In the last couple of months, we’ve seen cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin take a roller coaster ride, and it only just now seems to be slowing down. Bitcoin itself has gone from $29,000 on January 1st to an all-time high of over $58,000 on February 21. Now, however, the market seems to be in a correction. When that happens, many people start asking themselves the same question. “Should I buy into Bitcoin?”. I’ve asked myself the same thing. To be honest, I still have my doubts about the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The fact that such an investment could climb as rapidly as it has over the last couple months is both intriguing and exciting. I mean, who doesn’t want to have a massive return on their investment?
At the same time, however, there is also a major risk that the investment could rapidly depreciate. I’ve been investing in altcoins like DOGE in small amounts for over a year now, and I’ve been mostly successful so far. I prefer altcoins because it’s easier to buy in at smaller amounts with smaller transaction fees. One thing that’s annoyed me with Bitcoin during its bull runs is how high the fees are just to transfer a small amount of the currency. By comparison, I’ve been able to transfer DOGE for only about 10-25 cents a transaction, which is much smaller than the $10 or more I’ve seen with Bitcoin.
Another positive thing is that I’ve actually been able to mine some of these altcoins with my regular PC. One of the largest problems with mining the larger coins like BTC is that it is virtually impossible for the average person to make any kind of a profit. Between the costs of buying a high-end graphics card or an ASIC miner, and the cost of electricity for running such hardware, you end up spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars before you start bringing in any amount of crypto. Some currencies, however, let you make at least some money on your own hardware. One such currency that comes to mind is Monero, which allows mining on a regular consumer CPU. This is not possible in any way with Bitcoin.
To sum it up, I’m not trying to sway you away from buying Bitcoin. I still think it can be a great investment if you’re willing to take the risk. As for me however, I think I’m going to stick with altcoins for a bit longer. If you do decide to invest in crypto, regardless of what you choose to invest in, I wish you the best of luck, and here’s to another safe rise in March!
