Not all investors in bitcoin are the same. It is naive to believe that this is a homogeneous group with the same individual profiles in terms of both political ideology and financial behavior.
We have written this short article to give you a description of the different types of bitcoin investor profiles.
You could find your typical profile and discover the characteristics of each of them.
The novice bitcoin investor
We've all been there. While it's the most challenging stage because everything is still new to discover and understand, it's also the phase where we feel the most excitement as the rabbit hole opens before our eyes. However, there's a lot of information and different sources of information that the novice doesn't (yet) know how to sift through. This is perfectly normal; it takes time to learn, train, and fully understand Bitcoin , blockchain, and cryptocurrencies.
The novice can be easily recognized if he behaves like this:
- He is very “admiring” of crypto influencers. To him and at his level, many people seem to be real experts.
- He invests in an anarchic manner and without strategy in tokens which he has been promoted. he convictions are essentially based on beliefs and not on analyses.
- They are excited about investing and often do so on impulse (after reading a post on Twitter or after watching a video from a crypto guru).
The HODLer
This is an investor who has invested and is patiently waiting for the next bull run to pocket the profits. He doesn't plan to sell and, in fact, often doesn't take his profits because he's always waiting for prices to go even higher.
The Bitcoin hodler was more representative of the Bitcoin community in its early days. Today, it's easy to buy Bitcoin and just as easy to spend it (as evidenced by the increased volume on the Lightning Network ). There are fewer Bitcoin hodlers today.
Basically, this is a good "good father" type strategy because it does not require any effort or market analysis. However, this strategy requires a certain mental resistance to face the period of market decline, especially the one we are currently going through. That said, it is also the method that can prove to be the most profitable in the long term. Many bitcoin millionaires have become so simply by keeping the first bitcoins they bought.
How to recognize a hodler:
- He is an investor who wants to get rich but who is aware of the importance of being patient.
- He has the strength to not sell, even in bearish periods.
- He is insensitive to the pattern " get rich quick » with cryptocurrencies or even with other financial assets.
- He appreciates the DCA strategy which consists of investing regularly in your favorite asset.
The opportunist
This type of investor is more common than you might think. Moreover, it seems that the more the crypto industry develops, the more this type of profile is in the majority. This is a person who invests in bitcoin without knowing its foundations or philosophy but who invests for the potential return on investment that he can get from it.
In fact, this type of investor is more prone to selling than other investors. If they hear negative news about Bitcoin, they'll likely want to get rid of it. Since they haven't yet grasped the implications of Bitcoin, they can sell very quickly. What they're looking for are the new financial opportunities offered by cryptocurrency. For example, they might try their hand at trading or yield farming in DeFi. What they're primarily after is returns and profit. They might easily buy a terrible meme coin or a notorious shitcoin if they think it will make them rich. They don't really have any qualms about their investments.
Typically, this is an investor who is more interested in other cryptocurrencies (here again, it is for the hopes of gains that can be made). Depending on his skill level and initial budget, his portfolio contains a percentage of more altcoins than bitcoin.
How to recognize an opportunist?
- He follows trends and invests in a lot of cryptocurrencies without following real investment strategies.
- He is very quickly enthusiastic about new projects, thinking that the low cap can make him rich tomorrow.
- He is generally very optimistic about the crypto industry and follows industry players with great assiduity on social networks. He's a good customer in some ways.
- The worst version of this type of investor is called in the jargon a " epee » (cf degenerate)
The entrepreneur
The entrepreneur may make you think of the opportunist in a certain way. Indeed, in many respects they have similar characteristics. Thus, both share the fact of looking for opportunities to seize. Let's say that it's the way of doing things that will differ.
Even more, you should know that there are two types of entrepreneurs which it seems crucial to us to make a distinction here.
- There is the entrepreneur who has a vision. He wants to create a company in the crypto industry because he is motivated to improve and make his contribution. This could be an influencer, a media outlet, a developer or even a miner. They are generally so passionate about Bitcoin that they decide to make it their career.
- There is also the selfish entrepreneur. Much more numerous in the crypto ecosystem, it is a person who wants to create a crypto business with the sole desire to make money (a lot) regardless of moral rules. These are generally people who are very quick to flaunt their financial successes because that was the obvious goal of their businesses. If you think of Sam Bankman Fried, know that he is far from alone in this category. There are a number who pose as altruistic entrepreneurs and who are there only to extract money from customers.
He’s a type of investor as well. He generally owns many cryptocurrencies including bitcoin. Naturally, he has so much budget to devote to his investment that he has much more than the average person. However, without financial resources, it is not certain that this type of profile would have invested in cryptocurrencies.
How to recognize an entrepreneur?
- He is driven by social and financial success and he likes to show off his success. In general, we know the amount of his fortune of which he is secretly very proud.
- He likes the idea of notoriety. He never hesitates to do vain interviews and to make himself known as much as possible.
- The bitcoin entrepreneur takes risks and strives to make this industry better.
The Bitcoin Maximalist
This profile is very easy to recognize because he swears by bitcoin. This profile represents people who are most knowledgeable about bitcoin and can explain the basics to those who want to learn more. The maximalists went beyond their curiosity and studied Bitcoin from different angles (economic, philosophical, technological, etc.).
Overall, Bitcoin maximalists view Bitcoin more as a tool to guarantee our freedom than as a speculative asset. It's not so much the price of Bitcoin that interests maximalists as what it represents. Indeed, what all maximalists have in common is their conviction of Bitcoin's superiority over fiat currency. They are familiar with the principles of the cypherpunks , with whom they share similar views on freedom and privacy, among other things.
Here again, among the bitcoin maximalists, we will find several profiles more or less “radicalized” in their ideas.
How to recognize a maximalist when you meet one?
- He will not go through four ways to tell you that bitcoin is the currency of the future
- When the price of bitcoin falls, the maxi buys some back
- He does not consider other cryptocurrencies as serious cryptocurrencies and
- According to the profiles, the wallet consists only of bitcoin
- It avoids centralized exchange platforms and ideally has a open source physical wallet as ColdCard ou Seedsigner for example.
Final word
Of course, this article on the bitcoin investor profile should be taken lightly. There are subcategories that have not been mentioned here to keep the article simple to read. However, we hope that this article has helped you learn more about the different types of bitcoin investors.
See more :
- The next bull run won't be as 'sexy'
- Are bitcoin maximalists toxic?
- The role of crypto influencers: boon or calamity?
- What do the “Bitcoin Carnivores” claim?
- It's never too late to invest in Bitcoin
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