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No matter how you size it up, you’re in a relationship with your assets. Even if it’s a quick and cheap thrill.
I’m a long-term investor and a swing trader, for the most part. I do dabble in day trading a few times a month. However, I’m committed to being an investor first. I find myself gaining more value there. Let’s take a little dive into that.
For me, investing involves more than looking at the technicals of an asset. I must also understand the fundamentals and other economic factors that will foster a great project. When it comes to crypto: in the earlier years, everything was speculative -- basically, a huge gamble. Nothing about Bitcoin in the earlier days grabbed my attention. I literally knew about Bitcoin when it was around 15 cents. I immediately dismissed it because the concept didn’t make much sense to me at the time. I wanted to mention that part because I’m not portraying as if crypto was a smart idea. We didn’t know it would become what it is today. Even if I bought at 15 cents, I wouldn’t have held it long enough to see it reach in the thousands. That’s not realistic.
I think of my investments as relationships that have value. I didn’t see the value in Bitcoin in the earlier stages. It wasn't until it began to prove itself that I saw value. Even when Bitcoin crashed, I continued to see the value there.
I soon realized that how I treat my investments when they are down is how I’ll be treated when they are up. Reciprocity at its finest.
If you’re in a relationship and you know your partner has value but they are going through a tough period in their life, it would be haphazard for you to abandon them. Life isn’t built by being constantly at the mountaintop. The challenge of the bottom is what takes you to the top. Like the saying goes: in order to enjoy the rainbow, you must put up with the rain.
As I look at my portfolio being down in value, yet still valuable, I ask myself: "Which assets need more of my attention? Who needs some watering (funding), or in some cases, how can I have reassurance?" And by reassurance, I am asking myself if the fundamentals of the project have changed. If nothing has changed, then I continue focusing on what the development team is doing while they are down and not so much on what the price is doing. Price dropping because investors are taking profit is different than the price dropping because the fundamentals have changed.
This is a key element when it comes to understanding your relationship dynamics with your assets. It’s ok to be down. But it’s not ok to be down and not making an effort to add value. I’ve let go of those types of assets. There are projects that haven’t tweeted, written a blog post, nor made any announcements since 2020. That’s a red flag. Although they could still be a legitimate project, their lack of communication is just not something I can keep co-signing.
If you've known me and/or have read my posts for a while, you know I love Cardano. Time after time, their development teams continue to focus on its value and its projects, and not the price. That, to me, speaks volumes. That is also why I benefit greatly to this day -- because when it was 1 cent, I didn’t abandon them. I’ve seen Cardano go from $1.20 down to 1 cent during the last bull and bear run. I stood by their side. I invested more into Cardano when it was at its low.
Today, my assets treat me well because when they were down, I treated them well.
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Author: Eric White
Editor: Shamya White