My name is Graham, and I’m a journalist. While my job doesn’t exactly pay very much money, I love it. Journalism lets me poke around in places I shouldn’t be, ask uncomfortable questions, meet interesting people and tell their stories. It also beats the hell out of stacking shelves.
But journalism is also in a bit of a nosedive these days, even when politics is left out of the equation. A few months ago I left the Netherlands – where I had been working for two years – and came back home to my native Ireland. Freelancing wasn’t paying the bills in Amsterdam, and I longed to be back around my old friends, sitting in a pub garden drinking tasty pints.
Since I’ve came back, jobs have been few and far between. Like I said, journalism is in a nosedive. But I’ve had plenty of time to chat to new and old faces, and something is brewing – In Ireland and around the world.
Craic and Cryptocurrency
Over traditional Irish music and pints of Guinness, young Irish people are comparing their altcoin portfolios and debating which coin is going to moon next. Guys I went to school with – guys who never left my sleepy little town - are moving their savings out of the ever-trustworthy Credit Unions and into Bitcoin.
A good friend in the Netherlands had plenty of experience and some trading success in cryptocurrency, but I never really paid attention to just how revolutionary it was as an idea. He was a techie, and I dismissed it as something that a handful of techies were going to make megabucks on. Something inaccessible to the layman.
That all changed when I got home and heard the pub talk. I got the gut feeling that far from being a bubble about to burst any day, cryptocurrency is only in its infancy. I couldn’t let the revolution happen around me without jumping on board.
On the road
So I dived in headfirst and devoured any information I could. I read books, lurked on forums, and talked to anyone who knew anything about this brave new world. My gut feeling only got stronger the more new information I took in.
But there’s a steep learning curve, and plenty of ways to get involved. Did I want to invest in bitcoin and let my investment slowly mature? Did I want to back projects and ICOs I truly believed in? Or did I want to play with day trading shitcoins for a few euros here and there? I decided to do as much of everything as I could, but I needed a goal.
Coming from Amsterdam, where I relied on public transportation and my €10 bicycle (bought with a handful of old-school fiat currency from a junkie), I realized that I had to get myself some wheels. Once the Irish winter kicks in, I’ll definitely need a car.
I once owned an Audi A4. It was an old car, but I love working on old cars, and this one was a lovely specimen. I sold it before I left for Amsterdam, and bitterly regret that decision now. What better goal than to buy another one, and what better way to do it than with cryptocurrency? Time to get to work. 
A handful of altcoins
Before I really knew anything about crypto, I threw a couple of hundred euros into the Tezos ICO. I believed the team, and a friend recommended it. I’ve since read a lot of criticism, but I stand by my decision. I’ll either hold on to my Tezzies and profit in a few years, helping out what I consider to be a good vision, or I’ll make the team millionaires and learn a valuable lesson about the importance of research.
But that’s for another day. Tezzies aren’t traded yet, and won’t be for a few months at least. In the interim, I jumped into altcoins I thought had some more immediate potential. Starting with just 90 euros, I bought some IOTA at 29 cents and some NEO at 32 dollars.
The last few weeks were good to me, and I’ve seen my first profits. I’ve followed these coins’ as they skyrocketed over the last week, and think I’m going to hold on to these for a while, as I believe in both these projects, as well as their potential for profit.
Modest Gains
Onwards and upwards
Whether I’m right or wrong, I’m definitely hooked. I’m still reading and watching everything I can about this new world of cryptocurrencies, and I’ll be buying more coins as soon as I can. I’ll also be lurking here and contributing what I can to the Steemit community, crypto-related, journalism-related, or otherwise.
And the car. Now it seems cheap to jump off this train as soon as I can afford a car, so I’m not going to. This is a rabbit hole I’m not coming back out of.
I genuinely believe that cryptocurrency has the power to either make a lot of the financial sector obsolete, or at the very least scare the shit out of bankers: both worthy goals. So if I can convince whoever sells me the car to accept payment in bitcoin, I’ll consider this first stage of my journey a success.
Cheers, and thanks for having me.
Hello, Welcome and play in this steemit app. Why I say play, because here we can learn while learning. Play in my opinion here is we can make our work here and why i say learn karema here we can see writing of various kind. Welcome once more @grahamdockery and good luck
Welcome to Steem @grahamdockery I have upvoted and sent you a tip
Welcome to Steemit! I wish you all the best in this platform and in all your projects! You can count on me for anything you need. I send you a big hug from Argentina! @kryptoland 👍🏻😄🇦🇷
welcome to the community, @Grahamdockery !! Wish you much luck! Cheers! Follow me ...
Hello and Welcome! Nice to meet you! Thanks for join
Welcome to.Steemit Graham. Let's get that car sooner. Here's my contribution with an upvoted :D Following you!
Thanks, looking forward to lurking around here some more!
Welcome to the world of crypto! I guarantee you, it'll be the most fun you've had in a while! Prepare to forego sleep and become obsessed with reading crypto news.. You think it's exciting now, but wait until you go 5-10x once or twice. You may want to reconsider trading in your coins for a car at that point... keeping it in crypto you can keep snowballing it over and over.. Just spend fiat on the car and keep the crypto. Invest in the ones that pay out dividends, then when they make it big, live off the profits :D
Cheers. It's already becoming an obsession. As for the car I reckon I'll spend only profit on it. This is a pie I want to keep as many fingers in as I can for a long time!
Get in now, live on scraps and don't get out until 10 years from now is my advice! Seriously. The last time I saw opportunities like this was back in the late 1990's when companies like Amazon, Google, Youtube, etc. were starting to appear. These crypto's are the tech giants of tomorrow, or atleast the decentralized versions of them. Today in crypto it's like being able to buy Google or Apple stocks when they were pennies to a dollar. If you pull out your money too fast, you'll be like the guy who spent 10000 bitcoins on a pizza. Except you got a car, but even then you got a bad deal!
Hi dear friend, welcome to Steemit. I want to welcome you on this amazing platform. If you have any questions concerning how to start here do not hesitate to ask, I will be more than happy to help you as much as I can.
I am a spiritual leader here on steemit, should you need to read God's word or receive a prayer, you are welcome on my blog as well.
You can Follow me too at @pastorlea
God bless you in your new journey on steemit...
Welcome to steemit. Please follow and upvote me. ill do the same too. Thank you... @wealth777
Welcome! Hope you enjoy Steemit! We are a great community. I am a Brazilian writer and journalist, living in London. Here I post about photography, travelling and stories. Have a look at my profile and if you like it, follow me. Cheers!
Welcome to steemit!
Congratulations @grahamdockery! You received a personal award!
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!