<p>Yes, you only really take a loss (or make a gain) in terms of dollars or other fiat currencies when you trade whatever cryptocurrency you're holding back in for fiat.</p>
<p>And yes, it's similar to other assets that can be traded for fiat currency, like stocks, bonds, other fiat currencies, houses, apples, etc. &quot;On paper,&quot; as they say, like if you were keeping accounting records to estimate the net worth of all your investments, the current value of that investment has gone down and so the net worth of your investments goes down. But you haven't &quot;realized&quot; the loss until you've sold the asset at its current, lower price. So if you can hold it until the price goes back up again, you can &quot;realize&quot; a gain instead of a loss.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-11T12:53:40.310Z
2021-01-11T12:53:40.310Z
cpit
<p>Well basically, think of it as if u had an apple. If you decide at any moment that you want to sell it, you get a specific price for it, which is the current price of an apple.</p>
<p>So if you bought 1 bitcoin when 1 bitcoin was worth 18K USD and sold it at 27K USD you have now a profit of 50% which means that you now have 27K USD as fiat in your hand instead of having 18K (which you had when you bought a single BTC worth 18K back then)</p>
<p>This works the same if you buy it at 27k and sell it at 18k, except, you then lose 33% of your money that you invested in it when you bought it. That means that if you buy 1 BTC at 27K and sell it at 18K because maybe you are scared to lose more, you end up losing 9K because you sold it.</p>
<p>If you don't sell it, you will remain with that 1 BTC the whole time when it's price fluctuates, but it is basically worth more (or less) depending on it's current market price.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-11T10:40:56.503Z
Thankyou Pinkovai for your in depth explanation I just wanted to be sure if I hold and bitcoins going down my holdings will be safe til it goes back up and I can decide to sell for profit if that makes sense
Sandy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-11T10:43:21.107Z
So basically it is same as stock market
Sandy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-11T12:08:22.147Z
@chytrik thanks for the correction, my bad of that math :))
Pinkovai Krisztian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-11T12:09:49.647Z
@Sandy if you are satisfied with my answer, you can mark it as the answer for this question. And yes, same as stock market in that way.
Pinkovai Krisztian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-11T10:30:23.227Z
2021-01-11T11:00:30.160Z
2021-01-11T11:00:30.160Z
Pinkovai Krisztian
<p>If Bitcoin is going down, do I only lose if I sell my bitcoin?
So, if I hold them I won’t lose?</p>

<value><loss>
If bitcoin value is going down do you lose anything or only when you sell like the stock market?
Sandy
# If bitcoin value is going down do you lose anything or only when you sell like the stock market?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-11)

If Bitcoin is going down, do I only lose if I sell my bitcoin?
So, if I hold them I won’t lose?

**Tags:** value, loss


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-01-11. Score: 2

Yes, you only really take a loss (or make a gain) in terms of dollars or other fiat currencies when you trade whatever cryptocurrency you're holding back in for fiat.

And yes, it's similar to other assets that can be traded for fiat currency, like stocks, bonds, other fiat currencies, houses, apples, etc. "On paper," as they say, like if you were keeping accounting records to estimate the net worth of all your investments, the current value of that investment has gone down and so the net worth of your investments goes down. But you haven't "realized" the loss until you've sold the asset at its current, lower price. So if you can hold it until the price goes back up again, you can "realize" a gain instead of a loss.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-01-11. Score: 2

Well basically, think of it as if u had an apple. If you decide at any moment that you want to sell it, you get a specific price for it, which is the current price of an apple.

So if you bought 1 bitcoin when 1 bitcoin was worth 18K USD and sold it at 27K USD you have now a profit of 50% which means that you now have 27K USD as fiat in your hand instead of having 18K (which you had when you bought a single BTC worth 18K back then)

This works the same if you buy it at 27k and sell it at 18k, except, you then lose 33% of your money that you invested in it when you bought it. That means that if you buy 1 BTC at 27K and sell it at 18K because maybe you are scared to lose more, you end up losing 9K because you sold it.

If you don't sell it, you will remain with that 1 BTC the whole time when it's price fluctuates, but it is basically worth more (or less) depending on it's current market price.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thankyou Pinkovai for your in depth explanation I just wanted to be sure if I hold and bitcoins going down my holdings will be safe til it goes back up and I can decide to sell for profit if that makes sense  
> **username_0**: So basically it is same as stock market  
> **username_2**: @chytrik thanks for the correction, my bad of that math :))  
> **username_2**: @username_0 if you are satisfied with my answer, you can mark it as the answer for this question. And yes, same as stock market in that way.  

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