My local bank (photo credit bbook.com)
I felt like I had been slapped in the face when I checked the interest rates that my bank was giving me on my savings at the end of last year. The fraction of the percentage they were giving me was doing nothing to keep up with the rising cost of living due to inflation. It was clearly time to think outside the box.
It did not take long for me to discover the games that many people were making by investing in crypto currencies. From the start I had been guided by principle of “only gamble what you can afford to lose” and so I was hesitant to begin with. For the first time in my life I was not handing my money over the security of the bank, I was personally taking complete responsibility for my savings.
I bought my first £100 of Bitcoin, feeling a mix of exhilaration and mild terror as I clicked the button to complete my transaction. After a few days I check how things were going: I have made more on my investment than the bank would have given me in over a year. I bought some more. And some more. And then a little more. I was apprehensive at first because I didn’t have a lot of spare cash to play with and every penny counted, but it didn't take me long to see that I was onto a winner.
I'll never get mistaken in the street for a Professor of Economics, but you get the idea :P
Over the next few months I got more Bitcoin, plus some Ethereum and now it seems I’m getting into Steem. Looking back now, half a year or so on, I’m pretty pleased with my decision. Even though I was buying as prices themselves were rising, I made about 25% overall: enough to buy me a decent second hand car or a tropical holiday. If I had chosen the safe option and left it in the bank I’d be lucky to have made enough to buy a cinema ticket.
Was there risk? Yes. Was it worth it? Definitely. I'm probably more likely to save more effectively now because this has all made it fun, too. It feels great to have more control over my money, because ultimately that's more control over my destiny. Furthermore, if what we hear about the rise of blockchain technology then this should be a very fruitful market for some time to come.
There are other options (see periodic table of elements for details) which are safer investments in the long run, but as long as you are mindful of what’s going on, it’s hard to do worse than a bank by investing some of your spare cash in the crypto market. How about you, have you made anything out of crypto investments and trading? How long do you think this growth can go on for?
I have invested a bunch of crypto projects. I have made more than I lost. I don't invest more than I can afford to lose however.
Well said, I think that's the golden rule right there. The big variable then is how much risk one is willing to take.
My approach is to invest in a large numbers of projects but invest a little in each. That way if one turns out to be a scam or if it goes to zero, it will not wipe you out.
Well, That's really nice thinking. I do the same so far I've invested in 4 Altcoins.