Ethereum Merge Night — I Sold 500 ETH to Buy a Toyota Corolla

September 15, 2022, Ethereum Merge Night
ETH price was about $1,600. I owned 500 ETH, bought during the 2017 ICO, at a cost of less than $100. On the night before the merge, the market was crazy. Some said, "After the merge, ETH will rise to 10k." I stared at the screen, my heart pounding. Then I made the "stupidest" decision of my life: sell everything at an average price of $1,620. I got $810k.

The next day
I withdrew $400k and bought a Toyota Corolla at the dealership ($25k), and kept the rest in a fixed deposit. My friends scolded me: "Are you crazy? ETH could reach 5,000!" I just smiled: "Enough, I made 800 times my money."

2024
ETH rose to $4,800. I calculated that if I hadn’t sold, those 500 ETH would be worth $2.4 million. I started to have insomnia. The Corolla has been driven for two years. Every time I see it, I feel heartache — this car "cost" me the potential gains of $2 million.

April 2026
ETH dropped back to $2,000. I opened my Gate account, which only had the remaining $410k fixed deposit from that year, plus about $45,000 in interest. The 500 ETH are now worth only $1 million. Surprisingly, I felt relieved — I wasn’t rich, but I didn’t lose either. Plus, the Corolla has driven 80k kilometers and never had a problem.

Reflection: No one can perfectly time the top. Selling at $1,620 wasn’t a mistake; the mistake was calculating "what if" after selling. Now I post on Gate Square, earning a few dollars a day with red $ETH ‌ packages, and dollar-cost averaging into ETH. I only buy 0.1 ETH each time, no longer anxious.

April Challenge: If you’re also struggling whether to sell or not, remember — locking in profits is always right, even if it means earning less.