Bitcoin is bits. Random electrons represented as values in a blockchain. It costs an unconscionable amount in terms of power consumption to create non-corporeal cryptocurrency coins, backed by absolutely nothing of value. In other words, other than the bizarre fact that the value of all of Bitcoin is something slightly south of $800B, the whole thing is bonkers. Even so, last week I decided to “invest” in Bitcoin (yes, the scare quotes are real). I pumped fifty bucks into PayPal’s implementation of a crypto wallet, plus $1.15 in fees to feed PayPal’s coffers. Now, I knew that Bitcoin was faltering a bit. In fact, one of the reasons I felt comfortable investing my whopping $50 was because Bitcoin’s value had been dropping. Buy low, sell high is as valid when investing in Bitcoin as it is when investing in, say, Apple. See also: I bought Bitcoin from PayPal. Here’s what happened. But Bitcoin has been sliding again, pushing it to its lowest value since September. To be fair, my plan has always been to hold onto my Bitcoin stake until at least January 1, 2023. So the ups and downs shouldn’t really matter right now, as long as it grows before next year. And, let’s face it, with $50 in the game, I’m certainly not going to become a millionaire off of my canny Bitcoin investment strategy. I knew the near-term prospects were a bit rocky, because – as I reported last week – my investment value dropped by $0.25 within seconds, and another $0.07 overnight. I’ve now had my Bitcoin stash for a week. As of the time of writing this, Sunday night, my stake is down 13.82%. That’s actually good, because earlier today it actually dropped by a full 15%, but as the chart at the top of this article shows, there was a bit of a rebound. When playing with chump change, losing seven bucks doesn’t seem all that bad, especially since the reason I ponied up my big bucks was to be able to write about the PayPal Bitcoin experience, not because I was planning on retiring from my Bitcoin holdings. But if you multiply that out, had I invested $500, I would have lost $70. Had I invested $5,000, I’d be down $700. In a week.That would have been far more disturbing. Thankfully, in my case, it’s really a workplace expense. Think of it as cost of goods sold for the production engine that is blogging, as it gives me fodder for this article. Stay tuned, though. I’m hoping that by next year, I’ll be able to recoup my investment and make enough to possibly buy a Venti Starbucks Reserve Dark Chocolate Mocha. What about you? Have you been investing in Bitcoin? What crypto exchanges do you prefer to use? Is anyone out there using PayPal? One reader said that PayPal was the only exchange he could use in his country. Let us know in the comments below. You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
