Bitcoin investing is popular, especially among young investors. Investing in Bitcoin can be easily done with various financial instruments. Buying bitcoins from online exchanges is the traditional way to invest in Bitcoin. Nordnet offers an easy and safe alternative for Bitcoin investors.
If you are interested in Bitcoin stocks, there are several options on the market. Bitcoin derivatives are popular among professional traders. Investing in Bitcoin is not difficult; there is the right service and investment instrument for everyone.
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Bitcoin investing is growing in popularity
Bitcoin investing is popular, especially among young investors. There are already hundreds of millions of Bitcoin investors in the world. The number doubled in the early 2020s!
Bitcoin investing hit the mainstream media during the bull market of 2017. At that time, you could find daily headlines about Bitcoin even in your local newspaper. The bear market of 2018-2019 took Bitcoin investing into oblivion for a while, but the bull market of 2020-2021 raised its popularity again.
According to estimates, Norway has approximately 400,000-450,000 Bitcoin investors. The number is quite respectable when you consider that there are about one million equity investors. Bitcoin has gathered its supporters in ten years, while stocks have been traded for over 100 years in Scandinavia.
This article introduces Bitcoin investing at a general level. We go through different methods to invest in Bitcoin and compare the pros and cons.
We have also published an article on how to buy Bitcoin. There, you will get step-by-step instructions on the purchase process. You can also find beginner’s guides on popular crypto exchanges by clicking Reviews from the top menu.
In our opinion, Bitcoin investors can be divided into three different categories.
- Cautious buyers
- Traders
- The HODLers
The cautious buyer’s group also includes beginners about to buy their first bitcoins. In addition, the group has many Bitcoin investors from the traditional investment world who cautiously acquire Bitcoins for their portfolios. This group typically has a Bitcoin position of less than five percent of the entire investment portfolio.
Traders are professional investors. They actively trade bitcoins by using futures and leverage. This group of investors moves the price of Bitcoin in the market. They make the biggest profits and also suffer the biggest losses.
The third group is the so-called HODLers, often called Bitcoin Maximalists. This group only buys Bitcoin but does not sell it. HODLers believe in a larger Bitcoin revolution and accumulate bitcoins over a long period in their cold wallets.
Investing in Bitcoin can be done in many different ways
Investing in Bitcoin can be easily done with various financial instruments. Ten years ago, investing in bitcoin meant a laborious process of acquiring “physical” bitcoins in one’s wallet from foreign exchanges. Nowadays, the situation is much better from the investor’s point of view.
Bitcoin investing has evolved in recent years. The industry has grown enormously, and many new services have been born. New investment instruments have also become available to ordinary investors.
It is important to remember that there is no one right way to invest in Bitcoin. Each investment instrument offers pros and cons. The investor must choose the method that suits his own risk and investment profile. Nothing is preventing you from using different instruments in investing in Bitcoin and thereby spreading the risk.
Next, the article goes through four alternative ways to invest in Bitcoin.
Investing in Bitcoin the traditional way
Buying bitcoins from online exchanges is the traditional way to invest in Bitcoin. This option was the only way for an ordinary person to invest in Bitcoin for a long time.
We believe that every Bitcoin investor should learn the traditional way. You can try it with small amounts if you want to invest using other instruments. Buying “real” bitcoins and transferring them to your wallet is part of understanding the technology.
Traditional Bitcoin investment can be easily done in Finnish trading places. Coinmotion and Northcrypto are both very safe and easy to use. They are under the strict supervision of the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority.
Below is a picture of the front page of Northcrypto.
One of the key features of Bitcoin is the ability to manage your assets independently without the intervention of third parties. This is only possible when buying real bitcoins and transferring them to your wallet. For many, this is the only acceptable way to invest in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin exchanges are open for trading 24/7/365. You can buy or sell your coins at any time. You can also move bitcoins from your wallet unhindered. You have full control over your funds.
The downside of this investment method is the exchanges’ technical risks and financial issues. The year 2022 has seen many large-scale bankruptcies in which millions of investors have lost their money. There are also risks in using your wallet if careless, especially with storing private (recovery) keys.
We have written a comprehensive article about Bitcoin wallets. This article goes through the differences between storage methods in more detail.
When you buy bitcoins from an exchange, you must also do tax calculations independently. This topic is covered in more detail at the end of the article.
The traditional way of Bitcoin investing offers freedom and responsibility. This option is not suitable for everyone, but this is the only way for the most hardcore Bitcoin investors.
Bitcoin ETF
Nordnet offers an easy and safe alternative for Bitcoin investors. It means investing in Bitcoin using ETF products that Nordnet offers. What makes this form of investment easy and popular?
Nordnet is Scandinavia’s most popular stockbroker. It is also a publicly listed company on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Many Scandinavians have accounts at Nordnet and manage their investment portfolio there. It is quite natural that such an investor would also like to manage his Bitcoin investments on the same platform.
You can invest in Bitcoin at Nordnet through different Bitcoin ETFs. The picture below shows some tracker certificates for Bitcoin.
The idea of tracker and ETF products is the same: they follow the price of Bitcoin. The investor, therefore, can reach the same result as by traditionally buying bitcoins.
The disadvantage is that trading is only possible during the stock exchange opening hours. This means weekdays and office hours. However, the Bitcoin price fluctuates 24/7 and usually even more on weekends than weekdays.
In addition to this, you have to pay fees on an annual basis. It is good to go through the terms of each investment instrument separately. There is also the issuer risk, i.e., what happens if the company that offers the ETF goes bankrupt?
There are also advantages. Your investments in Nordnet cannot be hacked, and you don’t have to worry about storage, i.e., a Bitcoin wallet. In addition, Nordnet sends the information about your transactions to the tax authorities, so you don’t have to tinker with Excel or tax programs.
Investing Bitcoin in Nordnet is popular for a good reason. It’s a good and safe way to bring the benefits of Bitcoin’s price development into your portfolio.
Bitcoin stocks – hit or miss?
If you are interested in Bitcoin stocks, there are several options on the market. Bitcoin stocks benefit from Bitcoin’s price development through indirect investment. You are buying publicly listed companies whose businesses are strongly connected to Bitcoin.
For many, investing in Bitcoin via the stock market means the same as buying Microstrategy. This is Michael Saylor’s company, which became famous in the fall of 2020. At that time, Saylor became the first CEO of a publicly listed company to speak in favor of Bitcoin.
Microstrategy owns more bitcoins than any other listed company. The value of the Bitcoin portfolio is so high relative to the rest of Microstrategy’s business that many consider the MSTR ticker to be like a Bitcoin ETF. The Bitcoin Treasuries website lists not only Microstrategy but also the holdings of other exchange companies.
Another popular way is to buy shares of Bitcoin mining companies. It is easy to see why these stocks move in tandem with the price of Bitcoin. Riot Blockchain Inc. is one of the most well-known Bitcoin mining stocks.
Mining companies have proven to be dangerous investments in the bear market 2022. Many well-known companies have even gone bankrupt. This happened because mining companies were investing too much in infrastructure during the bull market of 2021.
As competition has intensified, miners’ profit margins have decreased, and companies that have expanded too much have been unable to pay back their loans. Be careful with investing in Bitcoin mining companies!
The third option is to invest in Bitcoin exchanges. So far, only one publicly listed company on the market, the American Coinbase. Theoretically, an investment in Coinbase should be safer than in Bitcoin, because a Bitcoin exchange makes money even in a bear market.
Unfortunately, the bear market of 2022 has proven this theory wrong. Although Coinbase makes money regardless of the price of Bitcoin, the bear market kills the investing activity, which means that trading volume has collapsed. Coinbase also invested too much in infrastructure in 2021 and had to cut massive expenses in 2022.
Investing Bitcoin through stocks isn’t a good idea in a bear market. It is worth considering these options when the market has turned to a new upward trend. Then, the stock of Microstrategy or Coinbase may rise faster than the price of Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin derivatives market is hot
Bitcoin derivatives are popular among professional traders. Derivatives are products known from the traditional financial world, which get their price based on the underlying asset. For example, the price of Bitcoin futures moves hand in hand with the actual price. The term derivative means trading not directly with bitcoins but with instruments derived from its price.
The Bitcoin derivatives market has grown massively since the bull market of 2017. At that time, the market was full of small investors who mainly did spot Bitcoin purchases. The structure of the Bitcoin market has changed significantly since then. Nowadays, the volume of derivatives trading is many times higher than in spot trading.
Popular instruments are options and futures. Below is a picture of the Binance derivatives market. Binance is the market-leading Bitcoin exchange.
Derivative trading has several differences compared to spot buying. In general, derivatives trading is faster-paced, with positions from a few minutes to hours, days, or weeks. The investor tries to benefit from market trends and trades his position continuously.
With the help of derivatives, long and short options are available. This means it is possible to make profits when the market falls (shorting). Many traders also use leverage. This feature is available to up to 100x.
For example, if you use 10x leverage, a one percent increase in the Bitcoin price will increase your position by 10 percent. Sounds great, but the same works in the opposite direction. A drop of one percent will drop the value of your position by ten percent.
Bitcoin investing with derivatives is not for beginners. The use of leverage, in particular, involves significant risks. The good side is the huge profit potential with leverage and the opportunity to make money when the Bitcoin price moves down. The downside is increased risk and possibly bad tax treatment in CFD trading.
Investing in Bitcoin – summary
Investing in Bitcoin is not difficult; there is the right service and investment instrument for everyone. Investing in Bitcoin is as easy for beginners as buying stocks or using an online bank.
The situation was different ten years ago. Today, the services have developed enormously. Various investment instruments are also available, but traditional Bitcoin investing is still strong! Investors can also choose from a wide selection of Bitcoin wallets.
The biggest challenges can be found on the mental side. Bitcoin’s volatility has not gone away over the years. Although the market moves less daily than before, Bitcoin’s price can still collapse by 60-70 percent in one calendar year. This is tough even for an experienced investor.
Investors also get greedy during bull markets. Managing your Bitcoin position is not as simple as it sounds. Even experienced traders have difficulties controlling their emotions.
We recommend investing in small amounts, like doing monthly savings. This is also called DCA or Dollar-Cost Averaging. Buy bitcoins for a small amount once a week or once a month. Grow your position slowly and learn more about Bitcoin as a technology.
We recommend larger investments (more than 10 percent of the portfolio) only after you have gone through a big bear market (more than 50 percent decline).
All in all, investing in Bitcoin is a fascinating endeavor. You can find a lot of information on the subject on our website.