 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Hey man, your reasons are completely reasonable and I think you understand the underlying principles behind bitcoin very well. No worries. Thank you for sharing!

In general though, HODL!! :-)

[–]moleccc [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

good decision!

pretty similar to my own story. Albeit I sold my half over a long period of time and not at once (starting late 2015, when it became clear to me that the blocksize debate was not going to be over soon). One part of me always felt bad after each sale when the price kept creeping up higher. Another part felt the calm of having taken some risk off the table and knew it was the right decision at the time.

Btw: I didn't only sell for fiat. I also acquired some altcoins, which have done exceedingly well so far.

[–]zomgitsduke [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

When I hit a 500% gain on Bitcoin (bought at $200-$250ish), I sold enough to recover my initial investment. Sure, that additional 20% might be a lot more in the future, but the remaining 80% is infinite return on investment. Let it roll!

[–]AdvocateLLC [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Good for you. This works for you because you have a low risk tolerance and good use for your money now. BUT this should not be taken as a lesson for others to sell just because they can realize gains now. The biggest gains are in the future. I accept that the right decision for you was to sell but using the same logic the right decision for me was to buy. Two fundamental concepts you talked about (risk tolerance, time of need for the money) are different for most people. I asked myself do I need the money now and the answer was no. Not for 2-4 years from now. Then my question was how much of my money can I risk losing in 2020 in fiat terms. That was the answer to how much I should invest in bitcoin. These two questions have different answer for different people. For you the answers were: I need the money now and I can tolerate losing only half of what I have invested. Hence your decision was sell while mine was to buy. Both perfectly acceptable because we have different situations.

ps: Thanks for selling because without sellers there would be no bitcoin for us buyers.

[–]tinus42 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Unless your kid ends up turning to drugs and ends up wasting his life in general this will have been a wise decision. Don't have any kids myself and not a fraction of Bitcoin to pay for even a tiny percentage of a college tuition but you did wll. He will likely thank you in years to come and hopefully won't abandon you in an old folks home to wither away when you grow old. Sadly too many people do that with their elders these days even when they earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. In my country a government junior minister who had made 2 million euro's as a care center administrator (a job he got from his party friends) let his mother lie in a piss diaper for weeks without help because he rather spent his money on expensive suits and big houses. But he presented himself als a "caring social democrat" and proposed even more cuts in elderly care because these are useless people who don't contribute to the economy.

[–]PostItzzredditor for 8 days 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (7子コメント)

Don't forget to pay your taxes.

[–]jratcliff63367[S] 3 ポイント4 ポイント  (1子コメント)

That was part of the decision too, I forget to mention. Almost all of my bitcoin profits are long term capital gains. Meanwhile, I'm going to realize a loss on a real estate investment this year, so I can apply the loss from it against the bitcoin gains.

[–]PostItzzredditor for 8 days 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

tips fedora

[–]Bitcoin-Yodaredditor for 2 months 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Do you know that Bitcoin is already taxed, when is mined? The electricity that is used to mine, include taxes, so why taxing again?

[–]PostItzzredditor for 8 days 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Fuck, you got me to type a whole paragraph up. Well played. Lol

[–]chabes [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

Probably because they're in the US, which requires you to report and pay taxes on capital gains from investments

[–]Bitcoin-Yodaredditor for 2 months [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Bitcoin is not an "investment", is just money.

[–]Future_Prophecy [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Can't really fault you for doing what you did. But keep in mind, this could be your "Bitcoin pizza" moment.

Yes, you paid off your children's student loans today and it feels good, but in 10 years you might have owned a small country.