A, who has turned 30 this year. He is the ‘money fire family’, the yearning for office workers struggling with the murderous ‘high interest rates’ these days. After working for a large financial company, he started investing in cryptocurrency in January 2020 on the recommendation of an incentive to join the company. By pushing 15 million won into Bitcoin and Ethereum, he won 3 billion won in a year and 6 months. He resigned in June last year.
‘FIRE’ is an abbreviation for ‘Financial Independence, Early Retirement’. It refers to an early retirement lifestyle after being financially independent by aggressively investing in finances at a young age. Mr A said, “Coins are 100 times more volatile than stocks, so they are risky, but how great you can make a stop loss (confirmed loss) and take profit (confirmed profit) is the one thing that determines success or failure.”
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He seemed to be enjoying a happy retirement, but he said something different at the end of the interview. It is said that “depression comes after living as 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 top jobs after making a lot of money from investing in cryptocurrencies were similar to Mr A’s situation. Two answered a third (8 people) who were not happy. In particular, longing for a sense of belonging was found to be strong. Nine people chose ‘returning to society’ as their ‘benefit other than investment’. This is contrary to the popular belief among Fires that they enjoy economic freedom by reducing their spending to extremes without any professional activity after retirement.
An 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 PR team of a credit card company in Korea, he made more than 3 billion earned by investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and resigned in March last year. His work these days is web drama and film production. Mr Han, who has always been interested in ‘K-contents’ and wanted to try something related, said, “I kept thinking I had to belong somewhere or do something.”
○ The ‘retirement decision line’ won 3 billion
Among the 12 Coin Tanau that the Korea Economic Daily met in person, there were many who said they had decided to resign as their asset level was more than 3 billion won. It is more than the so-called ’25 times rule’, which states that if you secure 25 times your annual living expenses, you will have psychological stability. The current assets of the Tanau Coin were 3 people under 3 billion won, 5 people won with more than 3 billion and less than 10 billion, and 4 people won with more than 10 billion. 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 a cryptocurrency investment, said, “I thought, if I managed well, I can live freely without worrying about money,” he said
Coin Fires maintained their asset value at the time of retirement by adjusting the proportion of coin holdings despite a sharp decline in the cryptocurrency market this year. Among the total assets, the share 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 plunged, or increased the proportion of cash holdings. Only two people answered that they hold all their assets in cryptocurrency.
○ “You need to know when to leave and when to enter”
The ‘all-in’, who own all their fortunes in digital currency, managed to avoid a decline in asset value by controlling the entry point. Mr Kang (34), who owns about 3 billion won in coin assets, withdrew from the cryptocurrency market at the end of last year seeing that the coin market was overheating, but re-joined the market around bitcoin right after the outbreak of the Ukraine War in February. Kang said, “As market volatility increased, I kept my bat short and increased my assets by one-shot trading. “When I reached the target rate of return of 10%, I robbed and rested unconditionally.”
The ‘life changing’ investment opportunity is common. ‘recommended by an acquaintance’. Nine out of 12 people said they started investing in cryptocurrency 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 won less than 3 million (6), and 3 people had won more than 3 million and less than 10 million had been won. Only 3 people answered that they used a loan to invest in cryptocurrency. One Fire family, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “It is possible with luck to call 1 million won to 2 to 3 million won, but increasing it more than 5 times is something that can only be done after desperately failing 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 usage habits are rather subtle. 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. 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 specific change, such as “Life has not changed much” or “Money has nothing to do with happiness”.
Reporter Lee Kwang-sik bumeran@hankyung.com
