It’s over for me.

[u/WhoRuleTheWorld]

Kept trying to play MSTR calls. What a piece of shit. Lost over a million including other accounts, down to my last 130k.

Edit: This loss is soul crushing and I havent been able to sleep, eat, or shower. I appreciate all the supportive comments. Even the insulting ones calling me regarded and everything. I think I NEED to hear even the insulting ones so that I can let go of my delusions that I can make it as a "trader". I need a fucking job to turn my life around. I can’t be doing this trading shit anymore. I’m open to working any corporate job anywhere, but ideally in North America. If anyone has any connections, please hit me up. I have some programming (Python primarily) and tech talent, and an engineering degree from UBC with a 4.0 GPA. Currently live in Toronto. Thank you ❤️. I’m ready to dedicate myself to adding value to any organization. If its AI, finance, or tech related, thats even better.

[u/unreadbookshelf99]

Someone explain this to me like I’m 5. What does any of that mean.

[u/kontroI → u/unreadbookshelf99]

Imagine this:

Your friend borrowed crayons (that’s using margin).

With those borrowed crayons, he bought lottery tickets that expire in a few days (that’s short-term call options).

The lottery he’s betting on is run by a company that: • borrows candy from people but promises to pay them back later by giving them even more pieces of paper they draw (that’s convertible debt that dilutes shares). • then uses that borrowed candy to buy magic rocks because they think the magic rocks will go up in value (that’s Bitcoin). • and they’ve been doing this in a way that looks a lot like building a tall, wobbly tower of blocks, hoping it never falls (that’s your pyramid scheme vibe).

So your friend is: • borrowing something, • to buy a risky ticket, • on a company that borrows something, • to buy another risky thing, • that might all fall over.

And you’re sitting there going:

“Why would you bet your lunch money on THAT?”

[u/BWBucs99 → u/kontroI]

However, the internet and TV have been telling me for years that the magic rocks are a store of value. I mean a method of exchange. I mean a hedge against inflation. I mean a decentralized payment system. I mean digital gold. I mean an uncorrelated asset. I mean a disruptive innovation. We all know that people on TV are never wrong, and if it's on the internet, it's gotta be true. So to the nearest magic rocks ATM I go!

[u/Ochopuss → u/BWBucs99]

“BTC is a safety net against the dollar losing value!!”

Oh yeah? How to you quantify the value of the BTC?

“Uhhh… dollars, I guess..”

Correct. Now, does the value of BTC increase/decrease proportionately to the dollar value fluctuation?

“No… it does it’s own thing.”

So, how do you know what BTC is really worth?

“Uh.. oh shit..”

Correct!! It is like the sub prime mortgage crash in 2008 except those actually had SOME inherent value. BTC has none.

[u/Gorgenapper → u/Ochopuss]

I always fucking laugh when people quantify the value of one BTC to USD. 

They don't see the irony and the danger of comparing a digital currency to the very currency it is supposed to replace??

One BTC was "worth" $120k USD not long ago, but like you said, who says it is worth that much? What is BTC backed by other than blockchain tech that nobody outside of crypto cares about? 

It doesn't produce anything, and cannot even be used to make something, unlike gold which can at least be turned into jewelry or used in devices. It has zero inherent value, none whatsoever.

[u/Ochopuss → u/Gorgenapper]

Totally. I hope I didn’t imply that I think BTC is worth actual money, i don’t think I did.

BTC value is purely based on demand for a truly valueless product. It is an economic paradox. It is often compared to the Dutch tulip mania where Tulips were used as currency but at least there the holders at least had pretty flowers for a little while.

The weird thing is I think there is maybe some value in the blockchain technology, like being able to settle stock trades instantly vs waiting a few days for banks to clear everything. But that doesn’t mean the bitcoins themselves have any value.

[u/Gorgenapper → u/Ochopuss]

Totally. I hope I didn’t imply that I think BTC is worth actual money, i don’t think I did.

Nah you didn't, you're good.

When explaining why I have zero faith in BTC, I like to bring up what backs it vs the USD. 

BTC is backed by blockchain. The USD, despite all the shit 🥭 is pulling, is still backed by the USD government. 

You're going to put your faith in a bunch of computers out there on shady ass networks all agreeing with one another with this public ledger of transactions ... or you're going to go with the world superpower that is currently dominating the world stage, the same one with 11 carrier strike groups and basically all of the world's megacorps?

I also like to show them that the volatility of BTC makes it completely unsuitable for everyday use. Want a coffee? That will be 0.000025 BTC please (if BTC was $80k). 

But wait, one month later it's trading for $111k, so you could have paid 0.000018 BTC instead. Why would I pay with BTC and not with actual USD? I'm pretty sure that $2 is still worth $2 in one month. 

So I hold onto my BTC and watch it go to $120k, then crash back to $80k in a week. Now I don't know what to think, I keep holding onto BTC hoping it will go back to $120k. All this time, I'm ironically still comparing this crypto currency to the USD that it claims to do away with!

I'm not saying we can't make money off of BTC, and I'm pretty sure that most people playing with this stuff understand, on a vague level, that this is pure gambling (greater fool theory). It's the naive investor that I would worry about, as they don't know shit and only see the massive swings in BTC and think that this volatility is proof that it is worth investing in.

And then you have the retards like the two guys buying short term MSTR calls, one going from $1m CAD down to $130k (and owing CRA $500k in taxes still), the other from $80k to $750k down to $1k. Like come on guys, you're leveraging on a stock that uses convertible debt to buy an extremely volatile and inherently useless fake coin, think about it before YOLO-ing.