In August 2017, after an extensive period of research and due diligence, I "jumped in" to this fascinating new asset class. Never a "half measures" sort of guy, I went all in and have been heavily invested in both time and treasure since.
While maintaining my privacy by not getting into too much detail, I want to commemorate the occasion with a Steem post! Specifically, I would like to briefly go over a list of highlights along the way.
Background
Introduction
First in the summer of 2016 and then a little later on in 2017, hearing the words "blockchain" and "bitcoin" from a family member, my instinctive and immediate reaction at that time was definitely not uhhh ... "favorable" ... 😏
Still, the details of their investment into what at the time was "AntShares" and which later became NEO was hard to forget. I decided the day might come when I would have more time to investigate. So ... I could come up with a "better informed" reason for still not being "favorable" ... 😉
That time came in August 2017. In my research, slowly (typically very slowly for poor 
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Fundamentals
Before starting into it, I set out this list - for my future reference - of the fundamentals of my original decision.
I wasn't going to invest any more money into these "digital assets" than I could reasonably survive going down to absolute zero. And I mean exactly that. Absolutely worthless!
I was going to invest in a number of these "digital assets," to spread the risk around as much as possible. Why? Well, among other things, I believed that some of these digital assets really will ultimately become absolutely worthless. And some will be valuable. And that I am not smart enough to know which is which ...
I would buy into the "dips" as opportunities to cost average down the price of any of them into which I have invested.
Overall, the concept of what blockchain technology represents had true value. To support investing into it in the first place, as I am not a speculator / trader. But clear, that as an entirely new creation, it would take time to "prove out" that value, with many ups and downs along the way.
The last point is life. No matter what anyone tells you, there is no "something for nothing." Never has been. Never will be. It takes work to persevere through the tough challenges and faith that it is worth doing, for the vision of what one knows can be, if they don't give up.
The toughest challenge is time. If there was any merit at all in the thought this asset class had genuine value, how long was it going to take to "prove out?" Whatever the answer, two years into it the uhhh ... "goal line" still looks to be a long way off in the distance ...
Brief "Early Day" Highlights and the Work Required
Here is a quick look at the highlights of my first few months:
- Immediately encountered the "thrill of victory" and the "agony of defeat" all within remarkably short time frames. So, literally "right out of the gate" I had a "gut check" as to whether or not I had the mental toughness to deal with a level of volatility that was far beyond anything I had experienced before that time.
- Before I could even convert my first fiat into the needed BTC to then invest into other "alt coins," the price of Monero (XMR), one of my first potential portfolio positions, sailed well beyond my "buy up to price" (BUTP).
- Soon after finally purchasing some BTC, in early September, the Chinese government "brought the hammer down" on their citizens owning crypto and crashed the overall market. Less than a month into it, it was another major test as to whether or not I "had the stomach" (many ways to say the same thing) for investing into this new asset.
- On my anniversary, my beloved life mate learned about what I had invested some of our funds into. To my amazement (still to this day ...) she not only was supportive, but wanted to also invest some of her funds. Done!
- The announcement of potential ETFs for BTC sent the overall market soaring through the end of 2017 and into the first few days of 2018. Then ... The "wheels came off" ... ATMs (all-time highs) set during this period are largely still intact over a year and a half later.
All through this time, there was a lot of work involved in learning how to set up new wallets, get established on various exchanges, conduct and properly account for many, many transactions, etc. While it would be nice (are we sure about that?) if money grew on trees, that is just not the way life works.
Up through the early days of 2018, though, it seemed like time well invested, as our portfolio soared. Until it started going the other way ...
2018 Disaster
From those early heady days of 2018, on through the months of 2018, the market was up and down. But, mostly slowly, steadily, and relentlessly down.
Then, in October 2018, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) of the United States issued a major ruling re: ICOs. I wrote an extensive post about it here - HODLer Alert! SEC "wins," ICOs "lose," and Market Crashes ... I won't repeat a lot of that here, but it was the low point of my two year "digital asset" investment journey.
2019 started out a little better and then beginning in March, there were clear signs the worse was over. While the inevitable volatility remains a key part of the journey, bitcoin in particular has done quite well. Sadly, at least for the time being, it has largely been at the expense of most of the other "alt coins," which includes of course, our beloved STEEM.
At the time this was being written, STEEM prices were at their lowest point since I first invested into them in August 2017 ...
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With the long-awaited recent announcement about Bakkt launching in September, the future has a lot of encouraging indicators to suggest my original decision to "jump in" may have been a good one. But ... For how long will this "long-term oriented" investor have to wait to have that proven out?
While we all wait for this market to "moon," dear reader, there is a lot of remarkable technology to become familiar with, which the experts proclaim to be "revolutionary" and "disruptive." Many struggles are already underway as to who will control it. What will the ultimate destination be? We all live in a remarkable time in human history and we'll all learn together what the answer is in the months and years to come.
Closing
I'll close with the "the highlight of the journey" for me, up to the present. As briefly stated above, on our anniversary in 2017, I introduced my beloved lifemate to what I had done. I was braced for a much less than enthusiastic response. To my great surprise, she was not only supportive but wanted to invest some of her discretionary funds into this asset class as well! Even after two years into it, I am still amazed at this looking back.
So ... I feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to share this fascinating investing "journey" with her. Which includes my engagement on the Steem blockchain.
I hope you found something of interest and perhaps some encouragement in reading this post dear reader. I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.
Until "next time," all the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all work together to build up our Steem Communities and increase the value of the Steem blockchain! 👍 😊
Posted using SteemPeak and “immutably enshrined in the blockchain” on Wednesday, 21 August 2019!
Interested in reading more of my investing related posts? Great!
- HODLers of the World Unite!! - Toward the end of the major downturn in the crypto markets in June 2018, I wrote this post about markets and manipulation.
- HODLer Alert! Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and Bitcoin - Upon learning the CBOE was filing with the SEC to create a Bitcoin ETF, I wrote this post about what this news represented to me.
- HODLer Alert! Goldman Sachs announces Megabucks Investment into the Cryptosphere!! - Upon learning the international "heavyweight" firm of Goldman Sachs had announced a big investment into a "crypto" custodian firm, I wrote a post about what this news represented to me.
- HODLer Alert! Cryptosphere "invades" our Backyard!! - Receiving an invite, on one of my smartphone apps, to attend a "local neighborhood" meeting about "crypto," I wrote a post about what this discovery represented to me.
- HODLer Alert! SEC "wins," ICOs "lose," and Market Crashes ... - Fearing the worst (which was later confirmed ... 😞), upon hearing news of an SEC ruling against "crypto" ICOs, I wrote a post about this "one-two" punch that sent the markets reeling.
And about the "fundamentals" that kept me fully invested anyway ...
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- Tech Aide: Investing in the Steem Blockchain on Binance and Bittrex - Covers investing in STEEM and SBD - both sending and receiving - on these popular exchanges.
- Tech Aide: Added Security Steps for Downloading Open-Source Software - Covers additional security steps you can take when downloading and installing open-source software.
- Tech Aide: Ledger and the new Binance DEX - Covers details of the conversion process, from ERC20 to BEP-2, for the BNB token and transferring it from the Ethereum blockchain to Binance's new DEX blockchain.
- Tech Aide: Set-Up of New Ledger Nano X! - After long anticipation, provides details of my "less than optimum" experience with Ledger's new product.
- Tech Aide: 👌 FIRST Exchange Transaction on Binance DEX! 👍 - My very first decentralized exchange transaction on Binance DEX.
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- Fraud Alert! Libra Online ... - Exposed an online scam linked to Facebook's new proposed cryptocurrency - Libra.
