When new investors ask “Is Bitcoin safe” what they really mean to ask is “can you lose money investing in Bitcoin?” – and the answer is always yes.
Bitcoin – and with it the whole cryptocurrency market – is a very volatile asset where steep rises and cliff-like drops can occur almost daily.
No matter which timeline you look at for pricing, you’re always going to see a very mountainous chart. But it’s this very volatility which can make (and lose) fortunes in even the shortest of windows.
As we mentioned in our Why Bitcoin section Bitcoin famously rose from $1,000 to $20,000 in 2017 – a 1,900% rise in less than 12 months making a lot of Bitcoin investors very wealthy.
Bitcoin's value can surge dramatically, like turning $25,000 into $500,000 in a year. However, it's volatile, as seen in the 2017 crash from $20,000 to $5,000.
Despite risks, historical trends show overall gains, making it a potential high-return investment, especially when part of a diversified portfolio.
Bitcoin itself and the blockchain it’s built upon is secured and encrypted across thousand of computers around the globe.
Securing the blockchain demands control of over 51%, but exploiting human vulnerabilities, like weak security or misplaced keys, is a common tactic for Bitcoin theft.
Storing keys securely is vital, as negligence can result in the loss of bitcoins, especially with online "hot" wallets susceptible to hacking or phishing.