Mr. A, who has turned 30 this year. He is a ‘coin fire family’, a wannabe of office workers who are struggling with murderous ‘high interest rates’ these days. After working for a large financial company, he started investing in cryptocurrency in January 2020 at the recommendation of a motive for joining the company. He made 3 billion won in 1 year and 6 months by pushing 15 million won into both Bitcoin and Ethereum. He resigned in June of last year.
‘FIRE’ is an abbreviation of ‘Financial Independence, Retire Early’. It refers to the lifestyle of early retirement after being financially independent by aggressively investing in finance at a young age. Mr. A said, “Coin is 100 times more volatile than stocks, so it is risky, but how coolly you can make stop-loss (determined loss) and profit loss (determined profit) determine success or failure is the same.”
He seemed to be enjoying a happy retirement, but at the end of the interview, he said something different. It is said that “depression came after living like a vegetative person”.
The results of an in-depth interview conducted by the Korea Economic Daily with 12 ‘Coin Fires’ in their 20s and 30s who quit their main jobs after making a lot of money from investing in cryptocurrencies were similar to Mr. A’s situation. Two-thirds (8 people) answered that they were not happy. In particular, it was found that nostalgia for a sense of belonging was strong. Nine people chose ‘return to society’ as their ‘interest other than investment’. This is contrary to the popular belief among the Fires that they enjoy economic freedom by reducing their spending to extremes without any professional activity after retirement.
Interview with 12 Coin Fires
Most of them started investing on the recommendation of an acquaintance… “Economic freedom does not guarantee happiness”
Han Jeong-soo (30), who started a business after retirement. After working in the public relations team of a credit card company in Korea, he made more than 3 billion won by investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and resigned in March last year. His work these days is web drama and film production. “I kept thinking that he had to belong somewhere or do something,” said Mr. Han, who was usually interested in ‘K content’ and wanted to do something related to it.
○ ‘Retirement decision line’ is 3 billion won
Among the 12 Coin Fires that the Korea Economic Daily met in person, there were many who said that they had decided to resign as their asset level exceeded 3 billion won. It is larger than the so-called ’25 times rule’, which states that if you secure 25 times your annual cost of living, you will have psychological stability. The current assets of the Coin Fires were 3 people under 3 billion won, 5 people with more than 3 billion won and less than 10 billion won, and 4 people with more than 10 billion won. Choi Jong-woon (34), who worked as a developer in the information technology (IT) industry and retired in March after earning 3 billion won from cryptocurrency investment, said, “I thought that if I manage it well, I can live freely without worrying about money.” said
Coin Fires maintained their asset value at the time of retirement by adjusting the proportion of coin holdings despite a sharp drop in the cryptocurrency market this year. Among the total assets, the proportion of assets held in cryptocurrency was 4 people under 10%, 4 people with more than 10% and less than 30%, and 3 people with more than 30% and less than 50%. They secured cash flow by investing in stocks and real estate while cryptocurrency prices plummeted, or increased the proportion of cash holdings. Only two people answered that they held all of their assets in cryptocurrency.
○ “You need to know when to exit and when to enter”
The ‘all-in’, who own all their fortunes in cryptocurrency, avoided a decline in asset value by controlling the entry point. Mr. Kang (34), who owns around 3 billion won in coin assets, withdrew from the cryptocurrency market at the end of last year seeing that the coin market was overheated, but re-entered the market around bitcoin right after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in February. Kang said, “As the market volatility increased, I kept my bat short and increased my assets through single-shot trading. “When I reached the target rate of return of 10%, I unconditionally robbed and rested.”
The ‘life-changing’ investment opportunity is commonplace. ‘recommended by acquaintances’. Nine out of 12 people said they got into cryptocurrency investing through a friend or acquaintance. Only three people responded that they decided to enter the cryptocurrency market because they were curious about it. The majority of investment seed money was less than 10 million won. Half of them had less than 3 million won (6 million won), and 3 people had more than 3 million won and less than 10 million won. Only 3 people answered that they used a loan to invest in cryptocurrency. One Fire family, who requested anonymity, said, “It is possible with luck to call 1 million won to 2 to 3 million won, but to increase it more than 5 times is something that can only be done after failing desperately and studying, while wasting your own money like blood.”
○ “As assets increase, interest in luxury goods decreases”
They are Coin Fires, who have accumulated assets ranging from billions to 10 billion won in just over 5 years, but their consumption habits are rather frugal. Most said that as their wealth increased, their desire for luxury disappeared.
On the 15th of last month, Shin Mo, a 35-year-old Coin Fire tribe, met in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, and appeared in a simple white T-shirt and shorts when asked for an interview. He said, “Even when I first started investing, if I had money, I wanted to live in a nice house and drive an expensive car,” he said. It fell,” he said. Shin, who owns more than 10 billion won in cryptocurrency alone, has no special expenses other than his hobby of collecting sneakers.
Are the Coin Fires happy? A different answer than expected came from the majority. “Economic freedom does not guarantee happiness,” said Mr. Han. Mo Kwak said, “I made a bucket list and tried everything, but after about three years, there was nothing more to do. As a result of the survey, two-thirds (8 people) answered that there was no particular change, such as “Life has not changed much” or “Money has nothing to do with happiness”.
Reporter Lee Kwang-sik [email protected]