It's now been more than seven years since I first purchased the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).
The investing landscape, including investors' attitudes towards Bitcoin, has changed enormously since 2017. Owning this volatile but fascinating asset class for all these years has taught me a lot about investing.
So today, let's discuss the lessons I have gleaned from owning the world's most famous digital token.
Three lessons from owning Bitcoin for seven years
Ignore the prophets on both sides
For the first few years that I owned Bitcoin, the commentary I would hear almost universally came down on one of two very different sides of the aisle.
Some argued that Bitcoin was one of the greatest investments in history and was destined to replace the Australian dollar and every other currency on the planet as the ultimate form of money.
Others derided Bitcoin as a fad, a useless investment with no intrinsic value and a byproduct of the 'meme stock' age.
In hindsight, both sides were right about some things and wrong about others.
Yes, Bitcoin has little utility as a currency (for legal goods and services anyway), and doesn't represent ownership of an income-producing asset. However, that does not make it useless.
Gold is often compared to Bitcoin, as both investments share similar characteristics. Gold has been valued highly by humans for thousands of years. And yet, the precious metal also produces no income of its own and has little use in real-life applications outside of bank vaults and jewellery. Around 90% of gold output is bought up for investment purposes or for jewellery, with only 10% finding its way to industrial use.
That hasn't stopped investors coveting gold though. I believe the same phenomenon occurs with Bitcoin, given its finite supply. This, in my opinion, gives the currency legitimacy as an investment.
Volatility is your friend
If you struggle with riding out the volatility that comes with investing in ASX shares, then Bitcoin is probably not the asset for you. Few asset classes will give you the wild ride that this cryptocurrency will.
Over my tenure of ownership, I've endured falls of more than 70%. Saying that, I've also watched my coins bounce back by triple digits at various points.
Ignoring these massive swings most of the time and buying up on the big drops on occasion has ensured that I have made some decent profits with this investment. However, it has been a terrifying ride at times, so I would certainly not recommend it for the faint-hearted.
Bitcoin is not something to bet the farm on
Despite my long and lucrative ownership of Bitcoin, it has always formed a very small portion of my overall investing portfolio. This is by design. I never wanted a potential collapse in this cryptocurrency to seriously damage my long-term wealth, even if I forsook the chance to buy a Lamborghini with my gains.
Today, nothing has changed. The vast majority of my investing portfolio is still made up of ASX and international shares. These are assets that produce income, and thus do have intrinsic value. I would never bet my life savings on any cryptocurrency, and I wouldn't advise anyone else to either.
