If I have a large amount of money at one time, then I will definitely reflect that when the market falls, and it goes down a lot, I will invest with all my money.
Are you a brand new investor in bitcoin or have you already bought a lot of bitcoin?
Your forum registration shows that you have been registered since January 2023, and so did you already buy a lot of BTC in the last almost 3 years? If so then maybe buying dips might be helpful in your particular case (perhaps? perhaps?), otherwise, you might be already in a wrong mindset in regards to your BTC accumulation strategy and/or you might be employing bad strategies.
In the last nearly 3 years have you been buying bitcoin aggressively, or have you been waiting around to buy dips that did not end up happening? There have not been a lot of great dips in the past 3-ish years, and guys would have had likely been better off to have had been fairly aggressively accumulating for the past 3-ish years rather than fucking around waiting for dips that might not happen.
Currently, a brand new person might not be served very well be waiting for dips, and depending on the extent to which you have already been able to front load your bitcoin investment, you also might not be served too wll by trying to wait for dips that might not happen.
Let's say that you had a $50k per year income and you were to have had chosen to invest $500 per week into bitcoin, and you might well would have had invested around $70k since January 2023 and you might have had accumulated right around 1.6 BTC. Even in that kinds of a case, it could be questionable if you should stop investing and wait for dips that might not happen.
Yeah, I get what you're saying and I think you're spot on. A lot of investors use their own mindset to paralyze themselves by attempting to time the market and waiting for the next/perfect DIP and then they end up with way less Bitcoin than they could've initially had if they had stuck to consistent accumulation via DCA. For someone who's been around the space since 2023, the real question should be if they've been actually building their stack all those years or they've been timing the market and waiting around and hoping for that magical entry that in reality may actually never come.
The example of the $500 per week you gave above is a good one. Some might feel it's boring, but in reality, it's quite effective. In a couple of years, such consistent buying really adds up and you'd be surprised about how much you've accomplished over the long run, without even putting yourself through the pressure or stressing yourself about whether the market gives you a dip or not. We've not really experienced those major crashes lately and no one knows when it'll come, so waiting around will probably do one more harm than the anticipated good.
If a person has lump sum available, such as $1k to get started, and maybe he has an income in which he can buy $100 per week in bitcoin, then with the extra $1k, he does not need to invest through DCA, he could buy right away and/or he could buy at the dip (if the dip happens), so he has choices of the three different styles, and DCA is not always better if you already have a lump sum of cash come available to you. One of the reasons that so many people use DCA is because it is much easier to tailor some kind of a buying amount that goes along with their regular income coming in and their expenses, and so DCA also will allow an adjustment every week or whatever period that a person chooses to buy bitcoin under that kind of an approach/practice.
I like to think that DCA is the best method or strategy in almost every situation, even if a person has lump sum it just depends how disciplined and aggressive the person is with his DCA. If a person has $1K and he decides to DCA $200 for five weeks and another with the same amount just lump sums immediately, you’ll find out in the end that the one who DCAed was able to accumulate more than the lump sum even if it’s a bit.
I think lump sum is most beneficial in times of dip, I think that’s the only moment when lump sum is better.
Assuming the $1K didn’t come available at a time of dip, would it be better to wait ? How long would one have to wait losing valuable time and opportunities he could have accumulated more. And sometimes while waiting for a dip and price moves to an ATH even if there’s a correction after, there’s a possibility the dip might still be high compared to the time you had the sum available and decided to wait.
That my friend is a very solid way to look at the DCA strategy. DCA sure does take away the guesswork from the equation, additionally, it also prevents people from missing out on potential opportunities while sitting around waiting for the perfect buy. With lump sum, one is basically actually gambling that the moment at which they buy is actually gonna look good in hindsight. If you're lucky enough that it actually lines up with a dip, good for you, and if not, you'll simply get stuck, second guessing yourself and thinking about the next move to make while the train just leaves you behind.
What you pointed out about waiting for the dip is one pitfall that a lot of investors often fall into. You might be sitting on cash for weeks or even months hoping for a perfect opportunity and then suddenly your long awaited dip comes above the level you could've already bought at. And this is exactly why the DCA strategy is way more safer and better than every other strategy, and this isn't always because it always win on pure maths, buy because it completely eradicates the risk of missing out or capitalizing on potential gains/opportunities.
And sometimes while waiting for a dip and price moves to an ATH even if there’s a correction after, there’s a possibility the dip might still be high compared to the time you had the sum available and decided to wait.
Look at the chart below ⬇️

Assuming he had the $1K at $100k price value and he was waiting for a dip and price shoots up, you see that the price never comes down again below $100k and now at whatever time he chooses to buy is now high compared to when he first had the money… that’s a huge missed opportunity.
He might not consider it a missed opportunity if he had already been buying for two cycles or more.
Surely the shorter time that he has been in, then probably he would be better to error on the side of buying right away, so even in my case of $5k, he might invest $4k right away (like over the space of 1-2 weeks) and then maybe he saves $1k for buying on dips, so then he might have 3 orders of $333 each for every 5% that the BTC price goes down, and with the expectation that he might end up holding parts if not all of the $1k rather than investing it at dip prices that might not end up happening. He ultimately figures out an approach that is based on his own psychology and his finances, but it also depends on how much BTC he had already accumulated (and when and how he made those prior BTC purchases).
This here is another fair point. If an individual has been committed to stacking up some sats for a couple of cycles, then they probably don't consider sitting on the sidelines as actually missing out like some newbies my see it, because they must have already capitalized on several potential opportunities. Their investment is already working for them at this point, so they have the luxury of being patient. But for a person who is relatively newer, time in the market matters way more to them, so it kinda makes a lot more sense for them to lean towards getting most of their capital deployed, instead of just waiting around, so it depends solely on the individual's unique situation.
I like the $5k example you gave, cos I consider it to be a good middle ground. When you put in the bulk right away without wasting time, gives one a solid exposure, and holding back smaller slice of your budget to capitalise on potential DIPs would really help to get rid of that "what if" itch without totally messing with your initial plans. If the dip eventually comes, then that's great, cos you actually get to buy a little cheaper. And if they don't come, you're still on track and not completely left behind.