Host of The Exit Guide, Julian Figueroa, has misplaced 14 BTC during the last eight years, value round $1.6 million at present. As if that determine wasn’t dangerous sufficient, what’s worse is that “90% of individuals shopping for Bitcoin at present” are going to make one of many three errors in Bitcoin safety that price Figueroa his valuable BTC.
When you aren’t paying consideration by now, you need to be. Figueroa’s expertise highlights a deeper, extra sobering actuality: the street to monetary sovereignty is crowded with pitfalls, and almost each consumer will repeat at the very least certainly one of these hard-learned errors about Bitcoin safety.
Bitcoin Safety Mistake #1: Day Buying and selling Desires, Market Realities
Figueroa’s largest remorse? Attempting to outsmart the cycles by actively buying and selling:
“I misplaced 4 BTC simply because I assumed I’d purchase low and promote excessive. Seems, it’s almost unimaginable—no person beats the market over time, not professionals, not hedge funds, no person. When you simply purchase and maintain, you nearly all the time outperform the merchants.”
The psychological pitfalls of FOMO, misreading tops and bottoms, and emotional hearth gross sales catch even professionals 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 assumed would outperform Bitcoin. They didn’t.”
Altcoins supply wild upside tales, however, as Figueroa calls it, “altcoin logic in a go well with” usually 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 options.
Mistake #3: Self-Custody or Bust
But, his largest loss got here from protecting 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 commonest error, but even veterans fall sufferer to consolation and comfort. The lesson right here?
3 Seconds Now. Features That Compound for Years.
Act quick to affix the 5-day Crypto Investor Blueprint and keep away from the errors most buyers make.
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“Crypto exchanges aren’t 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 study these classes the laborious method:
James Howells by accident 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.
Throughout the notorious Mt. Gox change collapse in 2014, over 850,000 BTC had 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 non-public keys to over $200 million with him, leaving hundreds of customers locked out of their funds. The record goes on and on—reminding buyers 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 nearly each day-trader; simply ask the 99% who’ve tried.
Ignore the siren track of altcoins promising outsized features and follow the basics. And most significantly, maintain your individual non-public keys. Be taught self-custody and take full duty in your digital belongings. As a result of in Bitcoin, “not your keys, not your cash” is the chilly, laborious reality. Don’t let your story develop into one other cautionary story about Bitcoin safety.
