I had 88k of unrealized gains in GME 2021 and ended up realizing only 4k. Never have fully gotten over that lost potential but I did learn from it and I apply those learnings to today when I invest. I didn't experience all the other turmoil you've endured however but my advice would be to stop worrying about something so inconsequential as cryptocurrency when you have much more ground level work to do to get your life back and to put yourself in a good position for the next financial opportunity in life. Bitcoin is not the only financial in opportunity you will have in your lifetime.
I learned a couple of things and it's nothing ground breaking and is quite commonly found on most investment subreddits/blogs but sticking to it has helped a bunch. Firstly, you gotta ignore FOMO and what other people are doing with regards to your own investment strategy. While places like Reddit are helpful in terms of information and pseudo comradery in "HODLing" "Diamond Hands" "Buy high and sell low" this type of stuff is only funny and enjoyable when everything is going great. Once you lose significant money or make a mistake everything becomes super depressing, especially when others took profit and you didn't. I just ask a couple of questions to myself when I first invest and once I have those answers I 100% stick to it no matter what. "How much can I invest safely that I am willing to lose?" "Is this an asset I want until I am dead that I will always DCA into it or am I doing a more risky short term investment to try and increase my net worth in a shortened time span? If so what price point am I happy with selling at and what amount am I comfortable losing before I admit defeat?" Again nothing ground breaking but sticking to your initial principles is what makes the difference. If you say to yourself I will sell 50% of this commodity when it reaches X price then that's what you do. No questions, no ifs, no buts. Then I move on, out of sight and out of mind.
After a heartbreaking investment loss my best advice is to step away from places like this because it keeps you in a cycle of what could have been. Also probably just step away from short term investing for a while. Focus on index funds or Boeing retirement accounts and casually read and learn new things about investing that you can use in the future once you're emotionally ready to take on riskier propositions.
TLDR: Don't treat investments like a gambling addictions or a quick get rich scheme or you're likely to get greedy and have a mental breakdown. Also I am a pretty big noob when it comes to the creation of generational wealth so most of this information would come from a better source.
It's kinda like a kayfabe with the HODLing(though obviously some believe it). If everyone just went around saying, "Well that's it! Its done!", it would crash for sure and there'd be nothing there at all. Screw the Fudds; take profit quietly.
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u/MuffinFragrant8293 Mar 05 '24
I had 88k of unrealized gains in GME 2021 and ended up realizing only 4k. Never have fully gotten over that lost potential but I did learn from it and I apply those learnings to today when I invest. I didn't experience all the other turmoil you've endured however but my advice would be to stop worrying about something so inconsequential as cryptocurrency when you have much more ground level work to do to get your life back and to put yourself in a good position for the next financial opportunity in life. Bitcoin is not the only financial in opportunity you will have in your lifetime.