How I became involved in the world of blockchain!

I first became involved in Bitcoin around the start of 2014, after the wave attention it received in relation to the Mount Gox scandal. As a professional software developer and a scientist at heart, I was immediately captivated by blockchain technology and it's potential to change the world. It was during this time that I discovered a passion for economics and politics and started down a path that would redefine my character and sense of purpose. At the time, I had a comfortable software job and had adjusted well to my new life in Germany.

Similarly to many post-graduate professionals around the world, my priority shifted towards reducing my student loan debt. This proved to be difficult seeing as I was now living in Germany and my debt was owed to the NZ government. As I had an Australian bank account and the ability to repay NZ student loans from Australia was streamline and convenient, I decided to conduct regular international bank transfers from Germany to my account in Australia.

The opaqueness of the bank transfers, coupled with long waiting periods and high fees made it abundantly clear to me how inexperienced in the field of remittance I was and how naive I had been. Unknowingly, this was just the push I needed to consider using Bitcoin as a viable and efficient form of value transfer. Thanks to the peer to peer bitcoin trading platform Localbitcoins, I was able to easily purchase Bitcoin from traders around the EU via SEPA and sell in Australia the next day, and with a nice arbitrage profit on top. Shortly after that, I began working for a financial startup, where my understanding of finance deepened and my future of blockchain and decentralisation evangelism commenced.

Two years and a trading volume upwards of 50 Bitcoin later, I had successfully paid-off my student loan. Up until that point, my knowledge of investment was limited. I had a specific use case for Bitcoin and it had served it well. The cryptocurrency market had sprung to life, and I had a front-row seat in following many of the projects and technologies as they developed.

I envisioned a future of decentralised autonomous organisations. I believed that with the modern advances in computing power and network bandwidth coupled with the rise of open source collaboration, immutable public ledgers and distributed software, that what would follow over the next five years would not only disrupt most if not all industries but would inevitably lead to the fourth industrial revolution.

This is the falling down the 'rabbit hole' feeling that many blockchain enthusiasts are familiar with. I was endowed with a sense of purpose that has only grown stronger over time, and as I discussed economics, politics and technology with various intelligent individuals over the months and years, I knew that the time to dive head first in the blockchain revolution was fast approaching.

Two months ago I began to be approached by friends and ex-colleagues now ready to take the plunge into Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. We decided to create an investment fund together using the decentralised asset exchange called Bitshares.

 

Shortly after, I created a Bitshares UIA (User-Issued-Asset) with a hard cap of 100 units. This UIA is 100% collateralized by my investment portfolio, where 1 unit represents a 1% share of the portfolio. This is a private venture accessible to a select group of participants that approached me with the desire to learn more about blockchain technology and crypto investment first hand.

The participants provide capital through purchasing the UIA on a public exchange and the value is returned via regular and frequent share repurchases. All actions and transactions are immutably recorded on the Bitshares and Steem blockchain platforms. I've established an online community on the Steem blockchain where all participants (including myself) can effectively discuss these topics and receive a portion of UIA as a reward for their contributions.

As an instrument to learn about blockchain technology, decentralisation and the near infinite plethora of topics surrounding these fields, I believe that it's a step in the right direction.