If there is one lesson I have learned from my journey in crypto, it is this: I would never advise someone to invest in crypto, especially if they do not truly understand what they are getting into.
Sometimes last year when Bitcoin reached a new all time high, I was very excited. The market was green everywhere. Portfolio values were rising. It felt like everything was working perfectly. Out of excitement, I decided to share my portfolio performance with my closet friend. I showed him the assets, the growth, and the gains. I was proud of myself.
Out of curiosity, he began to ask me how crypto works. He wanted to understand how the profits were made. Then the next question came: “Should I invest too?” At first, I didn’t take him seriously. I thought it was just a passing interest. But everyday at work he kept asking. He even started calculating how much profit he could make within a month if he invested a certain amount of money.
On his own, he was looking for a quick way to make money. And because of that mindset, I didn’t think Bitcoin was a good fit for him. Bitcoin may not give quick profits. It requires patience and emotional stability. Luckily, at that time, there was a crypto project I was following that was about to do a presale. It was presented as a kind of stablecoin with a 10% presale discount.
In my mind, it sounded perfect for his goal. The idea was simple. Buy at presale with a discount. Wait for the token to launch. Sell immediately and take the 10% profit. No stress. No volatility worries. Just easy profit. On paper, it was a beautiful plan. So easy as ABC.
He transferred the money he wanted to use for the investment to me. I bought USDT on the exchange and used it to participate in the presale. The presale lasted for two weeks. I can tell you those two weeks were my most troublesome weeks since I became a man.
Every single day he was calling and asking me if I had sold the tokens. He kept asking how much profits has entered the investment, and when I tried to explain things to him, he kept speaking like I have scammed him. The pressure was too much on me for just trying to help someone invest in crypto.
When the presale was finished, things did not go as we have planned. Before I could make any move to try to sell, early sellers has already dumped their bags and the so-called stablecoin lost its peg which almost erase the 10% presale discount advantage. Our plan collapsed even before we could start.
I told him that we could wait for it to regain back its peg before selling, but his anxiety was just too much. He said he needed his money back as soon as possible and that I should do anything to get back his money for him. When I couldn't bear anymore, I had to sell at a loss to avoid further tension. Since the money realized for the sale wasn't up to the invested amount, I have add my money to cover the loss and have the money sent back to him exactly the amount he sent me initially.
That experience changed my perspective completely. Since that day, I made up my mind to never advise anyone to invest in crypto. I will share knowledge and my experience. But to tell someone look here, you can buy this or that, I will never do that. Because when things go wrong, you can almost be branded a scammer or being blamed for the outcome.
Crypto is not something that someone can just jump into without any understanding about how the market works. If someone is not ready to deal with volatility and unexpected outcomes, crypto investing is meant for them.
