A former gym owner who bought Bitcoin when it was worth less than $1,000 has urged other small investors not to be scared off by its volatility and scam warnings.
David Haslop has seen the Bitcoin he bought eight years ago go from $1,000 to an all-time high of $110,000 last week.
When he first dipped his toe into cryptocurrencies in 2016, he spent “a couple hundred dollars initially” and took it to a still modest four-figure sum the following year. expanded beyond Bitcoin to Ethereum and other altcoins.
While it’s reaping the rewards now, investing has been a whirlwind ride: Bitcoin rose from $4,700 in 2018 to $92,400 in November 2021, only to fall back to $25,000 in December 2022 as inflation and interest rates spiked.
It jumped to an all-time high of $110,365 on March 14, but has since retreated to $100,000.
A former gym owner with a mortgage who bought cryptocurrency when Bitcoin was worth less than $1,000 says investors in decentralized finance should have “guts” and wait for big price drops (David Haslop is pictured with his wife Kelly and son Austin, 6)
Much of the recent increase is attributable to the top US regulator. allow Bitcoin spot price to be sold in exchange-traded funds – where shareholders invest in a fund that holds cryptocurrencies, and Australia’s corporate watchdog is seen as likely to do the same.
“You can put aside the whole narrative that this is a scam or a pyramid scheme,” Haslop told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
He added that Bitcoin would eventually be used and accepted in the same way that dollars are now.
“It’s going to take a long time, it’s definitely inevitable,” he said.
“If you look online now, you will find websites where people can exchange goods and services for Bitcoin directly: there are KFC and IGA, normal retail companies.”
Haslop said this means cryptocurrencies remain a good investment even after the most recent price surge, as many are likely to sell their holdings and pocket the profits, sending the value back down.
“If we have a sell-off, the most we could see is maybe a 30 percent drop; I think it will be very short-lived,” he said.
‘Previously, every time the market reversed, you would see a drop of between 70 and 80 percent and, personally, I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.
“Those of us who have been in the market for a long time, regardless of those 80 percent drops, there have still been huge gains across the board for all these people who have been in the space for years and years and years.”
Haslop said the move from being a gym owner in Canberra to being a director of the Australian Crypto Convention and Blockchain Australia meant having a strong belief in investing.
“You definitely have to have guts, that’s for sure,” he said.
“I lived through the volatility; this is the third bull run… I’ve been through all of that.”
Haslop said those considering jumping into cryptocurrencies should only do so with some advice and sticking to trusted coins.
“Anyone new to the market who doesn’t know what they’re doing should never jump into that type of investment strategy; stay away from it,” he said.
“Anyway, I try to avoid speculating on anything outside the top 10, it’s just not as certain.”
Bitcoin reached a record high of $110,000 in Australian dollars this week
Investors are advised to stick to the top 10 cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether, listed on the coinmarketcap.com website.
“That’s probably the top 10 list that most people would recommend,” he said.
Haslop is now a 34-year-old married father of two, living on the Gold Coast with a mortgage, like most Australians.
“I still have a mortgage; any smart investor will use the bank’s money instead of their own,” he said.
But with houses out of reach for most 20- and 30-year-olds, he said investing in cryptocurrencies was a way to save for a mortgage deposit.
“I have no doubt about it,” he said.
With Australia increasingly becoming a cashless society, Haslop said cryptocurrencies could also be a bulwark against authoritarian governments and big banks that lock people out of their accounts.
“No bank, no government or no entity can have access to that wallet and basically prevent you from spending your own assets,” he said.
David Haslop said the journey from owning a gym in Canberra to now being a director of the Australian Crypto Convention and Blockchain Australia meant having an investment conviction.
Investors are advised to stick to the top ten cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether, listed on the coinmarketcap.com website.
In November 2021, just as Bitcoin was peaking before a major drop, Commonwealth Bank announced that it would offer customers the ability to access up to 10 select cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin on the CommBank app.
But the rise in scams prompted the CBA to impose a $10,000 per month limit on transactions on crypto exchanges.
“Education is key, not restricting what people can and cannot do with their assets,” Mr Haslop said.
The Australian Crypto Convention will take place in Sydney on November 23-24.