Is It Too Late To Invest in Cryptocurrency?
Written by
Cynthia Measom
Edited by
Ashleigh Ray
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Since the first digital blockchain currency was mined way back in 2009, Bitcoin millionaires have come, gone and come again. Since then, new crypto coins have flooded the market, with some — like Bitcoin itself — rallying 1,000%, 2,000% or even more.
In the midst of all of these incredible gains, the natural question is whether or not it’s too late to invest in cryptocurrency. Here are two expert takes on whether it’s time to buy or not.
Investing in Cryptocurrency: Too Late or Not?
Johnny Gabriele, head of decentralized finance at CryptoOracle Collective, the leading decentralized Web3 advisory service, said it’s definitely not too late to invest in the cryptocurrency market.
“The recently approved ETFs in the United States are only months old and will continue to draw attention from the wider investing world as they mature,” he explained. “The fact that the regulatory winds are shifting is very positive for this asset class. However, even with regulatory uncertainty, crypto has proven its resilience and is not going anywhere as an asset class.”
Ian Major, the co-founder of Joltz, a Bitcoin infrastructure company, said, “It’s easy to look at the meteoric rise of Bitcoin and other crypto assets and conclude that you’ve ‘missed the boat,’ but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“With 100M or so users globally, current adoption of Bitcoin is similar to the adoption levels of the internet in 1998. We know how that went. While still early, the adoption curve of Bitcoin and crypto thus far looks like the classic S-shaped adoption curve of other transformational technologies such as electricity, automobiles, the internet and mobile phones, suggesting the vast majority of appreciation potential is ahead of us, not behind us.”
Advice for New Cryptocurrency Investors
If you haven’t invested in crypto before or are just getting your feet wet, here’s some advice.
Stick With the Majors
“Dollar cost average into Bitcoin, Ethereum and/or Solana,” Gabriele advised. “Don’t try to catch narratives like meme coins or AI coins when you’re first starting out.”
Educate Yourself
Gabriele also noted that, as a new investor, education is key. “You don’t have to be an expert, but understanding broadly how the technology works will help you stomach the volatility.”
Choose Your Custody
“As you educate yourself, you’ll see there are many ways to ‘hold’ crypto,” Gabriele explained. “If you know you’re going to buy and hold for years, using the ETFs available or an exchange like Coinbase is perfectly fine. But if you like to tinker and may want to buy an NFT or engage with Decentralized Finance (DeFi), learning how to ‘self-custody’ your crypto is key.”
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Be Aware That Not All Crypto Assets Are a Good Investment
Major said that it’s important for new investors to realize that most of the 10,000-plus crypto assets in existence are either scams or destined to hit zero.
“Think of it like this: Bitcoin, the first successful cryptocurrency, is gifted to the world (no one knows the identity of its creator, and their coins remain untouched to this day), grows organically in the wild and becomes the best-performing asset for the last decade,” he said. “Naturally, the latest generation of snake oil salesmen come along and start peddling shiny new cryptos that ‘improve’ upon Bitcoin in this way or that way.
“Surely Bitcoin is destined to become the MySpace of cryptos, they tell us. But what new investors fail to realize is that Bitcoin is ultimately a monetary good, whose network effects behave differently than a traditional financial asset like a stock. History tells us that monetary goods typically have strong ‘winner take all’ dynamics which is evidenced by Bitcoin (1 asset out of 10,000+) holding about 57% of the total crypto market as of this writing.”
He continued, “Furthermore, with additional ‘layer 2’ technologies being built on top of Bitcoin which bring new use cases typically reserved for more experimental cryptos, new investors would do well to at least start with the king crypto whose throne has not yet been seriously challenged.”
How Regulatory Changes Might Affect Cryptocurrency in the Near Future
If you’re wondering how upcoming regulations might impact the cryptocurrency market, it’s important to understand the shifting political landscape and the growing interest in digital assets.
Major said, “There is the quote often attributed to Gandhi that goes: ‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.’ Many in the industry speculate that we’re in the “then they fight you” phase as evidenced by ‘Operation Chokepoint 2.0’ in 2023 where the current administration pressured banks and other traditional institutions to shun the crypto industry. However, that has changed materially even in the span of a year.”
Major continued, adding that both sides of the political divide are realizing that the future of cryptocurrency is an important topic for their constituents.
“Every quarter we see new disclosures from additional politicians who themselves are holding some form of exposure to crypto,” he said. “While there no doubt could be future regulatory changes that serve as headwinds for the industry, Bitcoin’s game theory appears to be playing out before our eyes — as the world’s largest asset managers including Blackrock have now realized, ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.'”
John Csiszar and Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.
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