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Cryptocurrencies were all the rage earlier this year, with the prices of several coins surging to record highs and crypto exchange Coinbase making its public offering. Crypto enthusiast and Tesla
TSLA,
CEO Elon Musk tweeted rocket and moon emoji, boosting the rallying cry “to the moon!” And investors big and small jumped into the market.
But after the spot price of bitcoin, the most popular coin, approached $65,000 in April, the boom turned bust: By early June, its value had dropped by nearly 50%. It’s likely that many of those new crypto investors felt the whiplash.
“It is very interesting that every time that bitcoin goes up, it gains all the hype, people get excited,” says Kiana Danial, author of “Cryptocurrency Investing For Dummies.” But Danial adds that the last person who buys when the price is at the top “is the person who’s going to panic when the price inevitably drops.”
Read: From ‘Death Cross’ to a Near Bull Market: Bitcoin’s Wild Ride
So, what do you do when your digital assets like bitcoin crash? We asked several cryptocurrency experts to get their thoughts.
Remember that bitcoin and other cryptos are volatile
For those who have been investing in cryptocurrencies for years, dramatic gains and losses are nothing new. For example, bitcoin recorded a previous record high of nearly $20,000 in December 2017, but by December 2018 was trading below $3,500.
As bitcoin gains adoption, “the up moves and down moves can be breathtaking. Taking the long-term view puts these moves in perspective,” says Greg King, founder and CEO of Osprey Funds, an investment firm specializing in digital assets.
“For example, even though bitcoin was down 50% in April through May of this year, it is up 25% from those lows and still up 100% from Thanksgiving last year.” (Note: These comments were made on June 17, 2021. Who knows where the bitcoin price
BTCUSD,
is by the time you read this.)
For seasoned bitcoin investors, the lower prices were welcome. “Then, you would actually see the drop of value in bitcoin as an opportunity to purchase,” Danial says.
See: Robinhood IPO filing reveals dogecoin as one of its biggest risk factors
Understand your risk appetite before investing
When crypto is crashing, someone who’s been intrigued from the sideline might think this is the time to get in and “buy low.” But King recommends asking yourself two questions before deciding to invest in bitcoin or other cryptos.
“Consider whether an 80% to 90% down move in your crypto holdings would cause you to lose sleep at night or sell,” he says. “If the answer to either of those is yes, don’t invest.”
