This is a bizarre (and bizarrely non-objective) framing. You can trade US dollars for Bitcoin and Bitcoin for US dollars at any time. Why does it matter that some students got $50 in Bitcoin and chose to sell it for USD - isn't it equally "bad" for them not to have bought another $50 of Bitcoin with USD, which also would have gained the same amount of value?

Why does the author say that one student "unfortunately" turned their $3-4 per delivery, transmitted to them in Bitcoin, into USD, but not take issue with the many students who got $3-4 in tips from various jobs and didn't turn them into Bitcoin?

(Not to get into the weird framing around a "lesson in regret," when they quote students who say that they have no regrets.)

I think of this on and off frequently too. Society sort of nudges the narrative of the article however and so I forget how irrational and negative that thinking is...unless of course you got lucky and succeeded in whatever scenario. Though in that case you’d be happy regardless.

You're either delusional or extremely (emphasis on the 'extremely') divorced from reality. So losing out on a $10,000+ gain is 'a good thing' in your book?

I think you completely misread what I said. I didn't say that losing out on a $10,000+ gain is a good thing. I'm just asking why we are only selectively applying that argument to certain lost gains.

Every single person who had $50 lying around in 2014 who didn't buy some Bitcoin also lost out on a $10,000 gain, did they not?

Why do we criticize those people who had $50 worth of Bitcoin and sold it, and ended up with $50 in USD - but not those people who had $50 of USD and chose not to buy Bitcoin?

What's the difference?

The main problem is that the press cherry-pick the case where there was a huge (potential) gain, and ignore the other.

Do you see an article that says: "Islanders that dumped the Auroracoin immediately got US$10, but hodlers can't even sell the coins now"

It’s silly, I think, to worry about these sorts of things because the right decision at the time was to spend, not to save. Given the information at the time, it was perfectly fine.

Obviously $10k is good, but I see no reason someone would have regrets or spend any time thinking about it.

If someone gave you $20 to spend on stuff and you bought dinner that’s a fair exchange. The one in a billion chance that it will be worth $10k years later is no reason to save it.

It’s like feeling bad about not buying Amazon stock early on.