Crypto-currencies have recently seen an explosion in growth and are starting to gain some mainstream acceptance particularly in Asia. Even Russia is starting to accept Bitcoin as legitimate currency.
The big three; bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin now look like potentially sound investment opportunities. In light of this I offer three cautionary tales of profit and loss, one for each currency.
Bitcoin
Profit
A risky currency with a bright future. I invested early and am now enjoying the sharp rise in the value of Bitcoin.
Loss – 0.08 Bitcoins ($170)
Rookie mistake. I forgot the mnemonic on one of my wallets, losing 0.08 Bitcoins forever.
Ethereum
Profit
I purchased few coins of Ethereum when the value went over $50. It is currently $150.
Loss – 0.6 Ethereum ($90)
I played on iDice.io – a double or nothing dice game where you can bet Ethereum. Unfortunately I forgot the house always wins.
UPDATE – 03 JUNE 2017
All Ethereum lost on Ethereumwallet.net!
I just logged in to my Ethereum Wallet at https://ethereum-wallet.net/ and the site has been cleaned out. All Etherum are gone. All that is left is the info message shown below:
Litecoin
Profit
I bought several Litecoins when the currency started to grow.
Loss – 2 Litecoins ($50)
I accidentally transferred two of them to a Bitcoin wallet – forever losing them in cyberspace.
Conclusion
Total loss – $310
I consider Ethereum a good investment and Litecoin an interesting sideline but for me the interest and profit is in Bitcoin.
I made some profit, made some losses and learned some lessons. To paraphrase Andreas Antonopoulos,
“IF YOU ARE DEVELOPING OR EXPERIMENTING WITH BITCOIN THEN BUY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE – YOU WILL LEARN HOW THE BLOCKCHAIN WORKS A LOT QUICKER WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE AND LOSE REAL MONEY”
Cryptocurrencies are gaining real value as an investment, however great care must be taken in their use. If you lose your secret mnemonic, forget your private key or send coins to an incorrect address they are gone forever.
