My four principles for not losing money on Bitcoin... and seeing if I missed anything out

Hi all,

So I've mentioned in a post or two about four principles I think people should follow in order to avoid either losing their Bitcoin, or losing (fiat) money as a result of investing in Bitcoin, and I'm trying to think of scenarios outside of a black swan event that these do not cover.....

1. Do not spend money you can't afford to lose (thus reducing your chances of being forced to sell at a loss due to an unforeseen event).

2. Do not participate in leveraged Bitcoin trading.

3. Do not sell your Bitcoin at a loss.

4. Do keep your Bitcoin on a hardware wallet, and take appropriate steps in securing the seed phrase (obviously a discussion in itself)

Again, these are principles for not losing money. I understand cases where people may see better opportunities, or are forced to stray from these principles.... or there may even be a time where it's better to just cut your losses on Bitcoin (not that I've ever felt this to be the case). The point is that they are aware of the risks when not all 4 principles are being followed.

But in cases where people state that you can either lose your Bitcoin or lose money on Bitcoin, I never see sample scenarios where (outside of an apocalyptic level black swan event) at least one of the above principles wasn't violated.

So... any ideas? Thoughts?

Edit (1): if you come across someone who says they know a friend who lose all their money on Bitcoin, then indeed you can ask if they followed the above principles.

But (and I thank u/CoinCorner_Sam for this in their post below), you can also ask if this friend put money into Bitcoin as a long-term investment. Such an investment would have a minimum threshold of 5-10 years, and so how could that friend have held on for that long and still lost money? Better yet, ask when they bought in and when they sold.

Also, to those saying "only one rule needed - HODL!" - that doesn't account for those HODLing on exchanges, or who've gone all in and then suddenly require urgent funds. But I appreciate your contributions.

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