A woman shared on Elle the unusual way Bitcoin helped her buy a new house. After receiving 0.5 bitcoin from her ex-boyfriend in 2016, she had forgotten about it until this year’s rally. As she was looking for a home to buy, she pulled most of the BTC out to purchase a better house and perform some renovations.
When bitcoin climbed to $40,000 in the first semester of 2021, she faced a dilemma: to sell or not to sell. Her brother told her, “Don’t touch it,” but two financial planners said she should sell since she was looking into buying a home. Eventually, she did, pulling out $18,000, afraid that she could lose her newly-found money. Bitcoin, gifted to her by her cheating ex-boyfriend, allowed her to buy a better house than she would’ve otherwise been able to and helped with some repainting and furniture for her new place.
However, the substantial opportunity costs she embargoed can’t be dismissed. Maybe, by becoming more acquainted with Bitcoin and its unique properties, she would’ve HODLed her stack, a stack that someday would be able to change her life completely. In a high time preference move pushed by “financial planners,” that woman might have lost a unique opportunity to participate in the upcoming, greatest financial revolution ever – not to mention the capital gains taxes that could’ve been avoided.
If she desired to have the best of both worlds – get the $18,000 but don’t forfeit the bitcoin, she could’ve chosen a bitcoin-backed loan, for instance. By lending out some of her bitcoin for cash, she would buy the house and eventually get the BTC back by paying it out. Or, if the Bitcoin learning had gone to great lengths, she would’ve likely given up on the house idea entirely and bought even more bitcoin.