Bitcoin is a gold rush: Profit short-term or go broke [Opinion]

Several opinion articles on Bitcoin this week compare the most popular cryptocurrency to Tulips. More specifically, Bitcoin was compared to Dutch Tulip Mania, an early example of a speculative bubble. Bitcoin value may end up in a decline like tulip bulbs were in 1637, but the takeaway is not just that Bitcoin and tulip bulbs are going to rise and fall for the same socioeconomic reasons. The most important takeaway is profit in the short-term – or so I've been told.

Some speculators in the cryptocurrency market have already cashed out. They've turned the profits they've captured back into FIAT. They've got their money back in USD, or something similar. Several major OG cryptocurrency speculators have already done this – they've avoided the impending Tulip Mania crash. Everyone has a grandma or uncle who demands they keep their baseball cards, stamps, or any and all comic books in perfect condition "because they'll be worth something some day." They said that about Beanie Babies, too.

I once found what I knew to be a relatively rare Beanie Baby at a flea market. I found this Beanie at stand A for $8, so I went to stand B (across the market), and asked what they'd pay me for the same Beanie, if I had it. Stand B suggested he'd give me $50 for said Beanie, so I returned to stand A, bought it for $8, went back to Stand B, and sold that Beanie for $50.

That's a true story. The Beanie Baby was a brown-tail Bongo. I took Tracy Jordan's advice: "get in, get the money, and get out."

Putting all of one's money into Bitcoin with a plan of keeping said money in Bitcoin long-term is madness. Not because there's no profit to be had – there most certainly is. Short-term, and in alt-coins. Coins that can only be traded for Bitcoin.

SEE TOO: Bitcoin price jacks while Ripple topples

The value of altcoins go up and down just as Bitcoin does VS USD. One can trade USD for Bitcoin, then Bitcoin for altcoins of all sorts. Over the past several months, the value of altcoins VS Bitcoin have gone up and down with volatility rivaling that of Bitcoin VS USD.

In the short term, there's real potential for profit in this arena, but it's not in Bitcoin alone. This is how speculators are becoming rich, and cashing out to USD before this season is over – that's how they'll have filled their pockets. Those that invested in Bitcoin long term will be the ones filling said pockets.

What's written above is the opinion of the author, and the author alone. SlashGear nor the author of this article take any responsibility for actions taken before, during, or after reading this article, investments, speculating, or otherwise. That responsibility is the reader's, and the reader's only.