Why I sold all of my bitcoin

Even as prices hit record highs.

My Backstory

I’m a software engineer who’s been following cryptocurrencies for over 8 years. I remember when Bitcoin first launched and the coding world was shocked by the anonymous blockchain whitepaper. Since then, I’ve made — and lost — several thousand dollars in a single day gambling on cryptos.

So, why’d I sell?

To understand that, we’ll have to look at the two reasons you’d buy a cryptocurrency: as a currency, and as an investment.

CryptoCURRNECY

Blockchain / Bitcoin was invented as a new form of currency. One that’s scalable, distributed and anonymous. Good currencies should also be generally accepted, stable and durable (among other things). So, whether or not it’s a good investment, it should at least be a good currency… right?

• Is Bitcoin (or any major crypto, really) scalable? NO. Right now, Bitcoin can handle on the order of 3–7 transactions per second. VISA can handle 47,000. As bitcoins have become more popular, this scalability shortcoming has resulted in skyrocketing transaction fees (up to $50 per transaction!), resulting in many merchants (such as Steam) no longer accepting bitcoins.
• Is it distributed? Yes. But, this may not even be a good…