Risks of Bitcoin Investment
Investors must be aware of the dangers associated with Bitcoin in order to handle them. Cryptocurrency money? Bitcoin trading? In this article, you will learn what is Bitcoin and the five risks of Bitcoin investment that investors need to be aware of.
What is bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that may be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the use of intermediaries. It has no central bank or single administrator.
How does Bitcoin make money?
New Bitcoins are created as part of the Bitcoin mining process, in which those who operate computer systems that help to validate transactions are rewarded with them.
Is Bitcoin safe to buy?
First and foremost, the money you invest in Bitcoin is subject to value changes. Bitcoin is an extremely risky investment. Don’t invest in Bitcoin — or any cryptocurrency for that matter — if you’re seeking for a “secure” investment with guaranteed profits.
Investors must be aware of the dangers associated with Bitcoin in order to handle them. They may be beyond the control of investors, but there are methods that may be taken to reduce the risk. You won’t be able to completely eliminate the hazards, but you will be able to reduce them to some level.
Here are five risks of bitcoin that investors need to be aware of:
1. Bitcoin’s Erratic Behavior
All are aware of how fragile bitcoin is, and those who invest in it will witness its value swing substantially. Investing in bitcoin is not for you unless you can handle the ups and downs of the currency.
There’s no point in investing if you’re going to lose sleep over the loss of your money. I cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to invest your discretionary expenditure in the Bitcoin market.
- What is discretionary expenditure, and how does it differ from other types of spending? Travel, dining out, entertainment, hobbies, and sports are all examples of discretionary expenditure.
You would never spend your rent money or money saved up for retirement on leisure such as a day at the horses, so why would you spend it on the bitcoin market?
2. Hacking
Bitcoin funds were kept by a firm called “Cryptopia,” which was an online bitcoin trading platform. It was hacked, and everybody who had invested bitcoin with cryptopia lost their money. There were several heartbreaking instances about people losing enormous sums of money.
It goes without saying that you should never risk with money you can’t afford to lose, or put all your eggs in one basket, as most of these investors seem to be doing.
Another point I’d like to make is that due to the rising price of bitcoin, the actual amount of money lost by cryptopia investors is likely to be greatly exaggerated. If someone put $7,000 into bitcoin, and it grew to $70,000 in a few years, only to lose it all. It will be recorded that this person lost $70,000 while in reality, they only lost $7,000.
3. Forgotten Passwords
Because you can’t quite remember your password, you will get locked out of your bitcoin wallet. If you make ten failed login attempts, the website where you keep your bitcoin will lock you out of your wallet permanently.
The takeaway here is to write down your password and keep it in a secure location.
The second helpful tip is to diversify your investments so that you don’t lose too much money all at once if things goes horribly wrong.
4. Controls by the government
Governments have the power to prohibit cryptocurrency trade, and China has done so. Several Chinese government entities have banded together to prohibit “illegal” cryptocurrency activity. This is not to argue that other states will take suit; rather, it demonstrates that governments do have the authority to do so.
5. Tax
Only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. You can bet that the Authorities will want a slice of your bitcoin pie at some point. Whether it’s in the form of a Capital Gains Tax or a rise in bitcoin’s worth.
It’s worth noting that if you’re paying taxes on your bitcoin’s capital gains, you might be able to receive a refund on any capital losses. A qualified accountant will be able to help you out with this.
Bottom Line
Whatever sort of capital gains you choose to invest in, keep in mind that there is always the risk of financial loss when there is the potential for capital gains.
Since investing in Cryptocurrency is dangerous, it cannot be overstated that the funds you invest in Bitcoin must be funds you can afford to lose.
See: Why investing is much tougher when you’re swimming in debt