Bitcoin Frenzy: How I Convinced my mom to Start Trading in Cryptocurrency

Don’t wait. The time will never be just right – Napoleon Hill

It all began when I came home to couple of Fixed Deposit certificates lying on the centre table. I had just held it for 5 seconds when a voice came from behind me, “The money I had at home is now safe”.

“Safe!” I exclaimed in my mind. Being brought up in a family of 3 lawyers have taught me a thing or two about not voicing my opinion immediately.

Carefully and oh-so quietly I replied, “Mom, why fixed deposit?”

“It is the safest option, nothing to worry about, you get 7.5% at the end of the year. Money keeps growing”, she replied with the most sincerity.

“Don’t say a word against it”, she continued a bit harshly as I was about to speak.

Devyani, my mother, is a simple woman with extra-ordinary abilities. Although a home-maker, her shrewd brain can leave mine, my father’s and my sister’s intellect behind. Yet, when it comes to money, she is as scared as a mouse in a cattery.

Devyani and Naimish is the best mother-son combination one can ask for. Even my sister is jealous sometimes.

Unknown to the world though, are the heated arguments we have from time to time behind closed-doors about various topics.

Today was going to be one such day.

“Why would you put your money in a fixed deposit? That is the worst kind of investment”, I said, calmly.

“But it is safe”, she replied, now standing next to me.

“Agreed, but it has absolutely no return. Please give me this money, let me invest them in stocks or better let me trade with it in Cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin”

I don’t think I have seen my mother be as shocked as she was at hearing the word Bitcoin. I was mentally prepared to answer the standard questions like, Is it safe?, Is it legal?. But she threw a bouncer at me.

“No. I have read the papers, I know what it is. I don’t want to invest in it”.

“Don’t listen to the newspapers, those dim-wit editors have no clue. Let me explain” I replied.

“You think you know more than journalists?” She wasn’t angry. She almost laughed this time. Mocking me.

“Mom, I was a journalist. A producer. For 1 whole year”, I said, earnestly.

“I don’t want to invest in something so volatile. I prefer safe returns over speculative high returns”, she explained.

For a moment it made sense. Why would a home-maker, with no understanding of a market, want to risk all her money into something as volatile as Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

But seriously, fixed deposits? The only thing I hate more than Bank FD are the freaking public provident fund. They don’t even give enough returns to cover the inflation cost.

I knew there was no convincing her, as my knowledge at the time wasn’t sufficient. I couldn’t tell her that Bitcoin is like Gold. There can only be a certain fixed number of Bitcoins and they are still being mined. Just like gold. I couldn’t convince her at the time that no matter what others have to say, cryptocurrency is here to stay thanks to the underlying technology called Blockchain. I didn’t have a list of favourite tokens as well.

What do I tell her? I was making a decent profit trading on Koinex and Coindelta. Had already tasted the bitterness of very high prices on Zebpay and Unocoin. I thought the worst was behind me. I knew just one thing. Bitcoin, that is trading at 2.7 lac INR right now will increase to 100% in one month. I had studied its pattern. Had done my analysis. I knew that Ether was going to be the future as well. I had invested in ETHLend my first ICO, that is now up by 2000%. My gut knew I was on the right track, I just didn’t have my own data to back my argument up.

So I said what I think was right at the time.

“I can make 7.5% in one week. Your bank gives it to you in one year. This is the potential. Market volatility is what I am tapping on and making money. Trust me mom, you’re better off by giving your money to me” I replied with a slight fake disgust. Emotions are the key to convince your mother.

“I will never give my money to you. Never. You don’t care about your future. I do. Giving you my money does not guarantee its return”. I thought she was joking. She wasn’t.

Ignoring the distrust in her words, I went on with my mission to convince her. I didn’t want to bring dad in. I am scared of him. As I said before I didn’t have data to back up my arguments, my dad would ask for it. He wouldn’t care about the history.

The August 2017 crackdown on ICO in China had brought down Bitcoin Prices to a staggering low and it was a good enough reason for him to stay away from it.

I thought about it for a minute before answering.

“Mom, give me some money for one month. Give me 20% of what you have invested in Fixed deposits. Let me show you how much your money grows. I promise to never keep your money invested overnight. I promise to keep an eye on the market the entire time I am awake. I will sell off whatever I bought during the day before I go to bed. This is what I do now, this is what I will do with your money. If your investment looses 10% I will return your money immediately”.

Mom thought long about it. I could see she was conflicted. On one side there was her son who asked for money from her to invest it in her name and on the other side was her safe option of Fixed deposits. It was a conflict for her then. I can safely say not a penny in our house is invested in a bank’s fixed deposit right now. No wonder the banks are pissed.

After thinking for what seemed like an eternity, she replied. “I will cancel one of the deposits and give you the money. You can have it for 1 month. Don’t worry if you lose it. Try whatever it is that you want. I am trusting you with this”

The joy cannot be explained in words.

It wasn’t a win of an argument for me. I had earned her trust. Nothing in the world can come close to giving you the pride that you feel when your parents say, I trust you. 

An elated self now, I started running around in the house. I created an account for mom on Koinex and Coindelta, back in the day KYCs were processed within 24 hours. I went to bed making a decent profit for myself, knowing that the investment will increase the next day. As promised my mother cancelled one FD and I deposited the money on Koinex and Coindelta in equal parts.

A month later, my mother’s bank account had 2.5 times the money she had offered to me. Her investment had returned a whopping 150% profit. But for that one month, I religiously went to mom every night and informed her about her investments and returns for the day. There were a couple days when we sold everything in loss as well.

The data helped convince my parents that cryptocurrency is indeed a great opportunity, however it has to be dealt with safely. They carry multiple risks, markets are volatile and most importantly, if you are not careful, you can lose your crypto. We insist our readers to do your own research before jumping on the crypto-train.

It is safe to assume now that I help not only my mother but a lot of people on How to trade in cryptocurrency and I always recommend to start small. Do not worry about the prices. As Napoleon Hill says, Don’t wait, the time will never be just right.