Hello, my name is Jordan Frey and I started investing in Bitcoin on August 15, 2025. That might come as a bit of surprise to some given my general stance of crypto investing. So, why did I start this experiment in Bitcoin investing? How does it work? And what have the results been so far? That's exactly what I intend to answer while also exploring how my overall perspective on crypto and Bitcoin in particular have evolved as a result.

Why I started this Bitcoin investing experiment

There are 4 main reasons that I started this experiment:

1. Around this time, Bitcoin reached an all time high and the hype was real. Everywhere I went on social media and in real life, investors were extolling the virtues of Bitcoin and how this was just the beginning of the value that would be seen. Early adopters were quick to share how much their investments had appreciated. Naturally, this peaked my curiosity while both fortifying my skepticism but also given me some healthy self-doubt.
   
2. I wanted to explore the FOMO surrounding hyped and fad investments. I'm not saying the BTC is a fad investment because it certainly has had pretty good staying power. But it certainly is a very hyped investment. Even with my written financial plan, I felt some FOMO at this time. So it was worthwhile to explore.
   
3. My skepticism around BTC was, to be fair, based on limited deep knowledge and research at the time. Some respected people told me that if I learned more, I would understand and dive in head first. So I committed to learning in 2 ways. First, I would read some books and blogs to increase my understanding. Second, I would learn by doing.
   
4. I had some play money that I could use for the investment. This was the crux of starting the whole experiment. My debts are under control, my equity investments were automated into index funds, and our real estate holdings continued to grow. I could spare some fun money to invest knowing if I lost it all, we would be just fine.

With these motives lined up, I got started.

The strategy of my experiment

Here are all the details of how I would invest for this experiment:

• I would invest $100 every Friday into Bitcoin. BTC is cryptocurrency with the longest track record and most stable foundation. I would not invest in any other cryptocurrencies.
• I would not try to time anything in the market. I would simply keep dollar cost averaging into the market with these incremental deposits.
• Coinbase is where I would hold my BTC investments. In my research, Coinbase seemed to be a safe, reliable marketplace. In doing this, I would sacrifice some security (Coinbase holds the “wallets” into which the investment would go) in exchange for ease of use (no need to download the code and put on a hard drive serving as a cold wallet for every investment).
• And I basically did not set an end point, I would simply see where things went.

Ultimately this amounted to a beginner-friendly, low risk, low-stress, and consistent strategy.

Early results of my Bitcoin investing experiment

At the time of this writing, I have made 15 contributions to my Coinbase account, each for $100 resulting in a total contribution of $1500.

My current portfolio value is $1,199.69.

For those keep track, that means that I am down $303.06 since my experiment began for an unrealized capital loss of 20.16% thus far.

There have been very short periods where my portfolio was up by a percentage point or two. But, for the majority, I have lived in the red.

My reaction?

I wouldn't say that I am surprised necessarily. Mainly because I went in with very low expectations. I also knew that entering the market at a record high meant that recent returns, based on the law of mean regression, would likely be lower.

Thus far, out has not been an objectively good investment. In comparison, if I invested the same amount of money in an S&P 500 index fund over the same time period, my return would be -5.3%. Not good either. But still better.

What I've learned so far from my experiment

I would say there have been 3 main lessons for me so far:

1. BTC volatility is very real

A volatile day in the stock market sees the overall market rise or fall by 2%. My anecdotal experience with BTC during this experiment sees this type of movement happen at least every couple of days. And the swings can be much greater, up to 5-10% at times. (Keep in mind that I do not recommend watching any market on a daily basis but I felt this was part of my scientific duty in the experiment at hand.)

Ultimately this movement was fine for my very small portfolio. But if the core of my nest egg was in BTC, it would make me very nervous. Despite all of the potential benefits of BTC, this volatility is the #1 downside and the main reason I still do not believe it should be a major part of anyone's nest egg.

2. Dollar-cost averaging helps (maybe a little)

Most studies will show that lump sum investing beats dollar-cost averaging over the long term. So, I try to invest via lump sums when feasible.

And, for this experiment, I could have dumped a couple thousand in and let it ride. Maybe this would have done better. Dollar cost averaging certainly also hasn't really helped me numerically at all so far. Mainly because BTC value has been on a steady trend down during this 3+ months time period.

But, DCA has helped to reduce some of the whiplash from the wild volatility in this market. And it reduces the temptation to time the market by trying to drop in your lump sum at just the right time.

So, for volatile and/or newer investments, DCA has some psychological and behavioral benefits.

3. The Importance of Research Over Hype

As part of this experiment, I dove into researching BTC. How did cryptocurrency work? What was the birth of BTC? What specific advantages does it hold? Why are acolytes so obsessed with it?

After all of this, I still have serious doubts:

• It only holds value because enough people believe it holds value. Yes, this is true of all currencies including fiat. But government backing, while a potential weakness in some respects, still holds a lot of authority over what people believe in.
• There is growing concern that the Bitcoin blockchain ledger could be susceptible to hacking. If this happens, it could essentially lose all value.
• The continued creation of more cryptocurrencies undermines the value of BTC as a risk to its scarcity and credibility in my opinion.

But despite these doubts, I did gain some understanding of the potential benefits.

And while I won't get into a deep dive here, Bitcoin does possess interesting features that do lend it some inherent potential value. For one, it is de-centralized and non government controlled. Second, there is built in scarcity as only a certain amount of BTC can ever be mined (i.e. created). Third, it allows for an imperfect but much greater degree of anonymity than digital fiat currency.

Just as with any form of investing, I do see BTC as an asset. A risky, volatile one. But an asset for investment rather than pure speculation. My research helped to validate the experiment.

What's next for me and Bitcoin investing?

As it stands right now, I plan to keep investing $100 weekly into Coinbase. I see this as an investment for the long term based on the intrinsic benefits and value that Bitcoin holds while also understanding its inherent risks as well as the volatility thus far displayed. I am accepting that my whole investment could be lost. Or that at any moment (since BTC is traded 24/7) my portfolio could drop precipitously.

The experiment continues.

And, as with everything, I will keep you posted openly and honestly as I go along!

Would I recommend this strategy to you?

Well, it depends.

For those in a situation like mine where you are well along on your financial journey, your investment buckets are all filled, student debt is gone, you contribute regularly to a taxable investment account, and you have some extra fun money to invest, it could be worth it.

For those still building your financial foundation, I would not recommend it. Prioritize maximizing all tax advantaged accounts, pay off debt aggressively, and then consider real estate or investing in yourself via a physician side gig. Only then would a dollar cost averaging into BTC make sense in my opinion.

Even in these circumstances, a long term mindset and significant risk tolerance are necessary.

And for everyone involved, I still feel very strongly that BTC should not form the core of any retirement portfolio.

What do you think? Do you invest in Bitcoin? Why or why not? How do you handle the volatility with investing in Bitcoin? What do you think of my experiment? Let me know in the comments below!