Now Bitcoin is worth zero again.

A dark week in the markets (for some). Gold, silver, bitcoin, technology companies... It seemed like no one was safe. Silver fell 30% in a single day, and Bitcoin plummeted 50% in three months. Everything was in the red. At times, it felt like the end of the world. And a phrase that made me laugh: "I used to lose 5% a year to inflation, and now I'm losing 20% ​​a month investing."

In situations like this, investors panic, especially novices. Even I, used to this kind of craziness, thought, "This is getting rough." Warren Buffett said that to invest, you have to be mentally prepared to see your portfolio drop by 50%. And faced with this, I wonder: do we really know what we're investing in?

Gold and silver had tripled or quadrupled in value in just one year. Bitcoin, every time it reaches all-time highs, typically falls by an average of 70% in the following months. Technology companies have always been more volatile than stock indices. And, above all, the question is: what companies are we buying? The future Nvidia that will make us millionaires (or bankrupt us) or the Nvidia of today?

If we accept volatility levels where a company can rise 10% in a single day, we must also accept that it can fall 20% when markets turn red. It is at these moments that we must apply rationality. What we shouldn't do in the short term is panic and sell because "Bitcoin is worth zero again." It wasn't worth a million three months ago when it was rising, and it's not worth zero now. Drops are usually long-term buying opportunities. But, come on, Telefónica was worth 20 euros in 2011 and now it's worth 3.

We need to understand one thing: what goes up (especially quickly) will eventually come down; but not everything that goes down will ever go back up. If you couldn't sleep last week, you're probably taking more risks than you should and should look for safer products.