Education 8 min read

6 Reasons Why Bitcoin can Change Your Life

If you are reading this article, the chances are you heard of Bitcoin at least once. Whether you have read about wild success stories of people making millions of dollars or viral horror stories of people losing millions of dollars, it is clear that Bitcoin has been creeping into the limelight over the past few years.

If you purchased Bitcoin over the past 9 years at any time, other than those 4-5 months, you would have gained huge profits!

Don’t be discouraged, there are still great opportunities ahead. The entire space is expanding rapidly, and you will regret it all your life if you miss out.

Believe it or not, we are still in the early adoption phase, but not for long. As Bitcoin boomed over the past year, major Bitcoin News outlets from CNBC to Bloomberg have created their own business branches to commentate exclusively on cryptocurrency. These are major companies who do not take such actions on a whim. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies as a whole are here to stay.

But what is Bitcoin, really? Putting all technical jargon aside, Bitcoin is an opportunity to make money. It should be viewed like any other investment asset. If you are reading this article and have yet to take any action, I can confidently tell you that you are missing out. The crazy ROI potential for Bitcoin will not be here forever.

Many skeptics believe that Bitcoin investors are buying into the hype, when in reality, there are logical reasons behind the revolution that they fail to see.

Here are 6 logical reasons explaining all the hype, and ultimately why you should take a more serious look into Bitcoin.

1. It’s Outperforming Every Other Asset Class

At the time of this writing, we are in the middle of what we call a bear market. This means the entire cryptocurrency market has suffered a major fall, retracing down 70% from its all-time high. Bitcoin, the king of all cryptocurrencies, has suffered a loss of 67%. Some cryptocurrencies even had their prices decrease as much as 96%! That’s crazy and unseen.

However, zooming out to a big picture, it is clear that Bitcoin rises year after year. For example, if you bought Bitcoin anywhere from 2009 to mid-2017, you would currently be up 500% – 5,000% or more! If you bought earlier, your profits may be in the thousands or tens of thousands of percents. The only time you would be down, is if you bought in the window from around November 2017 to March 2018, when Bitcoin rose to $20,000. Read that again, if you purchased Bitcoin over the past 9 years at any time, other than those 4-5 months, you would have gained huge profits!

So even with the recent downtrend, why should you still be optimistic about investing in cryptocurrencies?

  • One of the reasons is that for new investors looking to make an entry, this downtrend has created a solid foundation for future growth and profits. History shows that Bitcoin comes back stronger after it dips.
  • That’s also the case for the other cryptocurrencies, called “altcoins.” Despite this recent market decline, altcoins provided considerable returns to its investors far beyond most other investment channels that exist. To illustrate, we took five of the most popular stocks over the past five years and compared them to Bitcoin. Even the total sum of their ROIs was no match for Bitcoin.

ROI of popular assets

2. The Future Is Paperless

Just like the dot com boom 20 years ago, cryptocurrencies exist to solve many important problems in the real world. Here are some practical use cases:

  • Banking the unbanked. Being unbanked is a major setback, and guess what – there are over two billion people unbanked in the world today. The main reasons behind unbanked countries are corruption, politics, and poverty. Many of these unbanked societies do not let their people bank internationally and offer limited banking options. Thanks to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, anyone with access to the internet can avoid this oppression by taking part in this decentralized revolution. Cryptocurrencies by nature are decentralized, meaning that no authority can restrict it and anyone can access it. The result is freedom for anyone to send and receive money (in this case, Bitcoin) wherever and whenever they want. Taking things a step further, there are also decentralized applications which allow users to take part in loaning money, receiving loans, and interacting with the outside world.
  • Unlike government-backed currencies, cryptocurrency is much more difficult to confiscate. It puts financial power back into the hands of the people. One recent example is the current financial crisis in Venezuela. With value of the national currency deflating, people are trying to escape with whatever possessions and wealth they have. Unfortunately, it has been reported that the government confiscated any valuable goods they can in the process, such as gold and silver. If everyone had crypto, then the government would have no means to confiscate it. Additionally, the people of Venezuela would be able to send their digital assets to friends and family in a global, digital, and private fashion.

weekly localbitcoins value

 
  • Some cryptocurrencies are designed to be anonymous and private. It is these two factors that put power back into the people’s hands.
  • It’s cheaper to use. It dramatically reduces fees due to the lack of intermediaries. With cryptocurrencies, you can send transactions to anyone through the blockchain, without the need of a bank or any trusted 3rd party. Avoiding 3rd parties is what keeps the fees low. Having a global system with minimal fees helps traders, investors, merchants, and those who send money to their families abroad. During a recent taxi ride, I was discussing crypto with the driver, when he mentioned that he sends money to Afghanistan every week to his family. I found this to be amazing. Keep in mind the alternative: Western Union. They are one of the largest regulated services offering global transfers, taking a commission of up to 15% with each transfer. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency fees are less than 0.5%, sometimes less than 0.1%! For example, someone managed to transfer $99 million worth of cryptos for a fee of only 0.40 cents! (1)

3. Industry Leaders Are Joining

Here are a few facts that demonstrate the interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies from major companies:

  • Google is currently working on its own blockchain to improve its cloud service offerings.
  • Amazon has recently launched its service (2) that will allow businesses to launch their own blockchain with little effort.
  • Companies such as Expedia, Overstock, and Shopify have started to accept cryptocurrency payments.
  • Many countries have launched or plan on launching their own cryptocurrency (3). That’s the case for Venezuela and its controversial cryptocurrency, the “Petro.” (4)

If you pay attention, you will notice that more and more businesses are diving into the cryptocurrency industry and using its technology.

4. The Cryptocurrency Space Runs off Passion

The crypto space is a mix of people from all different backgrounds in all stages of life.

Cryptocurrency is a new form of finance based on blockchain, a new technology. Hence, cryptocurrency is classified to be part of the fintech industry, which generally attracts entrepreneurs, financial experts, venture capital investors, researchers, engineers, and developers.

What makes cryptocurrency distinct from other aspects of traditional fintech is its culture. Since it is essentially a decentralized payment network, putting power back into the hands of the people, many have joined the industry for both philosophical and practical reasons. For example:

  • Bitcoin symbolizes freedom; thus, lots of people with strong political and humanitarian beliefs are in the space.
  • Compared to investing in stocks, cryptocurrencies are easily accessible to anyone who wishes to invest. There are virtually no barriers to entry. When investing in stocks, most brokerage accounts require minimums of $500+ to start, in addition to monthly fees (~$15/mo). Sometimes monthly fees can be avoided, but you need to maintain a higher balance and a certain level of activity. On the other hand, cryptocurrency exchanges have negligible trading fees and zero monthly maintenance fees. You can invest as much or little as you would like and trade as frequently as you would like with no consequence.

trading fees of popular exchanges

  • Miners. Mining serves as a new phenomenon in the technology world. Miners are those who contribute to maintaining the blockchain using their computer’s power. Most of them started mining to earn extra money in their basement when they were students. Mining is now a huge business that continues to flourish.

So, despite the existing middle-aged fintech population, the cryptocurrency space is overall very young, intelligent, and forward thinking. This is why you will often see people make fun of the cryptocurrency industry. More often than not, these jokes are out of ignorance.

As a result of having a younger audience, the crypto industry resonates a youthful vibe. Through new slang and entertainment, the community has a good sense of humor.

This piece of rap music demonstrates the demographic pretty well.

As far as the crypto industry creating its own, fun jargon, “HODL” is a well-known word which you’ll see everywhere in the space during a bear market – when it is going down. HODL means something similar to “hold it firmly, it’s going to increase in value eventually.”

hodl

5. People of All Ages Became Rich

Some people became extremely wealthy after they invested some money into Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Since there is no barrier of entry, people of all ages, even college students hit it big. Why can’t you?

Still, I will be real with you; the best opportunities are behind us. For example, back in 2010, a Bitcoin holder famously purchased two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoin. This demonstrates the massive spike in price that took place since 2010. Imagine how well 2010 investors did!

Don’t be discouraged, there are still great opportunities ahead. The entire space is expanding rapidly, and you will regret it all your life if you miss out.

 

Source: BuzzFeed News Youtube Channel

 

6. Now May Be the Time to Buy

As mentioned previously, the cryptocurrency market recently experienced one of its most significant corrections ever, and yet, Bitcoin is still worth ~$6500.

This is exactly when new, inexperienced investors are afraid to buy in, while those who understand the markets are prepared to surf the next wave.

bitcoin price history chart

While it is virtually impossible to buy the very bottom of every market cycle, it is reasonable to assume that major market corrections make for good buying opportunities.

According to our research, it seems we are nearing the end of the decline and ready to buy back in.

So, right now is the right time! If you are reading this article and the price is already over $20,000, then you have probably missed out.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency will continue to generate a lot of traction and will likely create new millionaires in the coming years. It’s a crazy space. When you’re in, you never want to be out. It occupies your mind throughout both day and night.

If you’re interested in investing in cryptocurrencies, but feel that it is too technical or difficult, please do not worry. It is super easy if you understand the basics. As with any new industry,  newbies are often exposed to scams and many other ‘joys’.

If you want to start on the right foot, we have created this ultimate guide on how to invest in Bitcoin, today.

So quit waiting around and get started today.

More awesome resources:

(1) https://www.businessinsider.com/a-99-million-litecoin-trade-took-just-25-minutes-and-cost-040-2018-4
(2) https://aws.amazon.com/partners/blockchain/
(3) https://www.fxempire.com/education/article/the-next-cryptocurrency-evolution-countries-issue-their-own-digital-currency-443966
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_(cryptocurrency)

R. R. H. @ CryptoManiaks
R. R. H.

The mysterious “R.R.H.” (we know his real name so that spoils the mystery a bit) is a champion of iGaming and doesn’t understand why people spend hours travelling to a casino. He has spent years playing and analyzing the myriad of online casino games to discover the ones with the best RTP.
While the house has a distinct edge in its offerings, R.R.H. is adamant that players need to gain a better understanding of how iGaming titles work. For example, he warns players to stay away from high volatility slots if they don’t want long spells without winning. In his opinion, players need to have the right psychology at the outset if they want to truly enjoy themselves.