Thinking long-term: Why crypto savings make sense

"Just hodl". That was the mantra of the Bitcoin diehards in the early days of the crypto community, and their tenacity would prove to be well-justified in hindsight. The first bitcoin believers were taking a risk, but now, the financial landscape is very different. Institutional investors and financiers are backing BTC and cryptocurrency after years of looking down their noses at all things blockchain. Bitcoin's value reached a dizzying peak before succumbing once more to the ups and downs of market forces. Crypto exchange apps and online platforms provide easy access to the digital asset market for millions of ordinary people, who can buy crypto easily with a few taps on their smartphones. For the first time, having savings in crypto is both possible and highly appealing to a wide audience.

Early bitcoin hodlers invested in BTC in the hope that it would one day be worth something. Now we know that it is. So, what does the long-term strategy for crypto look like now? The main threat to traditional saving plans is inflation and currency devaluation, and the danger is real. World governments have responded to the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic with quantitative easing, effectively creating money from thin air and injecting it into the economy to stave off a total collapse of the system. This strategy effectively creates debt and devalues the respective country's national currency. The next generation of pensioners fears that their savings in dollars, pounds, euros or other fiat currency will be worth less in the future due to the activities of unaccountable financial and political entities.

Enter crypto. Bitcoin may not have realised its intention of being a widely used digital cash, but it now functions as a store of value, being touted as digital gold by the likes of Mark Cuban and Steve Mnuchin. Much like gold, the original cryptocurrency has several characteristics that make it resistant to inflation:

1. Bitcoin is durable. It can't deteriorate or be 'used up' over time. It can, however, be broken up into smaller units that make it easier to trade.
2. Scarcity. A hard limit of 21 million bitcoins will ever be mined.
3. A steady supply. Bitcoin mining rates are controlled at a steady rate, so it's impossible to conduct 'quantitative easing' of BTC, i.e., flood the market with new coins.
4. Bitcoin is decentralised and cannot be controlled by a government or institution, making it immune to the machinations of any politicians.

Bitcoin's price skyrocketed at the end of 2020 because of a digital gold rush of institutional investors and hedge funds buying up cryptocurrency as a hedge against inflation. As the market adjusts and the prospect of a post-pandemic recovery begins, volatility has returned to the crypto market. Still, if you had held on to your crypto back in the day, you'd be very happy now. Looking back over the last decade, passively buying bitcoin works out to have been the best strategy in the long run. And the long-term prospects of crypto continue to look sunny. Once a new technology gains institutional backing, it's hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

After the significant financial crashes of 2008 and 2020, today's savers and future retirees don't have the guaranteed optimism that their parents had about saving for retirement. Either the current fiat currency system is broken, or it has fundamentally changed. Future crashes are inevitable, and sensible savers should hedge against inflation by putting away some of their wealth in crypto.

Much of the attention around crypto for retail investors is still focused on trading in the short term, frequently buying and selling to profit off volatility. However, investors should also have a long-term passive income plan to hedge against unexpected market movements or simple human error, such as panic selling during a dip. We can be our own worst enemies sometimes, but we can plan against our own psychology.

To meet the needs of financially responsible digital asset holders, crypto savings programmes are starting to emerge. For example, a few forward-thinking 401K providers are including BTC and other cryptocurrency programmes as part of their portfolio. And it's not just the traditional institutions that are starting to see the potential of crypto savings. Here at StormGain, we pride ourselves on empowering every type of investor with a variety of strategies. That's why, in addition to providing excellent conditions and bonuses for trading, we also offer a variety of ways to earn passive income and build crypto savings.

These include:

1. Up to 12% APR interest on your holdings in StormGain digital wallets. Let your money work for you by levelling up your account via the StormGain loyalty programme and see your wallets grow year after year!
2. Bitcoin Cloud Miner, our unique cloud miner feature, which allows StormGain users to passively earn BTC just by actively using the platform, with the potential to earn up to ฿0.0318 a day, free of any fees or power consumption!
3. Crypto indices that are curated packages of three, five or ten well-performing cryptocurrencies that offer a hedge against market volatility for a risk-averse investment. Predictable and profitable, indices are perfect for long-term savings.

With the international fiat economy facing crisis after crisis and blockchain adoption only rising year to year, it only makes sense to include crypto in your savings plan. Of course, this doesn't mean giving up on the excitement and quick wins of trading, but a mixed approach works best: some to play with and some to hodl for a rainy day. In either case, StormGain is here to help maximise your gains.