I SAW ETHER WHEN IT WAS 0.01 BUT WAS TOO YOUNG TO CARE (18yo)
So I totally know how you feel man.
Also If you did startup investment you HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF ICOS right now Its stupid. Most of them just want the cold hard cash they make from the spread between the opening of the ICO and its closing.
Welcome to Steemit! Your post was awesome!
Yeah, that sounds just as bad ;)
I have to disagree with your statement on the number of ICOs being ridiculous though. You have to consider that we're talking about a fully global market. Who knows how many start-ups around the world, each month try to raise money for the next Coke/Red Bull/whatever alone ;) Compared to that these ICOs have highly differing goals: money, storage, computation, IoT communication, tokenizing real world assets, etc.
Yet the number of ICOs is compounding a problem: A lot of peoples due diligence stops half a page into "we'll be the everything of everything and have all the usecases" written on a beutifully designed website. Some find reassurance by the perceived reputation of the developers or someone who works with them. Or someone is only suggested to be working with them. That's why the wild west theme applies so well.
Also, would you blame a good and honest project for making an ICO now instead of waiting for the current exubarance to pass? Even good projects act rational when jumping on a bandwagon, if it assures their continued development. That makes trying to find them among the cashgrabbers and soon-to-be-never-finished projects all the harder :/
Of course and I fear that this may bring more trouble to the crypto world as a whole. Since investors "trust" those companies. 2 out of 5 can be good and the rest is pure PnD it truly is the wild west. I think this scene fits perfect with it all
There will be trouble, and it will take down some of the good projects just like that safe.
But it'll pass, all new industries go through that stage. Doesn't make it any easier on anyone losing large stakes of their savings some day. It's why you have to diversify.
But what If you start with little capital? Its diversifying still good?
That's the advantage of this new world: Low transaction costs (let's ignore BTCs current state ;)
You can take $100 and divide them among... let's say 5 coins/tokens. Buying 5 different stocks would eat half that sum, exchanging coins willl not. Over time you can switch coins or expand your portfolio, all at a small cost.
Also, searching for something to diversify into, you'll automatically learn along the way, wether you invest or not. Can't go wrong with that ;)
Now that you say it it makes more sense.
I started investing with a 220$ and now I am up to 950$
And all of it was from diversity and HODLing through tough times
Good job then. Keep it up :)