A real example: someone who bought Bitcoin at $19,000 in December 2017 and held through the 2018 bear market saw their position reach $60,000+ by 2021—a 3x return over four years. Meanwhile, someone who sold at $10,000 in early 2018 to 'avoid further losses' missed the entire recovery. Time in market rewarded patience; timing the market punished fear. The cycle length matters more than the entry price.
The macro thesis remains intact because the fundamental drivers—institutional adoption, regulatory clarity, and fixed supply scarcity—have only strengthened since 2017. Bitcoin's network value has grown 40x while transaction throughput improved; Ethereum's shift to proof-of-stake reduced issuance by 90%. Short-term volatility is noise against these structural shifts.