A WOMAN in her 30s has made a Bitcoin fortune after investing a decade ago – and here’s why she thinks now is the ideal time to make money.

Elisa Spiess started investing in Bitcoin in 2012 when her roommate in Berlin introduced her to the cryptocurrency – long before all the hype.

Elisa Spiess says Bitcoin made her 'financially free'

2

Elisa Spiess says Bitcoin made her ‘financially free’Credit: Twitter
Cryptos like Bitcoin can be extremely volatile

2

Cryptos like Bitcoin can be extremely volatileCredit: Alamy

Spiess realised there weren’t many women in crypto at the time and so took a leap of faith to invest her own cash into Bitcoin.

Soon enough, the 38-year-old scored some successes and eventually became “financially free”, she told the Business Insider.

Anyone who invested in Bitcoin five years ago would now be enjoying a very healthy 3,300 percent today, according to the publication.

But crypto markets can be incredibly volatile.

Bitcoin doesn’t have a central bank or single authority and can be sent from user to user on the network without the need for intermediaries, meaning it’s unregulated.

It also not uncommon for the price of Bitcoin to experience wild swings within a day or even within minutes making it a potentially risky venture.

Most read in The Sun

The global crypto market shed more than $1trillion since November following a series of devastating crashes.

Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level in six months in January this year, Bloomberg revealed, while other cryptos face tough times due to the recent war in Ukraine.

Spiess shied away from revealing just how much money she had made but told the publication that she has “no financial constraints” and in mid-2019 opened her own company to educate woman on how to invest in cryptos.

“I wouldn’t describe myself as a crypto missionary, that has an unpleasant connotation,” Spiess said, saying she’s more of a “door opener” into the virtual currency world.

“For me, crypto was and is a gamechanger, and that’s why my goal is to help women get started in this industry.”

‘CRYPTO CRASHES ARE AN OPPORTUNITY’

For Spiess, the recent run on cryptos isn’t anything out of the ordinary and urged people not to read into it “too much”.

“It’s a bit scary how hardened I am by now,” she said.

The young entrepreneur said now was a good time to get a “bargain”.

“The current crypto crashes should be seen as an opportunity and taken advantage of if possible,” she said.

“Many investors who went into it uninformed are now panicking, checking their portfolios every day, and then eventually selling out of fear.” Something Spiess said was driving down the value of cryptos.

But the tenacious trader said institutional investors were now entering the market and were seen to be providing “certain amount” of stability.

“These are investing for the long term and not gambling,” she explained.

Spiess said anyone who knows where cryptos are heading now is, in her opinion, “untrustworthy”.

Her advice is to invest in coins and tokens that have a meaningful use.

She said that investing in digital assets you don’t understand is “just gambling”.

“You might as well go to the casino,” she said.

It comes as a generous employee gave his co-workers 0.1 of a Bitcoin in 2013 as a joke Christmas present – and now it’s worth thousands.

The worker, who shared their story on Reddit, said they bought their colleagues the tiny crypto slice for just £37 each.

Now, 0.1 of a Bitcoin is worth is £3,206, earning their fellow workers a small fortune from the Christmas present nine years later.

The risks of buying with cryptocurrencies

Investing and making a purchase in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is risky:

Their value is highly volatile and City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority has warned investors should be prepared to lose all their money.

Investing in cryptocurrencies is not a guaranteed way to make money.

You should also think carefully about making purchases with a cryptocurrency.

For example, Bitcoin has had wild price fluctuations in recent months and the price can change on an almost hourly basis.

The price of a Bitcoin was at $40,258 on January 9, according to Coindesk, but fell to $34,214 just three days later.

That’s a 15% drop.

These price swings are risky for a business as you could sell an item for a Bitcoin at one price and the value may drop soon after, leaving you with less money from a sale.

Similarly, the price of Bitcoin has soared by more than 21% since the start of this week so it can be hard for a shopper to get an accurate idea of the price of an item if its value changes on a daily basis.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk

You May Also Like

Starbucks reveals six new winter menu items including praline cookie hot chocolate and toffee nut cold brew

YOU truly know the festive season is here when Starbucks’s red cups…

SMALL CAP SHARE IDEAS: Seeing Machines

On Monday, January 9, we watched in awe as the first-ever orbital…

Accounting watchdog launches probe into Greensill and Gupta auditors

The accounting watchdog has launched investigations into the auditors of collapsed lender…

Airlines could start charging customers for rearranging or cancelling flights from 2022

BRITS could have to pay to rearrange flights next year, even if…