Taking profits is not bad
Good morning/evening
So yes the price of Bitcoin has been below the psychological 100K for a while now and all you hear on X or even You Tube is lettuce hands, sellers are weak or sellers don't understand the fundamentals blah blah blah.
So let’s get this out of the way quickly, taking profits does not make you a traitor to Bitcoin. You’re not a lettuce handed coward, you’re not betraying Satoshi and you’re definitely not getting kicked out of whatever imaginary club of diamond handed purists exists only on Crypto Twitter.
It’s really okay to take profits. In fact, it might be one of the most Bitcoin things you can do.
Because if Bitcoin is about freedom, then the whole point is to actually use that freedom. To do something you want, Something you need or Something that improves your life, not just your portfolio.
I know some will say 'yes but Bitcoin is better than Fiat', yes it is but if you want or need something, that can't always be bought with Bitcoin.....I wrote about that when I went to get a new car, I asked every dealer I went to if they took Bitcoin, all said no and some even laughed at me, so for that something you may want or need, yes some of it may just have to be converted to Fiat. Bitcoin does not become more meaningful if you never let it improve your life.
Taking profits is not weak, it is wise
Let’s talk psychology and emotions (even though we are not supposed to be emotional) the bull market feels like the euphoria will never stop, prices will keep going higher and every bear market can feel like an apocalypse to some or just an ideal time to buy for others.
But the truth is:
- Unrealized gains are just numbers on your screen
- Realized gains can be actual life upgrades.
When Bitcoin goes up, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. You don’t have to hold forever just to signal that you’re strong or commited. People are also at different stages in their life, if I was 18 then I could hold for two or three cycles, if I was about to retire and had made a 5X on my investment, it may be wise to take profits. Everyone is different! If I had a time machine, I would go back buy Bitcoin at $1 and hold, but then wouldn't we all!
Enjoy the journey
Bitcoin was designed to give people sovereignty, freedom from inflation, from corrupt money printers and from financial surveillance.
That same freedom extends to your choices.
If Bitcoin has given you the chance to:
- Pay off a debt
- Start a business
- Upgrade your laptop
- Book that trip you’ve been dreaming about
- Buy something nice for someone you care about
You are taking digital freedom and turning it into real world freedom. That is surely the whole point, unless you are 'just here for the tech'. I am personally planning a trip of a lifetime, could it have happened without Bitcoin......Possibly but it may have taken a lot longer to reach that goal.
You can take profits and still believe
Contrary to what the loudest people online say, these two statements can be true at the same time.
- “I believe Bitcoin will be worth a lot more in the future.”
- “I’m selling a portion today to improve my life.”
Taking profits doesn’t require abandoning your long term thesis. It just means you’re managing your risk and your sanity. Bitcoin is volatile and the market can have violent swings, you may be checking charts, buying dips then buying the dip that was not the dip, trading with leverage that can give you nightmares and people get tired or stressed with the markets.
I was fully convicted during the bear market and buying in when people were saying Bitcoin was dead, that it was the end but I also had a plan to DCA or layer out and take some profit, not all of it but some. I had so called diamond hands with Helium, more through ignorance and lack of knowledge of cycles than intent and there was no joy in watching it drop from $50 to $5! Diamond hands is a meme not a plan, lettuce hands is a joke not a flaw in your commitment. Your only responsibility is yourself and your own goals. You do not need to feel guilty for taking profit.
I can almost hear people saying that this was not what Bitcoin was intended for, it is not supposed to be a store of value, well it has evolved and it does not make you any less of an investor if you do take profits. It can be as easy or as complicated as you like, some trade, others just buy and hold, some will buy, hold and sell. None of these things are wrong, you just have to do what suits you. I have chosen to do all of the above, trade a little, hold some as a savings account so to speak and take profits to enjoy things. I will also look forward to buying more Bitcoin in the depths of the bear market, when it all looks like it is about to end and repeat this whole process again. Although it would be nice if we could also have a bit of an ALT coin season before that happens lol.
To conclude
We are all different, my goals may not be your goals, our time frames may be different but at the end of the day Bitcoin is still my go to asset and I will buy more when I think the time is right. I have come out of the market with my sanity intact, some profit and a plan that includes more buying, more learning and to enjoy the ride. I would still like a little bit of an ALT season though, pretty please.........I may just end up round tripping my Solana!
What are your thoughts? Have you taken profits or will you hold beyond just a cycle? As always, thank you for reading and please feel free to comment.
