11 Things I Wish My 2016 Bitcoin Self Would Have Known

Learning about Bitcoin isn't the same as learning from Bitcoin. Bouncing back from mistakes you might have made is critical to financial success.

Do you beat yourself up over past failures?

We all do to some extent. Even if it’s just in the moment where we make a dumb decision, we call ourselves stupid even though we know we aren’t. The best thing to do is to immediately let it go.

We can then have clarity on what we could of or should have done differently. Nobody is perfect, and to expect that of ourselves is unrealistic. Failures in Bitcoin are common!

Think about pizza guy…he sold off 10,000 Bitcoins for a couple of large pies. But now it’s part of Bitcoin lore, an example for everyone about what we are dealing with, real money with real value!

Personally I bought my first Bitcoins back in 2016 on Coinbase. Of course, I had no idea what I was buying, and regret not holding those Bitcoins through the years. But I’ve learned, as have millions of other Bitcoiners who push forward today, dedicated to the cause of changing the world with sound money.

Here are 11 lessons for both newbies and hardened veterans…

1) Know What You Own - The Warren Buffett Rule

Getting into Bitcoin is a little bit like hopping on a bike as a 5-year-old and trying to get around the block that first time.

You’re gonna crash.

It’s pretty much inevitable, nobody naturally does something perfect on the first go-round. The important thing is to continue to educate yourself.

Bitcoin is a deep (and interesting) rabbit hole, every time you think you’ve got a good handle on it, something else truly blows your mind about the whole idea. Even after 7 years, I learn new things about it every week that harden my conviction.

In time, you’ll fully understand the core principles, and knowing what you own will intensify your conviction to HODL through thick and thin.

2.) Move in Slow - Bitcoin is a Marathon Not a Race

Anytime we learn about something new that can enrich us, we develop a serious case of FOMO.

Careful

Bitcoin cycles are ridiculously volatile, with several hundred percent gains possible on the upside, and 80 percent plunges on the downside. This is how it has to be, as the whole world isn’t going to just accept a brand-new money right off the bat.

The volatility is simply a mechanism, ensuring coins get distributed among billions of people in a semi-orderly fashion. Many early adopters willing sold their Bitcoin for large fiat gains, only to see huge additional upside escape.

A prudent way to get into Bitcoin is to dollar cost average. The 10x10x10 plan helps you accumulate over time, buying more when it is down and less when we are flying high.

The most important thing is to have a plan and work your plan. The transition from the dollar standard to Bitcoin may be volatile, but having your Bitcoin in cold storage will help you sleep well at night.

3.) Bitcoin is Not For Traders - Long Term Thinking

As Parker Lewis so eloquently stated:

Bitcoin is the great Definancialization

So many today are entranced by day trading, speculating, options, and GET RICH QUICK.

Meh..

The end is near for that nonsense. The only ones who have won big doing this are the big brokerage houses that trade stocks, bonds, and derivatives. Those who know how THAT game works and can consistently trade against a pool full of retail suckers.

Patience. Discipline. Long term thinking.

Don’t trade Bitcoin.

Accumulate as many Satoshis as you can, and prosper.

4.) The Price is the Price - Stop Arguing With the Market

This one is tough once you’ve fully swallowed the Orange Pill.

Logically, we know Bitcoin should be selling for many multiples of the current Dollar price.

But it’s not.

So don’t get cute. Don’t try to time the tops and bottoms.

The (fiat) price is the price, and that is a reflection of the collective knowledge of all participants on earth at any given moment. But 1 BTC will always equal 1 BTC.

If you’re struggling with your argument about the fiat price, meditate on this question for a few days…

What is Money?

When you carefully consider this question day in and day out for a few months, you see there are various forms of money, all in competition with each other at any given time.

Bitcoin is the superior money because of its qualities, and as people come to understand - it will naturally increase in value compared to everything else.

5.) Bitcoin is the Elephant in the Room, and That’s OK

After swallowing the Orange Pill whole, and perhaps dosing on another dozen Orange Pills thereafter, you may be inclined to let anyone and everyone in your general vicinity all about it.

They may not be all that interested.

And that is perfectly OK.

Bitcoin is the elephant in the room and one by one it will be acknowledged.

Most people are pretty uncomfortable changing a radical worldview quickly and decisively. So “touchpoints” are how you let people know about it.

The more people who reach out to them about the topic of Bitcoin, the better. Generally, people have to hear about something several times, then they finally investigate further.

Everyone has been brainwashed FROM BIRTH that fiat currency is normal and healthy for all…it is absolutely going to take lots of time, lots of new ideas, lots of teaching, and lots of patience to DEMONSTRATE this is verifiably false and we are on our way to something so much better.

6.) Bitcoin is My Slave - Not My Master

Wherever you came from when it comes to money and wealth, don’t let any form of money become your master.

Yes it’s exciting. Yes it is an amazing innovation!

YES! YES! YES!

But treat it as an exceptional tool in your toolbox. Money isn’t everything, there are far more important things in my life, and yours.

Together we can make those great things in our life even better, with Bitcoin.

7.) Leverage is the Devil

This one is tough personally.

New financial products emerge from the invention of Bitcoin, and it’s easy to get levered up when you are feeling extremely bullish.

Personally I borrowed against some of my stack in 2020-2021. All went well until it didn’t…

Now I wouldn’t say I got REKT, because I was conservative, but I wasn't conservative enough.

Don’t play around, don’t get cute, just stack sats and store them away for the long term.

8.) Stay Humble

The saying is well known because it contains so much unvarnished truth.

Stack Sats. Stay humble.

Nobody knows exactly where this ride ends, and the path it takes. It could be really quick, it could take 50 years. Who am I to say what is going to happen, other than Bitcoin will happen for everyone - in time.

Humility is not a quality promoted in today’s world which glorifies social media personalities.

So you have to cultivate that quality on your own, in private, and with intention.

Doing so will help you hold onto your stack.

9.) Don’t Blindly Follow any One Person in Bitcoin

Like anything, Bitcoin has its personalities.

Can be fun, but it wears a person out over time. At the core of all of this is simply a software program. One that people can choose to opt into or not-so-nicely decline.

Bitcoin doesn’t need anyone, the heroes of the past usually decline into irrelevance, puffed up by ego and pride they demand people listen to them as they pitch their own personal shitcoin, product, or belief system.

Don’t worry about anyone’s Bitcoin “takes”. Don’t worship anyone. Collect information from a wide variety of sources, use what is helpful and discard the rest.

Bitcoin, on its own is enough.

10.) Personal Responsibility is King

Nobody will take care of your Bitcoin better than you will take care of your Bitcoin.

Many learned this in 2022 as big “cRyPto” companies got absolutely demolished because of their shady business practices. Plenty of people who have (had?) Bitcoin now watch as bankruptcy courts oversee the distribution of any leftover funds.

What a mess.

But it could’ve all been avoided if these folks had realized Bitcoin is about personal responsibility and empowerment.

Having access to a money with NO counterparty and NO custodian should be looked at as an incredible benefit, not an inconvenience.

It’ll probably take another round or two of people getting wrecked before the message really hits home. It is unfortunate, but that’s what more than 100 years of fiat brainwashing will do to people.

They will continue to think a bailout awaits any time their custodian does something shady with their money.

Not your keys, not your coins.

11.) Nobody Cares About Bitcoin (Until They Do)

Another tough Orange Pill to swallow for some of us…

When people complain, and you offer them a perfect solution to their problem, and it’s met with rejection - it can be disheartening.

Another famous Bitcoin quote applies of course:

“Everyone buys Bitcoin at the price they deserve”

So much truth wrapped into eight little words!

The legacy system doesn’t care because everything revolves around fiat. Normal people don’t care because they are playing the fiat game.

So we must simply build the parallel system, and invite people to play when we have the opportunity.

Millions are now playing. Maybe a billion will be playing by the end of the decade.

But it really doesn’t matter. Everyone will migrate to a hard money standard when they’ve endured enough theft from the fiat system.

Inflation, taxes, Wall Street fraud and any political spending aren’t going to stop. In fact, they are going to escalate and the propaganda to cover up their ongoing theft from the population.

These facts by themselves ensure Bitcoin’s success, so we don’t even have to worry about it.

We only have to save, wait, and enjoy life!

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