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When I first heard about Bitcoin I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

That was in 2016. Now I am a full-on crypto fiend. I have taken the red pill and crossed over to the other side.

I currently own Bitcoin, Etherium, Stellar, Basic Attention Token, Bitcoin Cash, and Polkadot. I am certainly not a whale by any stretch of the imagination, but I do invest on a regular basis. Sometimes I put in as little as $10. I just do it on a regular basis.

Jumping In The Deep End

My first exposure to cryptocurrency came via a freelance writing assignment. I was hired to write an ebook for beginning crypto investors. I knew nothing about crypto at the time but lied in my proposal and got the job.

I spent two entire days learning all I could about cryptocurrencies. I read articles and watched YouTube videos. At that time there wasn’t much content out there. Unlike today. And most of the videos focused solely on Bitcoin.

I wound up writing another crypto ebook for the same client and then parlayed that into a few more crypto articles.

At that point, I was hooked.

Steemit To The Rescue

During my initial research, I discovered a site called Steemit. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like all my prayers had been answered. Here was a site where I could post my writing and get paid for it.

No editors to pitch, no gatekeepers, just the word, and the audience.

At first, I didn’t do so well. The Steem Backed Dollar (SBD) was worth less than a dollar and I wasn’t getting too many votes.

But about a year or so later things dramatically changed. SBD shot up to $14 and I was making between $500-700 a week. All from just posting content. It was paradise.

I had my BitPay debit card connected to my BitPay wallet and I could load it up and make purchases in any currency. This came in handy when I was traveling in Mexico.

I would create weekly YouTube videos where I would show viewers how much money I made that week.

Things were going great. Until they didn’t.

Surviving The Crash

The beginning of 2018 was rough. Not only did the price of Bitcoin crash, but so did all the others. By August (just in time for my birthday) the price of SBD was below a dollar.

My income was nearly non-existent. I was being laughed at and ridiculed for my embrace of crypto. But i was okay. Certainly not okay financially, but overall I was feeling good.

As a former stockbroker, I lived through the DotCom Bubble and the Housing Bubble. The Crypto Crash didn’t tank the US economy or wipe out people’s retirement savings. My experience helped me cope and I didn’t lose my optimism for the future of crypto.

I simply kept calm and carried on.

I found an affiliate marketing network that gave me the option of getting paid in Bitcoin. I jumped at the chance.

Raging Against The Machine

The reason I prefer to be paid in Bitcoin is twofold.

First, I hate dealing with banks and credit card companies. They have way too many fees and they take far too long to process anything.

Secondly, I love privacy. It is no one’s business (especially the government) how much money I have. Being able to cross borders without having to explain why you have a certain amount of money is a great feeling.

While I am certainly not an anarchocapitalist, I do believe that central banks are evil. Being able to send money across the world and not have a middle man slow things down and take a part of the cash for their “service.”

I have always said that if you want to bring down a system, do not participate in it. I don’t vote for any candidate with a D or an R before their name. While I do have a traditional banking app on my phone, I move the majority of my money into crypto as soon as possible.

While we are currently in the middle of a massive crypto bull market, I am cautiously optimistic. During the DotCom Bubble, it was very difficult to lose money. Any company that had anything to do with the Internet was exploding.

I feel like we are seeing the same thing in the crypto market. Just look at the wild ride that Dogecoin has had over the last few weeks.

I try not to get caught up in all the hype surrounding the crypto market. I do my best to look at fundamentals. This is why I am putting money into coins like Stellar, Basic Attention Token, and Polkadot.

Only time will tell if they become the market giants that I think they will become. However, I will be in for the long haul.