The Day I Made $50,000 (and Lost it All)

Earlier this year I felt continuous buzzing of my phone in my pocket. It was abnormal. I’ve got as many notifications turned off on my phone as possible, but with my hands full in the kitchen while trying simultaneously holding a conversation no part of me was interested in why my phone was buzzing. Rather, I just wanted it to stop.

By the time I’d put my things down and my conversation was at a place I could check the phone, I’d realized the liner in my pocket didn’t do a great job preventing my thigh from selecting things on the touchscreen of my iPhone. 

Upon closer examination a common cryptocurrency app called Coinbase was open and to my surprise I just somehow pocket purchased $7200 of a new cryptocurrency called Compound (COMP). It had just launched, I’d never heard of it, and I definitely didn’t want it. Between buying it and realizing what the buzzing on my phone was for, the value of COMP was already down 1.34%. My $7200 was worth $96.48 less already and I was furious. 

In a hurry, I was trying to troubleshoot if I could void the transaction, file for some customer service help from Coinbase, or something. Instead, I decided to cut my losses as quickly as possible. I figured that incurring some fees and a slight dip in value was better than buckling in for a volatile investment ride with seven grand that I never intended to take.

All in all, it cost me a couple hundred bucks to accidentally pocket purchase a new crypto coin. Things could be worse, I thought. 

Then, a few weeks ago I curiously checked on how that new obscure cryptocurrency was doing. It’s currently up 163% since that first day. If I still owned my investment as of writing, it’d be worth $18,936. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, within days COMP soared to $427.24 in value. Meaning, if sold at the peak, my pocket investment would have been worth $50,184. 

This isn’t just a surprising story of what-could-have-been. It’s a reflective look at causality. Did I earn the $50,184? Was it a mistake to sell it? 

The lesson for me is simple. Life’s complexity means that numerous outcomes both positive and negative will come your way from no cause of your own. The question becomes can you remain humble accepting the wins you didn’t earn?  Can you have compassion for yourself for the losses you didn’t deserve? 

You aren’t in control. And, the first step in mastering that is recognizing it as fact.