How Crypto and Blockchain Technology has Impacted my Personal Finance

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My response to the initiative posted recently by @theycallmedan which asks "How has Crypto and Blockchain Technology Impacted your Personal Finance?"

https://leofinance.io/@theycallmedan/cryptofinance-initiative-how-has-crypto-and-blockchain-technology-impacted-your-personal-finance

If you plan to take part, make sure you are posting from https://leofinance.io/

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I'll start by answering the question in ten words or less:

Very little so far, but I live in hope!


In 2011 I bought what was at the time, a pretty hot gaming rig. Neon blue lights, huge fans and two graphics cards 'cross-fired' for, when I finally got the damn things working, some pretty slick gameplay. I let the local store build the machine for me and on walking out of the shop the owner asked me:

Are you going to be mining Bitcoin with that?

I laughed. What are they, 2 cents each? Naa, I'm going to be playing Battlefield 2 and chatting up girls in video chat rooms. Epic fail.

Move on to the beginning of 2013 and following a nice pay-rise and back-pay, I've got a little money to invest somewhere and chat to a school friend who is doing well as a financial advisor. I mention investing, and Bitcoin, and he laughs stating there are no regulations behind Bitcoin, and he wouldn't touch it with anyone's money. I choose to invest in some stocks, some of which (the ones I chose) I still hold today at around 90% down on investment.

It's now 2016 and following a failed investment in a cheap jewelry shop on an Island in the Balearic Sea, I have another small bundle of cash to invest, and most of that goes into chasing loses on the stocks mentioned above - throwing good money after bad I think it's called?! I did however create a Steem account on my mobile before posting once, not really understanding what was going on, and then landing a job which took over my time - until early 2017...

I'd been following @stephenkendal (where is he now?) on Twitter for a few years as he was drawing pretty graphs relating to some of the stocks I held. Around the beginning of 2017 he branched out to Crypto and I saw STEEM was scoring well on his metrics, which reminded me I had an account on this blockchain. I invested a little (moving ETH/LTC from Coinbase via Blocktrades to STEEM), wrote a few posts around work commitments, and started learning more about the technology and the characters on the network.

The bull that charged for most of 2017 before finally being skewered in the first weeks of 2018 was a real eye-opener to cryptocurrency. The money some accounts were earning, sometimes via methods I didn't agree with, was insane, and I too earned a fair amount (for me) over a few months at the peak of the last cycle. Enough actually to cover a relocation to Reunion Island with an ex-girlfriend.


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Good views at the top, and a long way downnnnn - link

She had found a teaching job there, and my plan was to chill, drink plenty of local rum, and blog. I would say I took about $5000 out of Steem over this period, and although the job/relationship/etc didn't work out, we did get to enjoy sightseeing on this island and in Mauritius before calling it a day and flying back to base.


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maa FATE is yet to be decided - Credit to @osm0sis - link

So, I did get to enjoy some of the Crypto earned during the last wave, and not just watch it all fall back to the lows of previous years.

Back at base, in the sunshine with cheap living, I managed to continue the life of scraping by off crypto for another year and a half before finally throwing in the towel and heading back to the UK to get a 'real' job. I certainly wasn't free, but it felt good to be writing and producing what I wanted on my own schedule.

The timing on the return to the UK was about right though and it allowed me to recoup some of the STEEM cashed out, and add a fair amount to it, most of which is now in HIVE tokens.

When it all went to shit on Steem, most of my tokens were moved over to HIVE but I did manage to resist a 100% swap and kept some back. Although, if only I'd waited a week and not sold half a BTC to power up 25000 HIVE. (BTC has doubled and Hive has halved since that trade)

Anyway, it's this small collection of (mainly) BTC/ETH/LTC that has been growing nicely over the past few months. I'm not getting excited yet though, as HIVE is still yet to get out of the blocks and is by far the largest holding. LEO and Splinterlands cards are second and third - I can't imagine what my PFA friend would say if I presented this to him!

As with other posts on this initiative, I guess it's more of a story of my journey so far, and not so much about personal finance. This finance is looking better on paper, but what I'd really like is to at some point convert some of it to bricks and mortar. A complete cash-out today would be a fair start on that, perhaps the deposit and fees paid for, but I am hopeful that holding steady for now could deliver a lot more next year, and so that is plan right now.

Cheers,

Asher


If you are not a member of Hive just yet, click the link below to connect through one of the many interfaces and start earning some tokens by telling your cryptocurrency journey so far.

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81 comments
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Stephen went all in on steem and is still there as far as I know :0(

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He's got 53k HIVE vested and it seems he's not aware?!

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Wow. He might not be. He was quite gnarly about the split. I wonder if he is not touching it out of principle?

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7k and rising, out of principle - he's doing better than i would be!

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Maybe he is hedging his bets! Although, I would have thought he would power down one and power up the other. Hedge betting it is!

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I don\t think he's even voting with his HIVE. It's just losing 8% value with inflation :/

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That's what I thought. He was pretty pissed off with the whole split so it wouldn't surprise me if he was being proud and not touching it out of principle. He was never one for autos.

Then again, might be a nice surprise if he sees your message!

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He's put a fair amount of time in promoting Steem and I can understand that part. However, what happened surely means the sane people moving to Hive?!

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I know! Everyone sane left for hive but he stayed. I remember him saying he wouldn't support a split. I think he was a bit heartbroken as he had put so much into it and couldn't bear to leave or believe it had changed

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He is aware. I messaged him and he says he was told he would not be welcome on Hive, so he has stuck with St++m. I think that is a shame. Hive is supposed to be about freedom and so everyone should be welcome even if there is some bad blood between them and people here. Let's not be hypocrites. We need people like him who are prepared to put in the effort on marketing.

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Hmm. Well he would be welcome on LEO I'm sure, even if his HIVE payouts were little. Thanks for getting in touch with him.

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I met him at the London crypto show when a load of Steemians showed up. He said he is 'holding his stake until everything is resolved', whatever that means. I don't know who told him to 'f*ck off' from Hive. I know some big players seem to be leaving, so maybe others will make him welcome. I would hope some of those who are trying to work on marketing are trying to build bridges generally.

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Thanks for the info. I guess it's good he is holding his HIVE.

And yeah, build not burn sounds like the best approach.

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Let me guess, the cost of living sometimes makes it difficult to like see personal achievements and finance, but then you were one of the real OGs and it was awesome having you in 2017 on steem even when you hinted that the journey started as far back as 2011.

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Yeah I guess the journey began when I first heard about Crypto, but i didn't act then or for 5/6 years :)

I got to live the dream for longer than most on the network, would be nice to have another shot at that next year.

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From a recent post of yours it seems you've got another crack at living in Spain - just in time for alt season and, hopefully, to escape the UK's draconian exit laws....fingers crossed for you :D
(This is Barge btw, I post on LF through this acc.)

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Very little so far, but I live in hope!

Kinda my story, but i did not cash out at all. i was late for the last crazy ride.
So for me it is at the moment more of an investment. If i cashed out today, i would probably be up some 2k from what i invested. "small" investment "small" return, at least at the moment.

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Yeah, a nice sum but there really does seem to be potential for more next year. I'll not be getting greedy though, as we know how it all ends!

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good thing for me is that i don't have to cash out anything at the moment, so i probably will not even if the price get a bit of the action.

but i can confirm that it was a bit crazy looking at the wallet when hive went to 90 cents :D

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(Edited)

Yes same here, I can wait also.

Imagine looking at it at the start of 2010. I 'only' had 5k STEEM vested and it was showing $40k+!

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That price today would be 1 mill wallet time! :O

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at the all time high i had like maybe 2-3 coins :D

well the ATH price would be crazy for you and a bit less but still crazy for me :D

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An enjoyable read, and at least touching on Personal finance!

I wonder if Dan was expecting more 'Crypto has changed my life' stories, if he was he's not getting many of them!

Why would anyone have stayed on Steem?!?

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I wonder if Dan was expecting more 'Crypto has changed my life' stories, if he was he's not getting many of them!

He is going to, trust me as many are living off Hive and they are going to post about it. There have been posts on Leo about that, people detailing what they have been able to buy with $15.

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That is a good point. In some countries earnings are covering much of what one needs. Here we need another 0 on the tokens at least :D

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As erikah states, I guess crypto is changing the lives of some right now. The western world needs a bigger bull though, especially for HIVE :D

Why would anyone have stayed on Steem?!?

A few more $ I guess. I'm willing to do without based on principle!

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You are a testimony of a positive impact crypto and blockchain has bring to ones personal finance

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Well thanks :) I mean, I'm not big-balling it by any means, but if I can use it to stake a reasonable claim in a house then i'll consider the investment of time and money a good one.

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Although, if only I'd waited a week and not sold half a BTC to power up 25000 HIVE. (BTC has doubled and Hive has halved since that trade)

Ouch, that must still hurt.

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It does. I'd mentioned to a few people what a listing on a major exchange can do for a token, and ignored my own research!

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Lol your PFA friend is still not a bitcoiner??? Ouch!

Interesting story. I doff my hats you OGs who didn't throw in the hat out of frustration from the bear, I guess y'all are hopeful lots. Must be nice

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He thinks it's 'a load of shite' :)

Pretty sure he'll be selling crypto-funds to pensioners in a few years though!

It's been a long time coming, but perhaps patience and HIVE stacking will start to pay off soon, cheers!

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Pretty sure he'll be selling crypto-funds to pensioners in a few years though!

😂😂lol I bet.

Cheers my friend

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hello dear friend @ abh12345 good afternoon
I admire your style and how much you enjoy life, it was a great journey this world of crypto for you. Amazing trip
I appreciate that you have taught us in detail all this related
I take this opportunity to wish you a splendid afternoon. Let the successes continue

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This is indeed a long journey and a remarkable one that at and I guess, it is difficult to pen down your finances and earning because you never thought to pen them but then starting as early as that shows how big you are in the system.

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I think most people have a fair idea of what has moved where, but maybe aren't so keen to share the details :D

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Very little so far I think for many of us. At some point it will impact though and I honestly do believe that. Looking forward to seeing your posts from Spain and finally getting back to what is normal. Amazing you had to leave Spain to get a job you can do from Spain so kind of perfect now.

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I am just as hopeful :)

Amazing you had to leave Spain to get a job you can do from Spain so kind of perfect now.

I never expected to have this opportunity and I'm going to make the best attempt possible to make it stick, cheers!

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What a beautiful crypto story!

I don't regret trading my steem for btc and a good chunck of my hive too back in late spring. I also dont regret a few more recent trades to xrp.

Although I've been rather quiet recently, maybe I'll do this initiative.

I'll go back to where I was late 2017 amd early 2018 to mostly just crypto. I'm kinda nervous, but not really in a blogging mood.
I can always buy back into Hive later, that's part of the reason why I like it. I'll let others earn inflation for now.

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Cheers!

I don't regret trading my steem for btc...

I bet you don't, wise move. Everyone should have a go at this one, its nice to know what people have been up to and the posts have encouraged a lot of engagement and visits to the leo interface I assume.

It's tough to kick posts out daily but hopefully it'll be worth the effort at some point.

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I laughed. What are they, 2 cents each? Naa, I'm going to be playing Battlefield 2 and chatting up girls in video chat rooms. Epic fail.

Hahaha, it may seem that laugh but i have tears in my eyes :P I saw about BTC when it was 20$ and didn't invest.... About the Battlefield and girls. i see you are a man of culture

It's now 2016 and following a failed investment in a cheap jewelry shop on an Island in the Balearic Sea,

hahah where and how did you find this shop? :P

The money some accounts were earning, sometimes via methods I didn't agree with, was insane, and I too earned a fair amount (for me) over a few months at the peak of the last cycle. Enough actually to cover a relocation to Reunion Island with an ex-girlfriend.

That's life! i know the feeling in a way. I spend some of the earnings that i cashed out on traveling to New York and China!

As with other posts on this initiative, I guess it's more of a story of my journey so far, and not so much about personal finance

I made a similar post, it's more of my journeys like yours and a little bit about what i learned through this journey!

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Just read your post, quite similar tales so far.

We found the shop online, it was a bad business decision!

Hopefully next year we can do better 😀

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Very interesting story, I remember those posts with massive rewards at the beggining of 2018. I didn't take an advantage of that because I was new on writing and creating content.

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Although, if only I'd waited a week and not sold half a BTC to power up 25000 HIVE. (BTC has doubled and Hive has halved since that trade)

OUCH :) oh well, shit happens.. maybe you'll earn it back when coins decide to pump big time :)
So you've been quite the traveler, ay? Nice!

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I'm hoping so, and then some :D

Seen a few places yeah, quite a lot when I was half my age actually - when travel was much cheaper!

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This initiative caused a series of extremely interesting and realistic stories but often in contradiction with the image I had of the author. It also happens in your case, an adventure through life that some can only read, I mean me.
Thanks for that, I enjoyed reading.

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Right :)

Well quite a lot of my life, especially the past 3/4 years is on the blockchain, but it is impossible to keep up with everyone.

Ups and downs, I guess an adventure needs to have a little of both, thanks :)

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That's quite the whirlwind journey I regret missing the boat on cashing out in 2017 and getting something real for my efforts, I could have totally paid for a few holidays but now I'm just stuck with all this bloody crypto oh woe is me lol

I am sure this is only the beginning of your journey next few years are going to put those ones to shame make it seem like baby steps

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Next time, now you been stacking for a few years more, the rewards will be bigger.

I'll be slicing HIVE as we moon - not even including an 'if today 😎

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Yo dude. Off topic.

How many staked Hive dishes out a one cent vote and what are those tokens worth in USD these days?

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Yo!

I'm not sure exactly, it looks like around 1100 HP for a 1 cent vote at full battery.

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I assumed that would be 1 cent USD?

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We still have that app? What the hell how come nobody told me! LoL. Gotta link?

So it's still about 100 bucks. Stays the same regardless of price. Interesting. Someone out the blue reblogged an old post of mine from last year where I broke down the math talking about 10000 people each buying a vote worth a penny, in order to support one content creator with a massive following, yadda yadda yadda, that consumer nonsense I've been trying to point out for years. How much one dedicated creator with a community can pull from the market.

I don't think I can write much of a how crypto changed my financial situation type post until I see an alarming number of consumers taking notice. Then we can have fun. These markets drive me nuts...

So odd someone would reblog such an old post though.

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Yesh and its working well at present

https://hivetasks.com/@nonameslefttouse

You've written a fair few which should appear in feeds weekly until the message sinks in.

I'm still waiting to see some marketing, but not letting it wind me up. Perhaps next yeah eh.

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Ooo shiny! I missed that app. Santa came early this year!

"Maybe next year." That should be our slogan. Ha! Sarcasm. Can't live without it.

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What a great post bro! You transmit all the effort you have made to make a remarkable positive change in your life. It is a very inspiring story. Greetings from Caracas! ✌

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