Tesla announced today that it acquired $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January and it may accept bitcoin as payment in the future. The new sent bitcoin’s price up 11% to over $44,000, an all time high.
I admit, I have bitcoin FOMO. At the moment, I own $893 worth of cryptocurrency. That makes up about 0.02% of my portfolio, or basically nothing. A couple years ago I bought $400 of the top four crypto currencies on a lark ($100 each of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash). Of the four, only Bitcoin is way up, that $100 is now worth $572.
If I could go back in time, would I invest more in Bitcoin? Of course! Because now I know that it went way up. Yet still, we have to make decisions about what to do going forward. And going forward I still have no idea what Bitcoin is going to do. If it works exactly as intended, it was never designed to be a wealth generating investment (except possibly for the anonymous creators). It’s designed to be a transactional currency, or a store of value. I don’t invest in those things. I invest in things that generate profits, dividends, income, etc. Things like index funds and investment real estate.
I can imagine a world where in 40 years the price of Bitcoin is still $44,000. Or $5,000. Or it doesn’t exist anymore. Or $1,000,000. It’s speculation. Buying it purely in the hopes that someone in the future will pay you more for it. And there are reasons to think that might be true. The system it’s built on appears to be solid and it does appear to be doing its job as a store of value at a minimum. It’s gaining popularity. There’s limited supply.
But I don’t invest in speculation. I also don’t blame you if you do. But this is where my “90/10” rule comes in. Put 90% of your portfolio into buying and holding index funds. With 10% go nuts. I’d keep the crypto to the 10% or likely way less. If it goes to the moon you’ll be happy, if it goes to zero it won’t ruin you.
As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.
-Jeremy
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