My Mom Just Bought Bitcoin at $42k
The story of my Mom becoming a Bitcoiner
When I woke up this morning, Bitcoin was in the middle of a 20% drop in price. Compared to the other significant drops in price in the past, this is a breeze. I actually feel a bit of a sigh of relief when Bitcoin drops significantly after doubling. It helps me relax knowing that Bitcoin knows how to chill out for a couple of days before continuing its aggressive bull run. Coincidentally, my Mom reached out to me and wanted to buy more Bitcoin. This newsletter is the story about how my Mom became a Bitcoiner.
I Paid my Rent in Bitcoin
It was the middle of 2017, and I had just taken a job at a blockchain development company called PBSA. It was around July, so the 2017 crypto liftoff was well under way, but still had a ways to go to get to the top. The place of employment was 15 minutes from my childhood home. I hadn’t finished paying off my student debt (~$60k) quite yet, so I figured I would live at my parents place during the week, and couch-surf on the weekend. Since I was 23, my Mom decided to charge me rent ($300/month), which was reasonable. Although she had heard me talk about Bitcoin before, she would get a regular earful about Bitcoin for the months to come. Eventually, I convinced her to take one months rent in Bitcoin, when Bitcoin was worth around $12k. This was around September of 2017. For the next few months, I would come home to my Mom’s lit up face exclaiming how much that $300 worth of Bitcoin had risen that day. What I didn’t realize, was that I was exposing my Mom to take part in one of Bitcoin’s great cycles of growth.
Bitcoin’s Cycles of Growth
When we take a look back at the history of Bitcoin, we realized that the value of Bitcoin started at ZERO. This is actually something that many other cryptocurrencies, do not have in common with Bitcoin. Other cryptocurrencies typically have a set price when they and incepted. After Bitcoin started to be traded in the “real world” for goods and services such as Pizza on May 22nd, 2010, the price started to rise. There have been 4 monumental price events to take place in the history of Bitcoin. If you were ever fortunate enough to hold Bitcoin through one of these price events, then it is unlikely that you’re not a Bitcoiner today. Reflecting on the fact that my Mom got to experience one of these events, it was probably a massive contributing factor to her becoming a Bitcoiner.
2009 - 2012 - Inception and Price Discovery. ($0 - $10)
2012 - 2013 - Bitcoin’s Great Leap. ($10 - $1,000)
2014 - 2017 - The World Recognizes Bitcoin ($1,000 - $25,000)
2018 - 2022 - The Wave of Institutional Investment ($25,000 - ?)
Read more on the next wave of Bitcoin Investments
Expect 30% Drops Regularly During Growth Periods
During Bitcoin’s growth periods, it is typical, and expected for it to drop by as much as 20%, 30% or 40% in a single day. This is very unsettling for some people. There would be days that my Mom call me and ask why Bitcoin has dropped so much in such a short period of time. Everyone needs a bit of coaching through this tough periods (including myself). Feeling your way through a 30% drop is not easy. It is useful to arm yourself with facts and assurances from Bitcoin’s past.
Hold Bitcoin for at Least 4 Years
These Bitcoin growth events take place roughly every four years. That’s why Bitcoin is at least a four year investment. Over any four year period of time where you’ve bought, and held Bitcoin, you will have more money than when you bought Bitcoin. This is true even if you bought Bitcoin on December 18th 2017 (Bitcoin’s Previous All-Time-High). This is very important for “new-coiners” (People new to Bitcoin) to understand because it informs them how long they’ll have to wait to see a positive return on their investment. This is not to say this trend will hold into the future, but it certainly helps when we are advising our clients. Since we are pushing a long-time preference for investing in Bitcoin, it is a useful metric we can point to.
My Mom Just Bought at $42k
Lets just be clear, I am still buying Bitcoin on a daily basis. I was buying Bitcoin when it was $15k, $20k, $30k, and $40k. I bought when Bitcoin hit a new all time high at $50k, and I will buy Bitcoin again when it goes higher. My Mom reached out to me in early January and wanted to put some money she was saving into Bitcoin. Her words were this
It’s literally sitting in my bank account doing nothing right now. It’s making me no money. It may as well be in Bitcoin. - My Mom
This is exactly right Mom. What my Mom started to realize is that her wealth can grow overnight, instead of sitting in a bank account accruing 0.05% APY interest. My mother experienced the last growth cycle, then Bitcoin dropped to $5k, then it rose to $50k during one of the worst financial crisis she has ever been through. What she realized is that Bitcoin has a future, it solves the stagnant cash problem, and that she is savvy enough to figure it out (with the help of her son).
My Mom might be sharing more articles and news stories on Facebook about Bitcoin than I do. She goes to dinner with a group of her friends every Friday, and tells them about Bitcoin. She points her friends in my direction, and is a true Bitcoin ambassador alongside me :)
Truly, my Mom has become a Bitcoiner.
Mom will be Shaking for Satoshi’s Every Day
My advising philosophy is to never push Bitcoin on anyone directly. I wait until people come to me. This is what happened this week. My Mom went from someone who got ahold of Bitcoin because she sold me a service for Bitcoin (A room in her home), and she wanted to transition into being an active buyer and participant in the Bitcoin ecosystem. My mother is okay with computers, she is no Bill Gates, but she does alright. I think this is the case with a large percentage of the population. That’s why I recommended that she check out ShakePay.
ShakePay is the smoothest experience for buying Bitcoin in Canada. They have the most simple sign up and registration processes, funding processes, and buying processes. They really go out of their way to make this as simple as possible for their user base. Furthermore, they don’t distract their user base with the thousands of other cryptocurrencies out there. They only sell Bitcoin, and Ethereum, the leading two cryptocurrencies in the world.
To top it all off, my Mom can now “shake” her phone on a daily basis and get free Satoshi’s through ShakePay’s #ShakingSats feature. It is a feature that encourages users to log on, and engage with the application. The more days in a row you shake, the more Satoshi’s you get. Read here for more details on ShakePay.
I’m on a 161 day shaking streak and I am getting about $1.50 worth of Bitcoin every single day. That’s $45.00 per month, and $540 per year, just for shaking my phone.
Welcome Mom, to the world of Bitcoin :D
If you, or anyone you know, wants to understand the value proposition of Bitcoin, we’re hosting a webinar on Bitcoin on Jan 23rd. Simply respond to this email with “Count me In”, and we’ll add you to the list.
All The Best,
Keegan Francis
What is your opinion on trading bitcoin using Wealthsimple Trade app for users with zero experience with bitcoin or trading for that matter?