In July, 2016 I was talking to my wife about how I could have bought bitcoin when it was less than one cent per bitcoin. Had I done so then for the price of a pizza we would have been a multi-millionaire. I instead bought the weekly pizza for my family. My family and I were surviving on less than $40K per year with six of us.
I was telling her this and she told me if I ever see something I think there is a good chance it could go somewhere to tell her and we would DO it. We would find a way to take the risk.
With that new conversation and support from her I decided to dive into some Ethereum mining. I spoke to a friend @kaptainkrayola about it and he suggested some things and he suggested bittrex.com.
I signed up to bittrex in July, 2016. I happened to sort the currencies by growth and there was this one called Steem that was at 220% growth or something like that. I asked myself "What is that?" and I went and looked at the website.
Get paid to blog, to vote, etc. It sounds too good to be true. How much does it cost? Nothing... they even give me $10 worth of the crypto for signing up (Was 10 Steem Power when I signed up). It seemed like no risk. I should give it a try.
I didn't make much on a lot of my earlier posts but I had a few that got over $100 worth of this weird crypto I had to figure out. It cost me nothing.
I told my family members about it, and told a few friends. One of my children @theanubisrider signed up when it still gave him 10 steem power. Another @kellywin21 waited until the next day and only got 5 steem power. Other family members waited a little longer and only got 2 steem power.
Why?
It turns out I signed up to steemit only a few days after it went live. The value of steem rose from $1/steem when I signed up to $4/steem within days. So those other family members were still getting $10 worth of currency, but the price had increased so they got less.
The true AHA moment was the first time I converted it to bitcoin and actually bought something with it. After that when I acquired the bitpay card (I now use Shift instead) and was able to buy ANYTHING with proceeds from my efforts with steemit, my life changed.
I know I've spent somewhere around $30,000 on various things in the almost two years I have been using steemit. Not counting that, a couple of weeks ago my steemit accounts, and crypto that I have invested in since then were collectively worth more than $110,000.
How much money did I spend to get there? $0.
I spent a lot of time and effort. I stuck with it, even through some hard times.
There was one time I had the 3rd trending post. It has only happened for me once. Sadly this happened during the early process right after they went to a 30 day average based payout and they started with $0 rather than calculating the average from the previous 30 days. So until the pool refilled that average for awhile the payouts were very low. I think I received less than $100 for that 3rd trending place trending post. That may have been bad luck. Steemit on the other hand has proven to be one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
I mostly stuck with steem, and bitcoin. I didn't really invest in other crypto, but I was learning about other crypto. I didn't invest simply because I didn't have a lot to invest.
When steem became very valuable I powered down 2 to 3 times which is the only times I have and then used the resulting steem to diversify in cryptos.
I spread myself out quite a lot as I remember a person posting last year that had you invested an equal amount in every crypto including the shitcoins that failed you would have made 7700% return. That is a massive return.
Now cryptos are diving, but some of this seems to happen every year from early to mid January and then rise again. Had I known of this pattern I'd have sold crypto at the end of December, waited for this trend to hit, and bought back in on the low side. I'll remember next year.
We see people like Paul Krugman saying "See the crypto bubble is deflating!!"
Do you realize that last year around this time Ethereum was at one point close to $11/Eth. Bitcoin was at around $1000/BTC.
So if being up 700% on bitcoin from last year, and 9000%+ on ethereum is a crash then it is clear these guys don't know what a crash is. Did it decline from it's high? Yes. Yet it is still way up. This is normal.
We hear a lot of FUD which is a term I didn't know until steemit became the gateway drug to cryptos. For those of you that see the term, but don't know what it is. It stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. It is people posting FUD that can make people panic and sell.
I truly believe crypto is the future. I don't necessarily believe bitcoin is the future, but I do believe crypto is. The miner fees for bitcoin are killing it's potential as far as I am concerned, far more than the speed does.
Yet there are a lot of cryptos. I do think bitcoin will go up again, and I'll invest there, but due to those fees I do not consider it particularly useful as an actual currency. Who wants to buy something for $5 and have it cost $35 due to the miner fees? If anything causes bitcoin to lose its seat at the top I believe the most likely culprit is these fees.
I invested heavier in ethereum starting a few weeks ago. I am glad I did. While it too is declining, it has declined less than bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, etc. I still think Ethereum has flaws, but I did expect it to do well. Part of my decision was the rumors and filings for a domain name amazonethereum.com. If Amazon started allowing payment via ethereum then that I think would be a huge boost for Ethereum.
I also signed up to Binance.com so I could finally buy some EOS. Technologically I believe EOS has vast potential. I wanted to own some. I didn't want to avoid the risk as I had in the past. Yet, I didn't stop just there. I own between 30 to 50 different cryptos.
All of this is thanks to steemit.
The bulk of my investment is still in steem in the form of steem power. Steem has huge potential as well. It is far faster than Ethereum. In fact the only crypto speed wise I am interested in at the moment that is potentially faster, and better scaling is EOS. That shouldn't be surprising since it is the creation of Dan Larimer (@dan, @dantheman) who created steem, and bitshares. Steem is and bitshares both run on Graphene 2.0 and are very fast. EOS takes what he learned from making these and takes it to a new level. I believe it's potential is huge.
Though I still consider myself an amateur. Take it with a grain of salt, and not as sound investment advice. I was willing to invest about $3000 into it this time. That is a lot more than $20 for a pizza, but I didn't want to look back a year, two years, or five years from now and be saying "If only..." like I did with bitcoin.
I am currently HODL (holding, not selling) my crypto and buying MORE while the prices are low.
I expect it to go up. I expect the market cap of all cryptos to go into the trillions in the long term. As far as I am concerned it is the future of currency (aka money), as well as decentralized storage.
The only crypto that is popular that I don't support is Ripple. It is not decentralized, and seems positioned to be an arm for big bankers to try to seize some control. I was investing in it until I learned more about it. It seems like a step in the wrong direction, so while it may make some people a lot of money it is not something I will support. I'll resist XRP / Ripple as a matter of principle. I'll try not to have an "If only..." moment with it and will instead view any of that as my cost to follow my principles, and ethics.
To the many of you I have interacted with here on steemit, both positive and negative. Thank you!
Great place! Amazing platform! Amazing community!
Life changing.
To those of you new and struggling. The key is perseverance. Keep moving forward and don't let how much you do or do not make on your posts stop you.
Steem popped my crypto-cherry too!!
I know very little about crypto and don't have extra cash to invest anyway. That's the beauty of steemit. All it takes is a little time and perseverance to earn yourself some crypto. The crypto you earn is secondary to the experience you gain meeting people from all over the world.
I'm sitting here in Pennsylvania and I regularly communicate with folks from all over the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe. As time goes on I'm sure I'll connect with people from other parts of the world as well. Listen to @dwinblood, don't worry about the rewards. Become a positive active member of the community and rewards will come eventually. And it doesn't cost a penny.
Well said!!
Brilliant piece my brother. Heartfelt and worth reading. This is what I'm looking for most when I'm about and about surfing steemit for material. I thank you for this and look forward to more! You sound like you're doing well. I commend you for taking control and pushing forward. I'm on the same path from very similar beginnings.
you and I have similar experiences...but you started sooner than me.
nice to see you back...you been gone a while?
No, I've been around... just not posting as often. I posted on my @newsagg, @becauseisaidso and other sub-accounts some. Trying to put certain types of posts under certain types of accounts so it isn't as much of a pain in the ass to find my older posts on certain subjects. :)
But, also a bit busy in RL. Which is why I only posted here and there.
Excellent publication, steemit is a great platform, since it allows you to interact with many people, know their cultures, gastronomy, among many other things, I congratulate you for your post.
Same here. If it were not for Steemit, I would have never opened Bittrex, never purchased XRP or ADA, never made 10x the money on such small sums. I feel fortunate yet, at the same time befuddled by what it is, how it works, why some posts get $50 SBD and other $0.30.......I enjoy the company, the crypto is sprinkles on the icing I guess. I am now just writing about what I care to recall and wish to share.
Hiya Dwinblood.
LOL @ buying pizza instead. Doh! :D
I wish I'd got into steemit earlier but it's a very exciting time for cryptos. I've been surfing a few waves -- really badly :S -- but learning bits every day thanks to posts like these.
Thanks for sharing.
Anj :)
It's turning out to be mine too. Great title, even better post really good job, loved it!
Blockchain technology is so much more than just crypto though, it's a whole new way of interaction; internet 2.0. Steemit has been my introduction to this crypto world as well, and yes it has been life changing! Also steered me in the right direction on where to invest my money into. EOS > BitShares > Steem
This is very inspiring as someone who just joined Steemit! I only found out about it a couple weeks ago but I’ve been buying cryptos since July. I’m kicking myself for not joining sooner, that’s for sure! I don’t know if I will actually make much with my content, but I am enjoying the platform and have met some cool people so far! Best of all it’s taken my mind off the state of the market right now :)
Welcome to the community. Engaging in steemit I personally find very mind expanding.
We exercise our bodies to strengthen our muscles. Using steemit feels like we strengthen our minds. It is also very liberating.
Thanks for sharing this story. Steem has had its challenges lately, but its value as a gateway to the entire movement is why I fight for it.
I remember crossing paths with you close to when I first started. I always see your handle and for some reason think of Trogdor "burninatin' the village" so it's easy to remember. Of course I also think of Troglodyte. :) I believe there was actually an @trogdor that used to be active, and may still be but I haven't really kept up on a lot of that. Our population of steemit users is a lot bigger than it once was. :)
Very similar situation for me. I had a passing interest in Bitcoin for quite some time. I first heard about it when it was trading at 30 cents from a friend of mine (@libertyrocks) who was mining it in the early days using his PC. At the time I had $1500 in a brokerage account making at best 10-15% in the stock market. If I had invested all of that in BTC at 30 cents I would have had almost $100 million worth when it was at its $20k high. Like you, in late 2016 I finally decided to invest in crypto thanks to Steemit. I set up all my accounts to see if Steemit was a scam, so it was my gateway, literally. Half went into BTC and half went into Steem. It was only $300 total, so $150 in Steem. I got quite a healthy return on my BTC, even now with the pullback, but I pulled a horseshoe out of my ass and bought Steem when it was a around 10 cents, so the majority of my account value you see in my Steem Power is from that initial $150. The other bit of money I had moved out of BTC into BCH (lost my butt on that trade), then into Steem (made it back and then some), that's most of the remaining amount in my Steem wallet. I've just recently started putting money into other cryptos because of the recent pullback. I don't want to miss the boat this time. I think anyone investing now will do quite well in the next few years.
Yeah it is nice to finally have some to invest. I wouldn't be able to say that without steemit.
I've been with Steemit for a while too. Definitely a gateway into cryptocurrencies, and that's a good thing! I haven't put in nearly the same amount of time as a lot of people here, but it has still enabled me to get a little Bitcoin and a small stash of altcoins.
I joined with nothing except a desire to write things I have never written about. And make a few dollars.
That was a few months ago.
Now I see this as a platform that enables me to continue writing, make some money, and still increase wealth via the platforms growth.
It's a win win.
great.
we are getting there soon, I got to hear about steemit not long ago and I know ill achieve great things here
I completely agree, most of the people who join Steemit are starting in the cryptomarket, and that's one of the reasons that makes me trust in Steem, because they have the ability to attract many people without the need to have to buy Bitcoin first or know the market thoroughly, is a very good way to start, maybe the best.
When I joined this market, a few months before entering Steemit, the BTC was just under $ 1000, if it was bought over there, multiplied many times my money with only BTC, I think we all have a similar history to this, and it is because the whole market continues to grow, despite the decline of the last few weeks, but if we believe that the BTC is already too high to enter, then we will regret it when it goes back up, this is a market that still has a lot for growing up
P.S. Ripple is crap.
I like what I am seeing here at steemit and will just use my time to invest with here. I loved your story and the future with watching you as well.
Awww man - don't be a ripple hater. That's my biggest bag.
Ripple is 100% decentralized - everything is open and usable on GIT -
and I am running a ripple cluster node myself to learn the software.
(guide to set up rippled cluster and/or validator)
https://rabbitkick.club/rippled_guide/rippled.html
it's not everyday a dumb carpenter gets to work with trillion dollar banking software ;)
It's just like any of these opensource platforms - don't like it - just change the code any convince everyone to jump in ;)
There is more to decentralization than just the nodes. It also is in the accumulation of currency. Since the creator kept the bulk of the currency they have total ability to manipulate the market by what they do with that currency. So it is centralized there as well.
There are other cryptos out there that do similar things, but are not setup like ripple.
I was invested in it quite a bit for a couple of weeks and recommended it to other people. It's not for me now though.
Steemit opened my way to crypto world too
Thanks for this Interesting view from you on the cryptos and the way you past to achieve the point where you are now.
Gateway drug... nice way of putting it! It was Steem for me, too. If getting into other currencies was just as easy - I am trying to buy a bit of the dip and my head hurts from all the technical difficulties of creating new wallets, signing up on new excahnges. At least this kept me busy all afternoon so I forgot about watching the markets.
Brilliant. For me it was the other way round, crypto was my gateway drug to Steemit. I was reeling from all my losses during the Nigerian Ponzi Craze of 2017 (in Nigeria) The only upside of that embarrassing disastrous mess was that it had introduced me to crypto. Somewhere in that window of time, in an obscure school WhatsApp group, I stumbled across mention of some site where you could get paid in crypto for blogging.
Disbelieving, I did a deep dive and realized this was legit -- and that my whole life had been preparing me for this. How could I not?!
Joined in July 2017, obviously haven't had nearly as much success as you but what I've gotten out of Steemit is more than just the money. I have become a faster more disciplined writer and have learned a lot about blockchain, self-presentation, crypto and countless other things.
But also? The money 😁
Steemit is truly a mind expanding place, and with effort can also be financially liberating.
Thanks for interesting post..
Coins mentioned in post:
Muy buena su experiencia amigo, me da mucho animo de seguir adelante, le deseo mucho mas éxito.
Very nice post