The Silver Bloggers Community has introduced writing prompts as part of encouraging and building engagement within the community. The current prompt is Cryptocurrencies & Retirement for which you can find the link here:
@hive-106316/introducing-silver-prompts
How did I get started with cryptocurrencies?
Before I get into that, let me start at the very beginning… way back to when I first came across Bitcoin.
This was around 2010. I was walking around a little Shopping Centre and saw this little shop with Bitcoin Logo’s littered across the window. Some guy approached me outside the store and asked if I wanted to buy some Bitcoin.
“Just buy like R 5.00 worth,” he said.
It was just so random and awkward, that I declined and scurried away in a hurry. Damn! How I wish I’d just whipped out a R 5.00 or R 10.00. That would have given me 4.16 to 8.32 BTC. Then again, knowing what a loose cannon I was back then, I would likely just have lost the wallet key and felt even worse about it, haha.
Since then, I didn’t think much about crypto’s. It wasn’t until many years later, in 2017, when my cousin and 
The main area I was earning though, was through blogging. I fell in love with the concept, the freedom of it, and the independence it had from governed currencies.
I’ve been away for a long time; however I’ve been back for a while now again and it’s great to see how Hive has developed.
During Covid, the cryptocurrencies we bought and mined have been my saving grace. If those funds were in my bank, we would not have gained nearly as much value as we did. When I was mining ETH, the value was around $ 170. When we had to bank it, it was around $ 750. That’s a solid return!
Our crypto holdings were the last port of call when it came to finances, as Hive is my last port of call now. For me, Hive is more of a nest egg. I want to grow my account and perhaps use some of it one day when I’ve gone into retirement. Better yet, I’d like to add it into my Will for the kids. They can benefit financially, as well as see what daddy has been up to with his writing.
Are cryptocurrencies included in my retirement plans?
Yes and no. For me, it’s more like a cushion or safety net. It’s there if I really need it, however I’d prefer to Hodl for as long as I can. I rather picture myself having a solid account, which gives back to the community by having more VP. There’s no greater feeling than being able to give others solid support.
What about cryptocurrencies and my kids?
They’re both still quite young, however, my eldest is keen to explore blogging on Hive. I’ll be creating accounts for both, since this is a great space where they can learn about blogging, showing support, and learn about crypto, all the while building some funds towards whatever it may be that they have their hearts set on… hopefully it’s more towards saving or studying, which we’ll encourage.
Kids are the future and I believe it’s important for them to learn about crypto’s. More specifically, it’s important to get young generations involved in Hive too. 
In conclusion, I’m truly grateful to have learnt about crypto relatively early. To me, it’s quite odd when I speak to people about crypto’s, and they still don’t get it. The figures speak for themselves, but then again, some people are just set in their ways and struggle to see past traditional systems.
