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What Is the Price of bitcoin?

The price of bitcoin in USD is .... Whether you’re actively trading or holding on for dear life, the price of bitcoin can mean different things to different people. Some of you have yet to buy a single sat.

Let’s see if you can relate to any of these bitcoin profiles.

The Hodler

HODL is a word that has a special place in internet history seeing as it was nothing more than a simple spelling mistake that quickly took on a life of its own in the Bitcoin subculture. Bitcointalk forum user GameKyuubi can be credited with this little piece of internet gold when his misspelt forum post caught the attention of the Bitcoin community. The rest as they say is history.

The word has since taken on a new meaning and is often used as an acronym for Hold On for Dear Life. And holding on for dear life is something a bitcoin hodler knows only too well as they watch the fiat value of their investment fluctuate regularly.

Hodlers are a rare breed of humans who can stomach intense volatility and are guided by a laser-focused mindset. Their steadfast attitude to building out their bitcoin holdings during volatile price swings often earns them the title of “diamond hands” (as opposed to the weaker “paper hands”). Hodlers aren’t too worried about short-term price movements as they have a low time preference and view bitcoin as a long-term store of value.

The biggest hodler of them all is of course Satoshi Nakamoto. Their stash of over a million bitcoin hasn’t moved since the coins were mined back in Bitcoin’s early days.

Hodlers focus on security, are oblivious to capital tax gains and are constantly on the lookout to find effective methods to stack more sats.

The Speculator

Now this is a different type of beast altogether. Whether they be acting in an amateur or professional capacity, speculators are traders that look to capitalize on BTC’s price volatility. Many a fortune has been made over the last decade by savvy traders who timed the price swings to perfection and maximized their earnings. Being early to a new technology certainly helps, but sometimes a strict, systematic approach is all that’s required to turn bitcoin’s volatility into your favor.

The simplest way to comprehend bitcoin speculation is to buy when the price is low and sell when it’s high. The difference between your entry and exit points marks your profit (minus fees and eventual taxes of course). The market has become far more sophisticated over recent years however, with plenty of opportunities available now to traders to increase the gains on their trades by borrowing capital or participating in options and futures markets. Broadly speaking, trading with the expectation of bitcoin’s price going up is known as “going long”.

Sometimes the price trends down over extended periods of time and traders might also want to take advantage of this by short selling their bitcoin, or “going short”. There are numerous ways to do this, but the basic approach is to first sell your holdings at a high price and then buy back again at a lower price. This can be done to generate profit, or as a mechanism for growing your bitcoin holdings at more favorable prices.

Depending on their strategy, some speculators may choose to trade manually, while others may place limit orders at set prices, or even rely on automated trading bots to execute their trades. Bitcoin trading is big business and the fees taken on the trades are how centralized exchanges make their money (or at least that’s the ethical way to operate with customer funds).

There is always someone on the other side of the trade, no matter what the current price of bitcoin is.

Stuck on Zero

Being on zero is a term used within Bitcoin circles for people who have not yet invested in bitcoin. Their reasoning varies: maybe they’re scared or wary of this new monetary technology, maybe they’ve heard some bad news about cryptocurrencies but have yet to explore the benefits of a sound digital money. They might even have KYC (know your customer) issues that block them from accessing bitcoin through an exchange in their territory. Some people may be waiting for an opportunity to make their initial purchase at just the right price. Considering that only a handful of countries recognize bitcoin officially as legal tender, there are many people around the world that are yet to get off zero.

So what to do in such a circumstance? Should you jump head over heels and throw your next paycheck at a bitcoin exchange? Probably not. As any seasoned hodler or speculator will tell you, bitcoin is a journey and no voyage should be undertaken without some basic preparation.

If you’re still on zero but are considering putting some money into bitcoin, don’t feel alone. There are plenty of reliable resources out there than can help you find your way. You’ve likely got some pressing questions, so here are some useful articles we’ve put together to help you get started:

Have Your Cake and Eat It

Contrary to what you may think, it is perfectly possible to apply multiple strategies at once. Many traders choose to hodl a significant part of their bitcoin in cold storage, while they speculate with smaller amounts on shorter timeframes. Sometimes hodlers may want to treat themselves after a long period of successful investing, and may make use of limit orders to catch better selling prices.

Just as you would use your dollar, euro or yen for a variety of reasons, so too can you do with your bitcoin. In any case, whether you’re stacking sats, actively trading or getting off zero, the journey begins with a purchase.

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We’re excited to have you join us on this journey and we look forward to helping you understand the true appeal of Bitcoin and all the freedom it can bring with it. Our partners and resources include affiliate relationships with companies we trust and believe in, to ensure that you have the best experience possible. Thank you for choosing our website as your go-to resource for all things Bitcoin.