Bitcoin adoption is happening; but true belief seems lacking

It's obvious that more people are getting into bitcoin these days. More folks are investing, owning, chatting about, and actually using bitcoin compared to a few years ago. But honestly, something feels off. Sure, adoption is up, but the real conviction for many just isn't there. 1. Being In Bitcoin Vs Really Believing In Bitcoin Right now, loads of people are in bitcoin. But most don’t really believe in it. The main reason they jumped in is because of how well it's doing price-wise. When the price is climbing, their faith in bitcoin is sky-high, and they think they'll hold onto it for a while. But as soon as the market cools off or takes a dip, that confidence flips to doubt. That’s not real conviction; it’s just reacting to price changes. 2. Long Term Has Become A Convenient Word You always hear people saying, "I’m in it for the long haul." But honestly, I think this mindset really depends on how the market's doing. In a bull market, everyone’s a long-term holder, but in a bear market, suddenly a lot of people are looking to cash out. So, it makes me wonder, is that really long-term thinking, or just a momentary patience? 3. A Lack Of Understanding Creates Weak Hands Generally, true conviction comes from knowing what you're investing in. Still, there are tons of people who don’t fully get it. Like, why was bitcoin created in the first place? What problems does it actually solve?

They have to learn from Bitcoin fundamentals to most popular critiques and FUDs against Bitcoin, then they will have belief in Bitcoin. With their participation in Bitcoin market, they will get more experience and have stronger belief, then conviction in Bitcoin. Without knowledge and own experience, people can not have strong belief and conviction in Bitcoin. https://endthefud.org/ https://casebitcoin.com/critiques https://bitcoincleanup.com/

This is very accurate, I can remember few friends of mine that I introduced to Bitcoin many years ago, I thought they understand Bitcoin but they gave up easily, today they are better with something else that's not Bitcoin. Whenever I asked why they gave up on Bitcoin after understanding what it is or pretended to have understood Bitcoin, they said it's not for them, but my mind keeps telling me that whatever they expected was not what they found. Don't bother telling people about Bitcoin, people who really needs it find their way to Bitcoin, such people are the best to guide as you will enjoy every moment with them, knowing fully well that you aren't wasting your time.

There is a real difference between belief and trust. Many people are interested in Bitcoin, simply because its price is fluctuating or increasing; but there are very few people who truly understand Bitcoin! As evidence of this, in a bull market, many people are interested in buying Bitcoin and learning about it, simply because its price is increasing, and its true strengths and benefits remain unknown. The main point you are trying to make is that it is difficult to trust Bitcoin without gaining real knowledge about it, and bear markets often serve as a medium where true believers survive and the ignorant quickly disappear. So, understanding what Bitcoin really is is more important than a long-term holding plan, so it is better to gain real knowledge about it!

Right, bitcoin adoption is real, no doubt with that. But in terms of conviction, we can't say its fake. Bitcoin investors are just split in two distinctions. There is high conviction for established long-term holders as they don't just hold based on price but its more than that. They believe more on the technology and hold through market cycles, which means ignoring short-term price volatility, dips, and market noise. On the other hand, conviction is lower among newly investors in the market, or those ETF-driven investors who are facing bigger significant losses when there is high volatility in the market. However, we can't be too much confident on those who are having high conviction as they can be also prone to higher risk by failing to diversify especially when notable changes appear in the market.

I have an in-law whom I introduced to Bitcoin two years ago. He told me that Bitcoin was too expensive, so it would be better for him to buy some altcoins. He also informed that he has also put his money in a scheme that guarantees high profit. I told him that it was a Ponzi scheme, but he didn't listen because he wanted quick money. Fast forward to today, and he regrets it. Almost all the altcoins he bought became worthless. I called you today and was asking for lessons on how to start staking Bitcoin. Lack of conviction to invest in Bitcoin might be caused by ignorance, greed and impatience.

Mentally it gets really hard when you see bitcoin dropping down in price. Because you are also seeing your money drop and it makes you question whether it can drop to zero. Even for some who "believe" bitcoin will recover, when the stakes are high they may get too anxious and sell.

Of course, Bitcoin is seen as an asset designed with technology, of course it can be seen as real, which makes Bitcoin fake, most people think and believe that by owning crypto you will get rich instantly. Therefore, so as not to believe that Bitcoin is fake, study the risks and the Bitcoin technology itself independently. In general, we can see that institutional adoption of Bitcoin is real, FOMO and Fake Trading Bots which make many people think they are fake, people often fall for the promise of automatic profits. but what happens instead is losses if we don't understand the fundamentals of the Bitcoin asset itself.

This is the story for many people, I have the same type of friends who did the same, unfortunately they all ended up the same as well. There is absolutely nothing that you can gain from any of this, no reason why people keep doing it anyways. Bitcoin is number one for a reason, and if you want to make money then you should be doing it with the number one, not some shady unknown thing. Specially when it comes to "guarantees high return", nobody can guarantee such a thing and yet some people still fall for it.

I know, right? Look how many people here keep saying Bitcoin is going to keep going up forever and ever no matter what, and because of that it's the only thing you should invest in. Bitcoin might double in the next six months, or it might fall in half. In 2030 Bitcoin might be at $300k, or it might be at $1.98. Nobody knows, and anybody who tells you they do know is lying to you. One thing we know about Bitcoin is that it is a pure "meme" investment: it has no intrinsic value and no unique utility value (as in, there are many other mature products out there that have far better utility). Hence it's absolutely false to say that it "must" either go up or go down. (Of course if you have your life savings in Bitcoin like a lot of posters here do, I guess you are going to... say things ).

I agree, many are optimistic about the future of Bitcoin. But not all of us are willing to sacrifice and start making themselves comfortable in the long run by just taking all of the pain the market does for them. And that's why even with the optimistic people who can invest, it's not the same for each of us on how convicted we are to hold in the long run. Whoever experienced the bad times in the market are likely to stay for the next cycles.

It depends on what you used to invest into bitcoin, because if you invest am amount like a discretionary income then I will say that you will hardly be able to have those panics regardless of the price of bitcoin because the invested amount is actually one which you aren’t going to go wild after losing from, this is how early investors build their bitcoin portfolio not like the recent newbies or investors who usually invest more than they can afford to lose simply because they have calculated the amount they would gain from the market. And once the market goes against them or a little bearish sentiment they panic some actually ends up selling for an amount which is at loss for them. As for experience investors with larger funds in bitcoin they also do not panic regardless of the market situation because they have strong conviction of the market recovering and actually going up again, whether it takes time or not they are not in a hurry, this are actually those who do not Chase immediate profit

I get your point OP because at the end of the day, understanding why a potential investor should hold Bitcoin or accumulate it, is very different from actually just holding it. Most investors these days hold Bitcoin because of the potential it has to make good returns and grow wealth, not because they believe in the philosophy of decentralization or self custody or being your own bank. The real adopters of Bitcoin buy without noise, they accumulate steadily and graciously despite the bear seasons or bull trap or news headlines about how Bitcoin is moving and that makes the difference between those who adopt it because others are doing so or for business reasons and those who actually understand the maths behind Bitcoin and believe in it.

Know it that many investors for every cycle are only doing it because they are seeing how high the price is and they think that it will continue to do so. There's the peak and there's the bottom. That's the point that they don't understand yet when they've just joined in and put their money to invest in Bitcoin. For which they think will grow naturally during the peak times but it won't. Going back to the basics of investing, without the basic knowledge of what you're investing with. You'll need to have the understanding of it firsthand.

The fact that there's widespread adoption doesn't necessarily mean that conviction is also growing at the same pace with adoption. Many people in the crypto space are reacting more to price movements instead of acting on real understanding, that's why confidence rises and falls with the market. You have to have proper knowledge of Bitcoin before you can build strong and lasting belief in it.

The fault is on the mentality of some people in the market, they treat holding bitcoin as just buy low sell high. They thought they are holding bitcoin while in reality they are trading it. I've seen better conviction on people who are accumulating by dollar cost average strategy and not in one go. They usually don't have weak hands because they treat it like saving, the same way the riches are treating asset like real estate property and gold as saving. But you know what, as long as bitcoin keep recording higher highs, the conviction will naturally come even from someone who initially only thought of trading and not investing. They would realize that holding is actually more profitable.

Honestly, Bitcoin is an investment, not a religious cult. Terms like "true faith" may be used to deceive beginners, especially with unknown coins. Unfortunately, what drives some people to sell without planning is emotions. They read what is published on social media, and if it is bad, they will decide to sell. You don't need conviction, but rather good planning. Hard times reveal who develops a good strategy and who trades according to their emotions.

Yes without proper knowledge one will not understand what bitcoin is all about I believe everyone that knows about bitcoin and understand the very well right now were once novice in Bitcoin investment but right now they are now more knowledgeable if someone that understand bitcoin very well educate you about Bitcoin and you are always associated with people that talk about bitcoin and understand Bitcoin you we understand Bitcoin. the new reason why people don't understand bitcoin is because they don't have someone that will educate them very well about Bitcoin if not for the person that taught me what I know today about bitcoin I won't have known how bitcoin works so you need someone to teach you, when someone teach you, believe me you will understand and you will have the knowledge. you cannot have the knowledge without someone teaching you or telling you about Bitcoin that is how it works, except you read about it online.

You write that Bitcoin has no "intrinsic value or unique utility..." However, I disagree. 🙋 In my opinion, Bitcoin's fundamental value lies precisely in the fact that it is money. Currently, the very concept of money is undergoing a significant transformation. Many countries are planning to abolish cash and introduce central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). But can CBDCs really be called money? Of course not! CBDCs are essentially vouchers for a specific set of goods and services. You cannot use this "money" to purchase goods and services that the government has deemed unnecessary or undesirable. Can this be called real money? The second problem with fiat money is its unlimited supply. Previously, money was backed by gold or silver, making it real money. However, now, if you use US dollars, you are constantly paying a tax to the Federal Reserve (in the form of inflationary depreciation of those dollars).  I think the situation with central bank digital currencies will only get worse. Governments will stimulate consumption, so over time, these pseudo-moneys will likely become time-limited. If you don't spend them within a certain period, they "burn out." I'm convinced that's the future we're heading toward! If you view Bitcoin as money, rather than a financial asset or property, its "intrinsic value and unique utility" become clear. It's a global, decentralized virtual currency.

There is no adoption without conviction, OP. Before an individual adopts Bitcoin, he must have conviction first, not otherwise. Let me explain better for you. In conviction, people learn about Bitcoin, understand the basic about its existence, and then choose to adopt it. You wont use Bitcoin for payment if you've not seen someone who actually made a payment using Bitcoin. You wont invest in Bitcoin if someone has not truly been successful with Bitcoin. You study, believe it, and then adopt it.  Adoption literally means someone using Bitcoin for real. Awareness and discussion about Bitcoin does not mean people have adopted it. Adoption refers to payment using Bitcoin, sending money, self-custody, store of value, etc. Without conviction, people wont do any of it.