Who stole your Bitcoin?
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Who stole your Bitcoin?
The first time you hear about Bitcoin is often when you have the most Bitcoin you'll ever have.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights
First, congratulations to Bitcoin for officially hitting $100,000 today. Let me share a fun anecdote.
In January 2018, I wrote an article about surviving the bear market.
Back then, I boldly claimed something (which one commenter mercilessly mocked). The key passage went like this:
“One Bitcoin reaching $50,000 is only a matter of time.
Since we know Bitcoin will rise to $50,000, every current action should aim at increasing our Bitcoin holdings. Why would you cut losses now? Where’s the loss?”
A fellow in the comments said: “Did the author just pull out of thin air the conclusion that Bitcoin could reach fifty thousand dollars?”
Forgot to mention—on that day, Bitcoin was trading at $11,000.
Then came the fun part—
That commenter showed remarkable integrity by never deleting his original comment;
But as Bitcoin broke through $20K, $30K, $40K… and finally surpassed $100K, every time it hit a new round number, people would flock to his comment just to tease him 😂. That tiny comment has become something of a famous internet landmark.
For us digital natives, such stubborn banter paired with the astonishing performance of this magical internet currency feels genuinely satisfying.
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There’s a famous meme I’m sure most of you have seen.
What holding (HODL) looks like in your imagination
What holding (HODL) actually looks like
Many people have even corrected it—saying the second image should actually be:
HODL in reality 2.0
Actually, there’s a third version of this meme that many don’t know. Frankly, looking back over the years, this one hits me the hardest:
HODL in reality 3.0
Is that really how simple it is to hold Bitcoin?
Then why do so many still fail to hold?
If it were 2018 me answering this question, I’d probably jump in: Yes, holding Bitcoin really is that simple—just do one thing: store it in a cold wallet.
But!! That’s only half true.
After seven years drifting through this industry, I’ve finally uncovered the second half of the truth.
Now, in 2024, I’ll tell you the full truth:
Holding Bitcoin is still simple—but it actually requires three things:
1. Store in a cold wallet
2. Regularly replenish faith
3. Live well
The first point—cold wallet—needs no explanation.
The second point deserves elaboration.
Frankly, I’m deeply grateful to everyone who evangelizes for Bitcoin.
Faith erodes over time and experience—you need to replenish it periodically.
Otherwise, your Bitcoin will leak away into the market through countless small and large price swings.
No one can maintain a “steel-clad mental imprint” purely by willpower. Even Michael Saylor, the poster boy of HODLing, quietly sold some Bitcoin at the $16,000 bottom, trying to make a tax-efficient trade.
Moreover, the crypto industry’s scariest trait is how it relentlessly puts its ugliest parts on display.
You see fraudsters, clowns, and beggars taking turns on stage;
You witness scams and Ponzi schemes rising and collapsing one after another.
From big-shot VC schemes
To PVP links shared in group chats
It's all thorns and traps. Being disillusioned with this industry is perfectly rational.
If someone still maintains blind enthusiasm, honestly, I’d question their sincerity.
So you must regularly replenish your faith.
Now comes faith-replenishing time.
This Bitcoin rally wasn’t instantaneous—it’s been like a multi-stage rocket, each stage passing the torch, climbing layer by layer.
Pre-phase: The downfall of three major scammers (SBF, Su Zhu, Do Kwon) combined with the Fed’s rate-hiking winter, jointly welded Bitcoin’s iron floor at $16,000.
Since then, Bitcoin’s rise from the previous cycle’s low of $16,000 to today’s $101,600 has had three key drivers:
Stage One Rocket: $16,000–$30,000—credit goes to Grayscale, which kept devouring Bitcoin like a mythical beast and won a crucial legal battle against the SEC.
Stage Two Rocket: $30,000–$60,000—thanks to ETFs, especially BlackRock and Fidelity, as traditional institutions brought their users and Wall Street capital flooding into Bitcoin.
Stage Three Rocket: $60,000–$100,000—credit to MicroStrategy. Breaking key psychological levels is extremely difficult due to invisible technical resistance, but MicroStrategy’s faith and determination allowed them to use cash raised via debt and stock sales to forcefully clear resistance, pushing Bitcoin into uncharted territory.
Next comes the fourth stage—the most powerful rocket yet:
Considering Trump’s recent appointments of a new administration that’s not just crypto-friendly but outright crypto-enthusiastic, the U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve proposal may soon become reality.
And once the U.S. leads the way, might Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, South America, or even China follow?
That once-distant dream of digital “gold” is now within reach.
Bitcoin’s greatest feature—its immutability—is gold-like in nature.
The golden seal of Qin Shi Huang, the golden crown of Emperor Taizong, the golden hall of the Hongwu Emperor—all made of the same gold.
What did the Bitcoin network look like in 2017? In 2021? What will it look like next year in 2025? All the same Bitcoin.
“Predictable” = “Trustworthy” = “Timeless”
You can never trust a project where the dev might rug-pull in the next hour. You can’t believe in a protocol that redesigns its roadmap every five years. You can’t be certain that a hardworking entrepreneur today won’t turn into a ruthless CEO years later.
But you can easily predict what the Bitcoin network will look like 10 years from now, 20 years from now—the answer is simple: just like gold, it will remain unchanged.
This is precisely why nations choose Bitcoin—not other assets—as their “national strategic reserve.”
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You might ask, Todd, I think I get it. But we entered this space to “turn our lives around.” You’re telling me to just hold Bitcoin? How much more upside is left?
Bitcoin vs Others
Honestly, I can’t give you a prediction—and almost no one truly can.
Which brings me to my third point—live well.
Another defining trait of this industry is how skillfully it showcases its most extravagant side.
One minute someone casually makes $1M, $2M;
Next minute they post a retirement announcement;
A few days later they vanish—off traveling the world;
And let’s not even talk about exchange founders living lavish lives in Singapore and Dubai.
Much of it is fake—about 75%;
20% are posers;
Real wealthy people exist, but they’re maybe only 5%.
Yet these images are so sensational—like powerful weapons—that they expertly trigger people’s resentment and frustration.
This is also why memes thrive. I’ll write more about memes another time.
Recently, a gorilla-profile account placed a $5M futures bet on XRP, drawing widespread envy. But it turned out he was using a demo account—his real goal was to scam others into paying fees.
Can you imagine how ironic it is—to cry alone, cursing yourself for lacking courage after seeing a fake screenshot, then recklessly open a massive leveraged position?
The key to HODLing is learning to live well.
How to live well:
1. Regularly journal your thoughts in writing
2. Accept that others may earn more than you
3. Focus on the present moment
4. Eat well
5. Set realistic and achievable goals
6. Challenge negative thinking
7. Sleep well
8. Cultivate positive self-talk
9. Practice gratitude
10. Help others
Only when you live well can you truly hold onto your Bitcoin.
If instead you neglect your life, fall into the emotional honey traps meticulously designed by altcoin promoters, and start fantasizing about aggressive shortcuts, the end result will be—
All your Bitcoin ends up in the hands of those altcoin promoters.
Over the years, my rough estimate is that perhaps 95% of people gradually hold less and less Bitcoin.
Occasional contrarians exist—fewer than 5%—and without exception, they are people of extraordinary fortune.
Remember that saying?
“The moment you first hear about Bitcoin,
is often when you own the most Bitcoin you’ll ever have.”
Let’s review the three true principles of holding Bitcoin:
1. Store in a cold wallet
2. Replenish faith regularly
3. Live well
Time flies—seven years in a blink, Bitcoin up tenfold against the dollar.
But 1 BTC = 1 BTC—still the same.
As it always was, so it shall be.
Please HODL your Bitcoin—don’t wait until Bitcoin truly hits $1 million to realize it.
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@0x_Todd
