I'm enjoying some mate on Saturday morning with a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and a north wind blowing against my face. Nature can be cruel but fair when it gives me a blast of preheated oven wind while sitting on my balcony, watching the day begin. A message interrupts my routine, and before fully disconnecting digitally, I see a message: "it went up to 37,000!" referring to the price of Bitcoin.

Obviously, not to remain disconnected from this statement, I verify it myself, and it was true. To help you understand the joy of this person, after reading this newsletter, they decided to invest nearly $17,000 during a bear market when FTX and other projects were plummeting. Despite the challenges, this friend bought bitcoins and decided to withdraw.

I told them to forget about their purchase and continue with their life. Something reminded them to message me that Saturday because their savings had already doubled. They had bought on three occasions, around 22,000, 23,000, and 26,000 as well. I share their joy with sips of mate and tell them to hold onto it, but also congratulate them on their ironclad patience. It would have been easy to give up and sell, but they didn't. -So, do you think it will keep growing?- inquires. I respond that Bitcoin is just beginning and share this reflection that I'm now sharing with you.

On Bitcointalk, back in 2011, we can see the early users asking, "how many bitcoins do you have?" and this response is brilliant:

Poor guy, right? Now, let's look at another gentleman and how much he has accumulated:

And last but by far my favorite of all, let's look at this gentleman who owns quite a few bitcoins, but notice his happiness:

He was happy when it was less than $100. Imagine. And now, my friend is happy about his surge. To my question of whether it will keep growing, the answer is yes, but it will also continue to go up and down like any cycle. To support this message, let me tell you the brief story of Ronald Read.

You've always read and heard about Buffett, Bill Gates, Kiyosaki, and others, but never about the millionaire plumber (as it says on his Wikipedia) and philanthropist, whose technique for accumulating wealth was to buy and not sell for retirement. He accumulated so much during that time that from his retirement until his death, he enjoyed the good life.

His secret? Buy and hold. Buy, endure the end of the world, crises of this, that hiccup, and thousands of things he endured from 1979 to 1997. For those who bought but then want to sell to avoid seeing red in their portfolio, imagine this man enduring everything he saw but not giving up. He enjoyed his life.

The message and my non-financial recommendation: buy and hold. I remember when Mt. Gox fell; they told us it was the end of Bitcoin. After the blocksize wars, they said it was the end of Bitcoin. During the pandemic, they said it was the end of Bitcoin. When it fell in 2022, they said it was the end of Bitcoin, and this year, they continue to say that Bitcoin is doomed. I don't know what life has in store for you, but I want to give you the best. Buy, save, enjoy your life.