I cannot help to notice how many automatically make the mistake to assume that volatility in price, especially wild price swings, is standalone a measure of risk. Many also make the mistake to assume the higher the volatility and/or price swings, the higher the risk. Nothing could be further away from the truth. To understand risk and the level of risk, you should always ask yourself: Do I get rewarded for hodling through that volatility or accepting that volatility as the status quo? If yes, then consider the size of the reward (and it is not always expressed in terms of the monetary alone). E.g. Bitcoin went up over 8,000,000% since July 2010 despite all of the wild price swings. Those who hodled Bitcoin throughout all the price volatility got amply rewarded for their loyalty, while holding up a middle finger to the establishment in the process (the non-monetary part of the reward).
This is not to say that high price volatility carries no risk. It is only to say that high price volatility is not automatically a sign of high risk. E.g. a $100 kept in a savings account at a bank since July 2010 has seen very little volatility in terms of wild changes in the balance. However, given the fact that the cost of living for one went up considerably since that time and interest earned on savings accounts are extremly low (and in some cases even negative), one can safely say that keeping a $100 in a savings account since 2010, carried way more risk than buying a $100’s worth of Bitcoin way back.
Is the same still true today? Nobody knows for sure, but given the proven history of fiat currency failures, is it really that hard to believe that Bitcoin and cryptos will not continue to award us generously for accepting volatility (regardless of the source of the volatility)? Will the ‘savings and investment’ options offered by the establishment all of a sudden richly reward us - enable us to break free from a centralized, fiat-based monetary system designed to fully enslave us? I think not.
So don’t let the media or anyone scare you away from Bitcoin and cryptos in general on the back of wild price swings alone. Wild price swings can be your friends, especially when you stay loyal.
In addition, monetary award and/or losses, especially as expressed in fiat profits and losses, should not be the only factor to consider when getting into Bitcoin and altcoins - or when measuring the risk of getting involved with cryptos. There is a much bigger, better and more noble reason to get and stay involved, namely a once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of a non-violent revolution that aims to free us from the shackles of governments and centralized banking. Those who are primarily responsible for all the wars, pain, poverty and chaos we’ve seen and experienced for millennia now.
Make no mistake, the embracement and mass adoption of cryptos, especially of what I deem to be true cryptos, can put an end to their shenanigans in no time. With true cryptos, I mean cryptos that for one enable private, peer-to-peer, trustless (bankless) transactions within peer-to-peer economies driven by decentralized blockchains. True cryptos are not competing to see which can cater the best to the demands of the establishment as expressed in regulations (centralization) and what not. True cryptos don’t care what you had for lunch, but it does level the playing field to the point where you have a realistic chance to have food on the table in order to feed yourself and your loved ones. The type and kind of cryptos that are built, maintained, expanded and supported by teams, players and supporters who refuse to accept failure as an answer - those who truly care where we came from and where we’re heading.