The great thing about chatting with like-minded crypto comrades is that your knowledge of all things crypto accelerates as everyone chips in to share what they know. Not to mention that it is an immensely enjoyable process because you get glimpses of how people in other countries are navigating their crypto journey to take into account their sociocultural environment. Here are 10 random things I learnt recently.

1. Scammers are everywhere these days - and it is not unheard of people losing their hard-earned money because they click on the first few results on their Google search and think that they are sending it to a legitimate crypto site. This happens to many users who use the Anchor or Mirror protocols. To prevent yourself from falling prey to such scans, it might be a good idea to use separate browsers for crypto transactions and normal browsing respectively. For example, Use Brave as your default browser and Chrome with all sites bookmarked specifically for making transactions with wallets. Hence, even if you click on malicious sites on Brave, the hackers still don’t be able to reach the wallet app.
2. UST is gaining traction these days, so here are two ways in which you can invest your assets in the Anchor protocol. Firstly, you could transfer your USDC to KuCoin, swap it to UST almost on a 1-to-1 ratio and withdraw your UST through the Terra network to your Terra Station Wallet and subsequently to the Anchor protocol. Alternatively, you could transfer USDC through ARBITRUM (Arbitrum One) network to KuCoin. All other steps apply.
3. If you want to try out a dapp alternative to WhatsApp and Telegram, this Discord-style web3 chat server - nftychat.xyz - might just be what you are looking for. No passwords. Just sign in with your Ethereum address. However, do note that you need to have more than one ETH wallet to enter the Whale chat, failing which you need to set your ENS .eth name to your ETH address to enter the General chat. It is still in beta right now.
4. Having a registered address in Switzerland, Midas is carving a name for itself with its tantalisingly attractive interest rates that are more competitive than those of its rivals. For my mates who have invested with Midas, they point out how it doesn’t use cold storage as all the money is invested in 60+ DeFi projects. Such diversification in multiple projects helps Midas to churn out such excellent rates. However, please DYOR to see if you have the appropriate risk appetite for it!
5. For those of you who are blessed with thick skin and don’t mind shitposting (the preferred term to karma farming) on r/cryptocurrency, do you know that there is a moon faucet (https://www.moonfaucet.cc/ ) that helps you get some tiny bits of moons? Do you also know that you should hold onto your moons so as to benefit from the bonus distribution next month? Moons can be converted to XLM on Celestial.trade quite effortlessly, so don’t miss out on this potential side hustle!
6. Those of you who are hooked on Midas will surely gravitate towards DeFi YAP as it is a fully automated investment portfolio that aims to invest in a selection of assets across the DeFi ecosystem. It is like the crypto version of index funds. A picture speaks a thousand words, so I will input a screenshot at the bottom of my article to bring you up to speed on the 8 assets gathered under one roof.
7. If you hate the idea of filing your capital gain taxes,

   TurboTax is a 3rd party vendor that we can submit our taxes to.

8. StepN is a Solana-based app that requires you to monetise your running/walking. However, before you download the app, take note of the downsides. Firstly, as this app is bombing right now, be prepared to fork out an immense entry cost, like $1200-1300 for a sneaker. Secondly, StepN works on the basis that new players will always be tempted to sign up. Hence, if growth slows, then its token, $GST, could very well crash.

9. A Ledger can store 2 or more different wallets (e.g. 1 MetaMask wallet, 1 Trust wallet, etc). You can even use the same seed phrase for all those wallets; just ensure that the Ledger has sufficient storage space to have multiple apps installed at once.

10. Speaking of seed phrases, Dorsey’s Block plans to leverage a fingerprint sensor instead of a password or seed phrase to secure your bitcoin. But one of my mates find biometrics to be an awful idea. His logic is that the government can force you to use your biometrics but they can't force you to tell them a PIN/passcode as you have the right to remain silent. Food for thought, huh?