I registered with Publish0x last June, shortly after I converted my BAT tokens to ETH and deposited it with Hodlnaut. So ya, I have been a user of Publish0x ever since I ventured into the crypto world. A year ago, if you told me that I would have the courage to post the lessons I learnt from dabbling in crypto for one year, I would have retorted that you were crazy. I felt woefully inadequate and definitely not qualified to share my takeaways. 

One year on, I still feel inadequate. But if there is one thing I realise after witnessing how BTC plunged below its 2017’s ATH value yesterday, it is that no one knows anything about shit. It’s like running one mile under four minutes. No one believed that this was an achievable feat until Roger Bannister accomplished it. Similarly, no one seriously believed that the value of Bitcoin could go below $19.7k - the ATH established in 2017 - due to the staunch support floor or whatever reason. But when this unpleasant event happened, people started commenting on how BTC was now facing its first recession and wouldn’t be governed by the market trends of the past. Which goes to show that hey, my guess is as good as yours!

Now that I have established my authority on the subject of crypto investing, what insights can I impart so that you gain from this musing? I think sharing my experience will help because I take a rather unorthodox approach towards crypto investing. So here’s the most important confession: I have never invested my own money into crypto. 

Before I answer the million and one questions that must be swirling around your mind, let me explain the benefit of this approach. Not investing my own money means that I’m impervious to the emotional trauma and turmoil that the crypto market crash brings. My portfolio looks even more pathetic than usual, but since it’s not money out of my own pockets, it doesn’t evoke any negative emotions on my part.

So the maxim “don’t invest what you cannot afford to lose” is not applicable in my case since I set this impenetrable boundary. Now I’m ready to enlighten your curious mind. Then how do I grow my portfolio? Well, I was lucky enough to come onboard when Hodlnaut dished out weekly commission income for referrals who had signed up via my referral code. I had 15 referrals then, so I received $20-$30 worth of crypto every week. Those were my glorious days.

Hodlnaut might have suspended its weekly commission income scheme, but I have incorporated other crypto-earning opportunities into my life. Faucets. Coinbase’s Learn and Earn program. Shitposting on Reddit. And posting my writing on Publish0x, of course. Now I know these avenues won’t generate me much crypto but they sure enhance my sense of self-agency. Just today, I decided to use MoonSwap to redeem my Moons for LTC. About $10 worth of LTC arrived at my Gemini account soon after. Which was enough to buoy my sense of happiness because the good folks at Reddit found my attempts at humour to be passable enough to tip me upvotes. 

Why not keep my Moons in my Vault so that I will be awarded more moons in subsequent distributions? I hear you ask. Well, that’s because I have two distinctive goals that I want to achieve from my crypto stint. The first goal is to be a whole coiner so that my son can inherit one BTC from me in future, which is why I seldom withdraw crypto from the Hodlnaut account.

The other goal is to use my crypto earnings to pay down my mortgage. I think the second goal works rather well for me actually because it’s a reminder of how we should be disciplined enough to take profits along the way. Come rain or shine, I cash out my monthly crypto earnings and pay down my mortgage. Yes, with the bear market, it means that I get less fiat these days. But on the other hand, if you view it from the lens of how I have been keeping to this monthly routine, the exact amount I derive from crypto pales in comparison. There is a Japanese proverb that says “Continuance is strength.” I will like to think that I am as steadfast as a samurai!

Thank you for reading thus far. Thank you for your support all this while. Posting here helps my daddy hustle, so I am grateful. Happy Father’s Day to all daddy hustlers out there.