There are several reasons why we are all in the cryptocurrency market, but there is a good chance that most of us are in it to change our lives financially. The great news is that this is a real opportunity in this market. Many experts believe that cryptocurrency could cause the largest transfer of wealth in recent memory. That all sounds well and good, but there are some horror stories that come along with it. We've all heard these horror stories online. It usually involves a person getting too greedy, using leveraged trading, and then liquidating. Or maybe sending your cryptocurrency to the wrong address. Maybe even get cheated. I know I've come across these stories all the time on the internet and I'm thankful it didn't happen to me. They served as motivation to be extremely careful there; after all,
And you have to be very careful. As I mentioned above. If you believe that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies will appreciate significantly in value, you should treat them like the treasure you believe they are. This brings me to the story I'm going to talk about today. For the first time, I came into contact with someone who experienced his own Bitcoin horror story. The sad thing is that they weren't doing anything too stupid like using leveraged trading. They were not gullible and deceived. But still this unfortunate event happened to them.
First it would be helpful if I describe this type of people. This guy is not your typical investment guy. They are the type of people who will spend every dollar of every paycheck on things they don't necessarily need. Investing does not come naturally to them. This will be the cause of their downfall in this story.
This guy bought bitcoin very early. The time frame we're talking about was around 2013 or so. A friend of theirs was very passionate about Bitcoin and was always trying to convince this person how great Bitcoin was and how the future was. Finally, after hearing the "Bitcoin talk" for a while, that person either saw the light and bought Bitcoin, or bought just to make that Bitcoin fan happy. Many years have passed and my friend does not fully remember.
Anyway, back to the story. In those days it was more difficult to take care of your own coins, meaning more technical knowledge was required to do so. This friend of mine wasn't the best at using technology, so they both decided it was best to keep the coins on the exchange. Many of you may already see where this story is going. This friend invested a decent amount of money and managed to buy 10 bitcoins. Huge value today, but back then it was only a decent to a small amount of money.
Since the value wasn't huge, this friend eventually forgot he even had Bitcoin. For many people, buying and forgetting their bitcoins on an exchange would be a good thing. Especially if they were HODLING from 2013. The profits would be incredible. This friend heard about the recent spike in bitcoin prices and finally remembered that they bought 10 bitcoins almost 8 years ago. They became incredibly happy and excited. After all, their initial investment of just a few hundred dollars was now worth over $600,000. That's a life-changing amount of money. They had already started thinking about using this money to pay off all their debts and possibly even buy a house.
So the moment came when they decided they were ready to sell their bitcoins and turn those dreams into reality. But there was a huge problem. The exchange they used was hacked years ago. Their coins were stolen and the exchange is no longer operational. My friend was never going to get his bitcoins back. This man was heartbroken. Moments before, they felt like they were on top of the world and that their lives were about to change forever. That they would finally be able to move on. And then everything was shattered in an instant.
There is an important lesson we can learn from this, and that is that we should take great care of our coins. For many of us, this means taking on self-care. When taking care of yourself, you should take extra care to keep your own keys safe. If you don't feel comfortable taking your own custody, that means you need to find a great wallet or exchange to hold it. Research hard where you keep your coins. Remember, not your keys, not your coins. While it may not seem likely, even the most popular exchanges today could be hacked or even go out of business in the future. And then you might be without all your coins.
These are life-changing assets, and we're living in the Wild West right now. Be careful.