Host of The Exit Handbook, Julian Figueroa, has misplaced 14 BTC over the past eight years, value round $1.6 million at the moment. As if that determine wasn’t dangerous sufficient, what’s worse is that “90% of individuals shopping for Bitcoin at the moment” are going to make one of many three errors in Bitcoin safety that price Figueroa his treasured BTC.
Should you aren’t paying consideration by now, you need to be. Figueroa’s expertise highlights a deeper, extra sobering actuality: the highway to monetary sovereignty is crowded with pitfalls, and almost each person will repeat not less than one in every of these hard-learned errors about Bitcoin safety.
Bitcoin Safety Mistake #1: Day Buying and selling Desires, Market Realities
Figueroa’s greatest remorse? Attempting to outsmart the cycles by actively buying and selling:
“I misplaced 4 BTC simply because I believed I’d purchase low and promote excessive. Seems, it’s almost inconceivable—no person beats the market over time, not execs, not hedge funds, no person. Should you simply purchase and maintain, you virtually at all times outperform the merchants.”
The psychological pitfalls of FOMO, misreading tops and bottoms, and emotional hearth gross sales catch even execs within the jaws of volatility. Many lose sight of Bitcoin safety when risking cash on dangerous short-term strikes.
Mistake #2: The Altcoin Lure
Figueroa misplaced one other 2 BTC chasing altcoin hype:
“I purchased cash I believed would outperform Bitcoin. They didn’t.”
Altcoins supply wild upside tales, however, as Figueroa calls it, “altcoin logic in a swimsuit” typically finally ends up as a distraction.
Research after examine exhibits most altcoins underperform Bitcoin dramatically in the long term; a tough lesson seasoned by limitless ‘make it, lose it’ tales amongst crypto’s earliest adopters. Selecting stable Bitcoin safety means resisting distractions from speculative alternate options.
Mistake #3: Self-Custody or Bust
But, his greatest loss got here from retaining cash on centralized exchanges. He says:
“8 BTC—almost $1 million—vanished when an change failed.”
Trusting custodians as an alternative of taking full private management is the most typical error, but even veterans fall sufferer to consolation and comfort. The lesson right here?
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“Crypto exchanges usually are not banks, they’re casinos. Self-custody is the one actual safety.”
You’re Not Alone: Epic Bitcoin Losses from Across the World
Figueroa isn’t the primary (or the largest) Bitcoiner to be taught these classes the laborious method:
James Howells by chance threw away a tough drive holding 8,000 BTC, now value greater than $900 million. Stefan Thomas, a programmer, misplaced entry to a pockets with 7,002 BTC (value $777 million) after forgetting his IronKey password. He has solely two guesses left earlier than his fortune is gone perpetually.
In the course of the notorious Mt. Gox change collapse in 2014, over 850,000 BTC have been misplaced or stolen, leaving numerous customers completely locked out and sparking industry-wide debates on Bitcoin safety.
When QuadrigaCX’s founder died, he took the personal keys to over $200 million with him, leaving 1000’s of customers locked out of their funds. The listing goes on and on—reminding traders that Bitcoin safety begins and ends with private accountability.
Figueroa’s story is a residing lesson for each newbies and seasoned Bitcoiners alike. So how do you keep away from becoming a member of the haunted ranks of the two million membership?
Don’t attempt to commerce “the underside or the highest.” Lengthy-term holding traditionally outperforms virtually each day-trader; simply ask the 99% who’ve tried.
Ignore the siren music of altcoins promising outsized beneficial properties and keep on with the basics. And most significantly, maintain your personal personal keys. Be taught self-custody and take full duty to your digital property. As a result of in Bitcoin, “not your keys, not your cash” is the chilly, laborious fact. Don’t let your story grow to be one other cautionary story about Bitcoin safety.
