I’m not a true believer in crypto, but I used to play around with it. I have received a 5-figure USD sum of bitcoin from the MtGox settlement, and I’m considering my options. It is a true windfall. It was worth maybe $100-200 when I used to play daytrader and shop silk road with it.

We are on track for early retirement as it is, but my “smart money” intuition says pay the long-term capital gains and invest in funds, how we do everything else. More money earlier is always good.

My gambler side says to withdraw some maybe, but split the rest into a half dozen likely candidates for someday real world crypto use which may take off. I don’t stay up to date on them anymore, so this would take some real research.

The weird Trumpy stuff going on with BTC makes me think it couldn’t hurt to hold through the election in case prepper types panic buy it lol.

My wife says it’s unexpected so just leave it as a high-risk part of our whole portfolio, but I worry she underestimates the risk and scamminess of it all.

Update: I sold the account down to 0.1 BTC today. I may sell more later on. Thanks everyone for your input.

  • Beardwin@lemmy.world
    482·
    3 months ago

    Take your free money and put into something with real, actual backing value. Ignore the gambler side - it’s just the devil on your shoulder. This is free money. Let it work for you over the next couple decades.

    • EvacuateSoul@lemmy.worldOP
      4·
      3 months ago

      This seems to be the majority opinion. I’m thinking moving the majority to sound investments is my likely course. I do think keeping a little that wouldn’t sting badly to lose still scratches the itch without risking regret.

      • Mubelotix@jlai.lu
        21·
        3 months ago

        You got the money in the first place because you stood apart from the majority. Don’t assume they are better than you

        • EvacuateSoul@lemmy.worldOP
          3·
          3 months ago

          I would not have kept it this long. I remember being mad it was gone when it hit $1000, because that seemed insane. It’s realistic to think I would have sold then.

  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    111·
    3 months ago

    I just sold all my Bitcoin like less than a month ago. (It took me a week for it to sync before I could actually sell it. It was a royal PITA. And people say this is the future of currency?)

    I didn’t have anywhere near the amount you’re talking about, but like you I don’t believe there’s ultimatley any future in blockchain.

    I agree with what others are saying here. Sell it. It could well go permanently to zero at any time. Trying to time the market is how you end up walking away with nothing. Put it in, if nothing else, a savings account.

  • grandkaiser@lemmy.world
    101·
    3 months ago

    One in the hand is worth two in the bush.

    Sell it. Invest that money in a less risky asset. You win no matter what that way.

  • tiredofsametab@kbin.run
    3·
    3 months ago

    Honestly, it’d just go to stuff I need for the house. There’s a lot of canning stuff I want but I need to import it from the US (pressure canning isn’t a thing here in Japan and even water-bath canning is super rare so supplies are sparse and expensive). I’d also get a chainsaw and wood chipper. I would pay someone to do a full tune-up on my tractor and maybe get a mower attachment. Anything else, I’d basically put in the account that I use to pay my mortgage and for any home expenses.

  • candle_lighter@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    Too be honest I don’t see a future in any crypto except for Monero. I’m not a crypto expert but it’s the only one anyone actually uses as currency because it’s designed to be more stable and transactions are kept private.