Back in 2020-21, I used to talk about crypto all day long. I still do, but now I can at least word it better (I think so). So just to avoid a difficult conversation with my parents, I once told mom that I work for Bitcoin.
A few days later, my maternal uncle called me. Extremely unhappy, he pointed out that I don’t call him enough. He was angry that I did not tell him about my job switch and he wanted to invest in Bitcoin as well.
For those of you, who do not get the joke, this post is for you.
For those, who realize that Bitcoin is not a company, enterprise, brand or startup, and still figuring out their next moves, this one is for you too.
Today, we will talk about the nuances of investing in Bitcoin. LFG.
How to Get Started?
Not so soon!
First thing’s first. Understand your ‘why’ of investing. I mean you must have some goals and stuff. Else, how will you disappoint yourself? Right?
Okay, assuming that you have figured your risk appetite.. wait.. what’s that, you ask?
I think a cute little disclaimer here should be fun.
Generally, the investing landscape in India follows the below risk-o-meter:
Government Bonds < FDs < Private Bonds < Equity < Unlisted Market < Crypto Now one could look at this in the opposite direction and you will find the potential returns.
So, given the above information, check if you want to invest in crypto at all. Full disclosure; it is pukishly volatile, extremely uncertain and definitely not the government’s favourite. At the same time, it is also subject to the most harsh taxation, akin to gambling. Awesome!
If you are still reading, take a bow.
Thou shall prove your worth, before you invest in Bitcoin
-Self
Investing Via Centralized Exchanges:
“No! Stop asking me if I invest in Crypto because it makes me feel alive temporarily. That is not the case!”
“I am still dead inside.”
Regardless, this one is a relatively simple method.
As of January 2024, Indian government has banned all the foreign crypto exchanges like Binance, MEXC, KuCoin from India citing their non-compliance to Indian crypto laws. Turns out that exchanges have to deduct 1% TDS on every trade and these big guys just didn’t care.
So one fine day, GoI is like, bro? Are you serious? Pack your bags and gtfo!
Since then the only thriving crypto exchanges in the country are CoinDCX, WazirX and CoinSwitch.
While this is not a recommendation, but I use CoinDCX personally. Its simple, compliant and the founder has a vision of how to work with government to extract the best outcome.
WazirX’s founder has sold it off to Binance and working on a new Blockchain project now.
Okay. Once you have made your decision, this is as simple as buying a stock off your favourite broker. Simply chose the crypto, pick a price and swipe to buy.
Congratulations. You now own your first crypto.
But do you? Like really own-own?
The Curse of Centralized Exchanges:
Quick task.
Find a crypto bro in your vicinity, give him a tight slap to pull him out of delusion and ask him why should one invest in Bitcoin. You are most likely to hear the word D.E.C.E.N.T.R.A.L.I.Z.A.T.I.O.N pop up in that conversation at least 5 times.
Then come back home and question yourself.
Do not worry, we are not contemplating life choices tonight.
But yes, ask yourself that you invested in an asset class that is independent of all intermediaries and sovereign superpowers (hence the term, decentralization).
And then you decided to trust a random internet nerd who built that exchange and handed over all your funds to him.
Let me break it down for you (while you have a breakdown)
- You invest in stocks through brokers like Zerodha/Upstocks/Groww.
- These brokers are merely a frontend of NSE/BSE which is the custodian of your stocks.
- All the entities that I just mentioned are heavily regulated by SEBI.
- So you have a guarantee of sorts from the government in case of some funky business.
While in crypto:
- These exchanges are not yet regulated. Government is still figuring out.
- It is not a Blockchain transaction when you invest in crypto through a centralized exchange. So it is not self-governing either.
- So you literally have the worst of both worlds.
- No government guarantee, no blockchain based self-governance.
So what do we do now?
Enter: Decentralized Exchanges
“Not your keys, not your crypto”
-Anon
If I have learnt anything after burning my hands, it is this line.
In order to really own your crypto, you need to be a self custodian.
And there are ways to do it without much hassles.
However, since this blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Bohemian Bibliophile, I will not go into the details of investing via decentralized exchanges.
I am told it is outright unfair and borderline psychopath to barge into crypto conversations out of the blue here.
However, if you want to nerd your way into degenery, be my guest. Read this and this for more details.
So What Do we Do Now?
Okay. I might have been too harsh on these centralized exchanges. Yes they are unregulated in India right now, but that does not mean they will remain regulatory orphans forever.
Therefore, your best bet as a newbie should be investing through a renowned centralized exchange. Moreover, these exchanges aren’t as evil as they may sound.
Web3 infrastructure is still at a nascent stage. Until that matures, the only route to mass adoption is through these exchanges.
But yes, the asset itself is fiery as ever. So once again. Invest only what you can afford to lose.
Future is uncertain, death is coming, buy bitcoin! Or maybe don’t. You call the shots!
27 responses to “How to invest in bitcoin?”
Thanks to this blog hop, I have had the opportunity to learn more about Cryptocurrency investment through your blogs. I am glad we have a crypto nerd who is willing to share his expertise and wisdom with us. I would like to keep visiting for more i only to get a better understanding of thus cryptic currency.
Through your posts, I am learning the ABCs of it. I still want to mention little of it goes beyond my head. Yet learning something new or at least willing to learn something new excites me
First off, I absolutely love your sense of humour – by the time one starts to feel completely incompetent reading about crypto – there comes a shot of humour to lighten the situation! But in any case, I hope to gain much on crypto by the end of this blog hop. Do continue the education!
Hmmm….but you don’t clearly mention whether we should or shouldn’t. My mind kept wandering betring betwee “Ok, this guy says go ahead”, and in the next minute, “wait, what?” As confused in the end as I was when I started reading it.
Future is uncertain, death is coming, buy bitcoin! Surely.
Also, I might just slap my crypto guy out of his delusion.
Nonetheless, this is really informative especially when there is so much information floating around on the web. I’m intrigued by the Web3 bit, hope that you explore and write about it more.
Also the sense of humor 😉
I really loved reading your posts about crypto. As a newbie, I am learning a lot about crypto and bitcoin via these posts. I really want to invest in Bitcoin, and I guess I can do so now. Thanks for such information.
“For those of you, who do not get the joke, this post is for you.”
Lol! Started with a dig at the ignorant folk, once again 😆
I like how you use humour and memes to make your point. Also, the post is divided into sections making it as simple as possible for laymen (and naysayers 😛) to understand Bitcoin and also justify why you’re insisting that more people invest in it.
Your posts are teaching me the basics, and I’m excited about learning something new. It’s great to have someone who knows a lot about crypto and is willing to share. I want to keep coming back to understand this crypto stuff better. Now, I feel happy that I can chat with my husband’s friends about it like a pro.
Your writing style is pretty awesome, Never thought I’d enjoy diving into serious investment stuff without getting bored.
First things first, this post made me a bit more enlightened about the terms Crypto and Bitcoins, thanks a ton for that. I love your writing style, laced with humour and facts akin, didnt make me feel like the idiot I thought I was about the topic. Will hopefully learn much more, thanks to your posts.
To learn about bitcoins or cryptocurrency is not that easy for a lay person but your attempt to make it a bit simpler is praiseworthy. Though not many people dare to lose, so it is a bit risky.
Raghav I was totally unaware of the fact that people dealing in such complicated finance tools or instruments can be so hilarious personality. Honestly I just love the way you penned this post with touch of humour and very few can do that. Secondly I am just more than happy to read this post to learn more about cryptocurrency. Although a alumni of Finance management studies I never showed interest in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. Share market is more preferred choice for me and will not mind to accept the reason is my hesitance towards more than calculative risk.
As always, your post was very informative. The way you summarized it made it easier to understand. I don’t think I will be investing in crypto. Too much risk for someone my age.
Hahaha! Enjoyed reading this one too Raghav. I like the humorous and wicked ‘you’ more than the nerd ‘you’… and goes without saying… this makes much more sense to me.
After so many posts and two years, I think I finally got a breakthrough on the concept… Thanks to this ranting side of you.
So you are helping me know from the basics. This is quite helpful.
Dude, I’m having a kinda mental breakdown but you were counting on that, weren’t you? 😅
We’ve always played safe as far as investments are concerned and Bitcoin is quite a risky proposition it seems. Yet, one can’t help getting curious to atleast try it out.
This article gave me a good laugh while also shedding light on the complexities of investing in Bitcoin. Your witty writing style made the topic easy to digest, even for someone like me who’s not very familiar with crypto. It’s a reminder to approach investing cautiously and to always do thorough research.
Crypto investing sounds exciting, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to take the plunge. The volatility makes me a bit nervous. It’s a lot to wrap my head around!
I guess, You write this post only for Blogaberry Community Raghav. I don’t understand what you are telling, you burn your hand in Crypto and it is not yet regulated by SEBI. Then what is the point in investing in it? For decentralisation? Explain plz.
I love the way you make a medley of humour and how you incorporate information. I’m slowly trying to understand
Your post making ne learn about crypto currency in detail..I was never interested in this but your posts are teaching about it
Every post of your’s makes me learn little more about bitcoin but what I liked the most as you keep it simple and yes not to forget your humor and memes, they are hilarious.
Thanks to you, I’ve had the chance to know about cryptocurrency investment through your blogs. I’m grateful for the expertise and wisdom shared by our resident crypto enthusiast. But how much ever I try gaining a better understanding of this intriguing digital currency, it is a no-brainer for me 🙁
I think crypto is for people like you said who have a high risk appetite, and know that people who have taken the risks and have an understanding have made a huge profit. I hope that eventually the risk becomes manageable for the middle class folks to also invest in, and easier to understand with regulations as safeguards.
I love the humorous yet insightful take on the nuances of investing in Bitcoin, starting with a witty anecdote about telling one’s family they work for Bitcoin to avoid difficult conversations.
[…] How to invest in bitcoin? […]
Hahahaa! Despite from your digs at the Blogaberry community, I did enjoy this post – like your older ones which were very simply and accessible. Having said that, my risk appetite is of a tiny mouse, so crypto investment is a long way away!
[…] How to invest in bitcoin? […]