Tales of a Young Investor

1

The Beginning (2017)

It was late 2017 when one of my best friends, who is also my godfather, first talked to me about investing in blockchain—specifically about buying Bitcoin. At that point in time, I didn't have the money to invest in such things. My brother and I started researching what my godfather told us, and we decided to go talk to our father.

He received the information about this high-risk asset with optimism and joy. He gave us a substantial amount of money and told us that even if we lost it, it didn't matter; we could do as we wanted. He gave us his full trust that we wouldn't lose the money.

2

Early Lessons and Market Turbulence

In late 2017, my brother and I opened an account on Kraken—a done deal, and still one of the safest online cryptocurrency platforms to this day. Around that time, there was an active debate between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Cash. Based on the input we received, we initially bought Bitcoin with all our funds. However, looking back, we thought we could make more money by converting Bitcoin Core into Bitcoin Cash. That turned out to be a total mistake—something that is easy to see in hindsight.

Also in late 2017, Bitcoin peaked and the bear market began. We decided to diversify because all the so-called experts on YouTube recommended not keeping all your eggs in one basket. Nobody told us to simply buy Bitcoin and HODL; that realization only came years later. The bear market felt endless, leading up to the boom at the end of the bull market in 2021. The main lesson we learned is that bear markets feel endless, while bull markets are very short-lived.

Since this was the first bull market we experienced coming out of a bear market, we didn't cash anything out. The euphoria is brief; if you do not convert your crypto assets in that short window, you lose your gains because the price drops rapidly, taking a moral toll on you as well. Riding those ups and downs over the years certainly taught us valuable lessons—what to buy, what to HODL, and when to sell. Crucially, we learned not to sell based on what everyone online, on YouTube, or on TV shows is promoting.

3

Exiting the Portfolio (2025)

In the end, we managed to sell our entire portfolio during the 2025 bull run, grateful that we executed our exit. We didn't sell at the exact price we or everyone else dreamed of selling at—the absolute top—because doing that is virtually impossible, regardless of what YouTube podcasts or TV shows claim.

4

Core Insights: Cryptocurrency

After years of watching our portfolio fluctuate and consuming endless YouTube podcasts, here is my takeaway on investing in general:

If you earn extra money month by month, simply invest it in Bitcoin or Ethereum and nothing else, then leave it alone in your account. Based on my personal experience—and always with two-factor authentication (2FA) activated—I recommend Kraken, though you should feel free to do your own research and choose what suits you best.

It took me many years to realize that attempting to time the market—trying to sell high and buy low—usually leads to selling low and losing money rather than making it. If you are an average investor looking to put money away for the long term, simply buy and HODL. Do not watch your portfolio constantly; doing so will cause panic and lead to panic-selling in a market that is highly volatile, immature, and relatively small.

5

Traditional Finance & S&P 500

There is also a strong place for traditional finance. After years of investing in crypto, I started investing in traditional markets—specifically, the S&P 500 index. In my opinion, investing in the broad S&P 500 long-term is the best choice compared to picking individual stocks or random ETFs. If you analyze individual stocks against the S&P 500 over a long timeframe—even with the help of an AI agent—you will find that the S&P 500 consistently comes out on top.

For people who want a good night's sleep over a long-term horizon (10+ years), I would not recommend other financial investments at this time.

6

Key Takeaways & Strategy

From my personal experience, watching YouTube podcasts and listening to crypto gurus or Wall Street gurus will not help you—and I mean AT ALL. Most of the time, it will only cause you to lose money. The only proven way to build wealth is over the long term, buying month by month and steadily increasing your portfolio. Trying to chase a unicorn, a trending online company, or a crypto coin promising 10x or 100x gains carries an extremely low long-term success rate—I would personally estimate no more than 1%.