Was blazing up sometime around Q2-ish, 2017 and randomly happened upon the price of Bitcoin. I'm thinking around $1,300, give or take a few satoshis. Took a few more puffs, and moved on.
Later that year- probably LATE august, I noticed the price somewhere again, This time it was like $3,500.
Had the same reaction as everyone else- DAAAAAAAAMNM dude. (at least 1 other person did that same thing I bet) I have been pro-actively working towards the purchase of a snack distribution route [Credit building, loan payoff, budget mastery] (established and with a parent Company, Ex:Snyder, Pepperidge Farm,etc..)
So I was delivering car parts for a mid sized company, making about $750 every 2 weeks-
paying off a small student loan, rent, and \average\ bills I suppose. I swiped around $500 of Bitcoin just to hold onto, and then 5 Litecoin a few days later. (Total output ~$1150, a proverbial FUCKTON of money to me at the time. Not my entire life savings, but it was a good chunk) Few weeks later, after spending 10+ hours per night after work researching blockchain,crypto, wallets,ICOs, - ANYTHING crypto related, I consumed it.
I had already decided to quit my job at the start of the year, and would go until Oct. 20th.
Welp, fast forward a few weeks and Litecoin is on FIRE. My boss was cool with me jetting out the door a few weeks earlier, so I did.
With about 3k Left in my bank account, ~850 total monthly bills, I went into "day trader" mode.
Airdrops were SUPER hot at this time, (also 85% rubbish) but I signed up with a number of them.
Ebtc, BlUE, were basically the only ones(that I was part of) to survive the Airdrop death Bloodbath. 3 weeks into "trading" I decided to start using Etherdelta, a choice I am SO UNFATHOMABLY grateful for. I accidentally put an order for 0.1 Ebtc for 0.9 ETH ($315 at the time)
and someone bought it.(I felt bad, but got over it- QUICK). I proceeded to sign up with many different exchanges. Purchased about $1500 worth of ETH and started HARDCORE research.
Digging through 16-20 hours worth of information per day.
Coinmarketcap-->Website>Announcement page/Chat room/Whitepaper/Roadmap/Realistic Vision or Nah
Essentially, I would smoke a few bowls, drink a bit of coffee, and jump on to figure out which Coins stood a chance in the coming months+years. Knowing a good chunk of the coins won't be here in 5 years, I wanted to make sure that the choices i made TODAY(relative) would set me up for success in financial endeavors and stability for the rest of my life. I basically needed to raise enough for a down payment on a snack/vending route - work it, train an employee(pay them well) and purchase a second one. Train an employee , move to number three-->Expand into other ESTABLISHED businesses. {C-Stores, Gas stations, lawn care, pizza joint,etc..)Essentially, diversify my portfolio to include a large holding in a variety of strategic, well documented, and evergreen markets. Basically enough income producing assets to continually build and purchase more income producing assets while buying a healthy mix of metals, bonds, and myriad financial instruments.
When i bought my first Bitcoin, the Total market cap of ALL crypto was under $300 Billion.
Naturally, I was delighted when a couple of my coins "bloomed" and jumped 25% overnight. I immediately sold BLUE ( i picked up some more after the Airdrop), and profited a couple hundred bucks. "I'm a pro" I THOUGHT. I made a few hundred more bucks that week, and satisfied with current gains, bought about 15 more Litecoin, some XBY, and Colx. Feeling frisky, I ventured into my first ICO- Electroneum- grabbed a decent bag with leftover ETH, and called it a day. The following few weeks was NASTY. The prices began to sag, and eventually I felt my first market "crash" or what I thought was potentially the beginning of the end at the time. The feelings kept getting worse, my savings was nearing zero, rent was due in a couple days, and I was seriously doubting myself. Knowing that I would at least break even on a few Litecoin, I sold them and paid rent, got bills taken care of for another month, and hunkered down. I applied for a couple of low wage, part time jobs to fill in if I couldn't swing rent the following month(knowing full well it usually takes 4-5 weeks after application until employment) Joined UberEats, and decided to cut my losses IF I had to, sell my XBY, and live for one more month while applying for jobs. Even worse news, ETN wallet and platform release was delayed due to serious security concerns, it wouldn't be for almost a month and a half that the wallets and login would be released. As a last ditch effort, I sold a couple of shitcoins for losses on ED, and plunked a few hundred bucks into PRL, SNOV, and a couple others (the last two died off). With 3 Litecoin left in my coinbase account, I sold those, ate the loss, and filled my bank account with enough fiat to last ONE month longer.
Fast forward to middle of December- Altcoins have been POPPING off. My little baby XBY swung up to almost .90, PRL hit $4.70, SNOV grazed .40, and ETN wallet was released, unlocking 12x my original investment. I pulled enough fiat out to last the rest of the year( and then some) and left the rest in where it was.
Currently in the middle of my official "second dip" I have been Boss Free for 5 months and I absolutely love it. Stockpiling that down payment(essentially full purchase price at this point) for a route I've been eyeing, paying my bills, and enjoying a LOT of family and friends time, this is more or less the first stage of my lifelong dream to be financially independent and free of money restrictions. To be time-rich, able to spend precious moments with those whom I cherish most, and most of all, to STOP chasing money! Most people spend 40+ hours for 50+ years CHASING THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR. Call me crazy, but I'll live like a madman, and sacrifice a few nights of League for the ability to call the rest of my life, MINE.
I wanted to just let all of you know that I know each and everyone reading this has the potential to muster the courage in your own lives, and take back the reigns of your life. A small majority of the world has been telling us when to wake up, when to eat, when to sleep(indirectly). I'm here to tell you that I WON'T LET THEM TELL ME WHAT TO DO ANYMORE, and neither should YOU.
I've gathered two important things in Crypto.
Anyone with access, can pick up a phone or computer and literally 'click and direct' extra money into their bank accounts that wasn't there before. It takes knowledge, but you don't need to be an expert, and you don't need to let analysis paralysis control your decisions. Instead, learn to recognize that your mind will allow you to think whatever you want to think, and if you let that emotional response direct your investing, you'll lose money hand over fist. (or get lucky and pick a few good coins) but mainly.. you'll lose money hand over fist. Let the facts guide you- Is the website halfway decent ( Waltoncoin had spelling errors on website, but look at them now) if not, is it a translated version of the main site, and if so, is it absolute rubbish english, or just 'non-professional due to cultural barriers writing standards english'? If the idea is well positioned, then grammar doesn't play the most crucial role in success ( although it's nice to see decent grammar) (yes there are errors here, no I don't care too much ) The information is 100% out there, and you can make a SERIOUS educated guess as to whether or not a coin will survive, you just need to do it. Oh, and you should stop hoping to turn $100 into $50,000,000 by next weekends camping trip.
Set a budget, stick to it, and gamble with part of it.
If you start making actual money, then it's a no brainer to record your losses and gains if you aim to be fiscally responsible, and legal for that matter. In addition, you'll want to actually TAKE MONEY out of crypto every so often...Your positions are valuable, but until you can spend any particular crypto in the real world, then cash is still King, and your crypto positions are limited to those in the Digital realm. (or enterprising individuals who accept your chosen crypto) If you need to live off of your gains, then make sure you cover yourself for as long as you are comfortable. Assume that your digital money is worthless, and you will need a backup plan. If your bank account is already healthy, awesome. If not, then be a little more generous with the % of gains you pull back to fiat. If you're like me, and you exhibit EXTREME risk tolerance, then I would suggest maybe play a bit further down in the market caps with up to 20% of your portfolio. There are plenty of amazing deals and tokens right now, but a VAST majority of those tiny cap coins will never make it into the big kid league, and will probably wither away within a few years completely. They are out there though. Be cautious, take a little risk, and the rewards can stack up in staggering ways. Be foolish, risk it ALL, and you could lose most everything. Don't fall for pump and dumps, most people get burned.
Get out there and start trading (WISELY!)
Blaze n win, ya'll.