Bitcoin had quite a show today. Last night, around 23:30, before I put my smartphone and my tired eyes to rest, I took one last look at my Hive profile and the crypto market. If memory serves me right, Bitcoin was trading at around $27,000 at that time.
When I woke up this morning, BTC was already at $27,300, and I had a feeling that something was brewing. I'd had a sense of an impending shift for a few days, and I even discussed it with my dad. Yep, I sometimes chat with him about this stuff, even though he doesn't quite grasp all the technical details.
He doesn't speak English, but I'm always educating him. And during the weekend, I managed to convince him to dive into the world of crypto once again. I'd bought him 2 LTC for $225 each in the past, but at that time, I was far from an expert and couldn't guide him in making significant gains. So, his investment went on a wild ride, hit a 2X, and then "hit the ground."
Now, we didn't just dive back into crypto out of the blue. My dad has been thinking about renovating the country house he inherited from my grandma. While renovation costs in my country won't reach the heights they might in the US, he still needs something like $40,000 to $50,000 to cover all the necessary work, from changing the roof, repairing the external walls, painting, a complete interior redesign, to furniture. The house isn't big, so I figure around $50,000 should do the job.
He's been saving up, and he was considering taking out a loan to delegate me to start the renovations next year. But then it hit me. I asked him, "Why are you so focused on spending money and going into debt when you should be thinking about how to make more money and develop an investor's mindset, despite being 63 years old? Why not invest in some crypto and let it potentially fund the renovations?"
He was open to the idea, and he was even leaning towards taking out a loan for crypto. However, I thought that might be too hardcore for a crypto newbie like him. So, I advised against it, explaining that the market's volatility could be quite stressful. Instead, I recommended that he invest a couple of grand in crypto and see how it performs over the next couple of years. It's an amount that shouldn't cause him too much stress, and if he manages to catch the bottom for the coins he bought (DOGE), and these coins perform like they did in 2020-2021, he could be sitting on a little fortune. DOGE had a 350X increase from the bottom in the previous bull market. We don't know if it will do the same again, but even a 20X from this level would be an impressive trade.
Why DOGE? Well, he knows my story with it and how I missed out on life-changing opportunities. He believes he can do better :). So, I'm managing his portfolio, I bought the coins for him, and he'll send me the money (in cash, of course). But I encountered a few hiccups during the buying process. Initially, I tried to buy the coins with his card using a software wallet. After I "test-bought" $200 worth of coins, the payment service facilitating the transaction asked for KYC (Know Your Customer verification), and we decided to abort the mission.
I had to go to the bank to top up my account and buy the coins with my already KYC-approved BINANCE account. I hate going to the banks, and I despise buying crypto with cash because I dislike exchanging Euros for Romanian RON (the native currency). Then I realized my card was expired only after I got in the car, had to return, grab a new card (which was mysteriously waiting for me without anyone saying anything), and then kept trying and failing to make the purchase with the new card on Binance. Ultimately, I ended up buying my dad's "shitcoins" on crypto.com.
With 2,000 Euros, he got 32,000 DOGE. I used to have 588,000 of them, which were worth around $1,200 at that time and could have made me over $400,000 if I'd held onto them until the 2021 peak. But those are old stories, and they're not very productive to dwell on. I don't expect him to nail the exact bottom, but I believe he'll appreciate listening to me and investing in crypto just before liftoff.
We don't know if altcoins have already bottomed out, but as the halving approaches, the chances of further severe corrections decrease. The worst is behind us, and better days are ahead. The lesson of the day is that sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks, but it takes patience and persuasion. I wish my father good luck with his investment, and I wish the same for all of you. Get ready for a change in the trend, and remember to stay humble (and don't forget to take profits)!
Thanks for your attention,
