Thoughts ... and Tips for Beginners

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Facebook again

Yesterday evening I received a whatsapp from my sister asking if I had created a new facebook account. So I send back, “No, I am no longer active on facebook anyway. My account there is locked up, double secured if all goes well and I don't do anything with it. But why? " She replied that she had received a friend request from an account that used my first and last name. No profile picture then not, but still! She hadn't accepted it yet because she wanted to make sure it was me first. That turned out not to be the case.

Blaming BITCOIN?

Now that is one thing, of course, but what was most surprising to me was the following. When I sent her an app that I would report it to facebook the next morning, she sent me an app back with “Isn't this all because of those BITCOINS”.

It was late, and my partner was already asleep, but it didn't last long. I did burst out laughing so hard at this comment that he woke up quickly. When I was done laughing, I explained to my partner what was going on, and sent my sister an app back with “I don't expect that”, leaving it at that.

Ex Neighbors are more likely

My partner and I both have the same thought about this. It is more likely to have to do with an angry ex-neighbor than with BITCOINS. If my wallet were this full now… lol. Anyway, they would still not look for anything on my facebook because there is nothing to get there. And impersonating myself with another account, who would get out of that if it were Bitcoins? No, not really logical.

The average Dutch

But what it did make clear to me was the following. I think you can compare my sister with the average Dutch. Not really very smart, but also not the dumbest that will walk around in this country. Just average. No high flyer, no low flyer. And I think her train of thought is also comparable to many people… and apparently it is still: "Crypto, not to be trusted!"

That made me think again afterwards. Because how 'normal' to us now the names Bitcoin and Ethereum are, we talk about DeFi as if we are talking about a new fashion line from Gucci, we throw with terms like “Bear and Bull Market”, as if we are talking about the weather, and to top it all off, we laugh when that same Ethereum and Bitcoin drop 30% in one day and just say "Buy the dip!" We are all trying to figure out where the next support and resistance lines are and before that we look at the candlesticks… and so where the average population laughs at all those 'crypto madmen' when Bitcoin goes through such a fall, we laugh at them. Because they miss 'the ride' up in the next Bull Market.

Mass adoption is not so close yet

My sister asking me if it could be related to 'Those Bitcoins' proved to me again how far away Crypto is from mass adoption. I seriously would have thought that by now people would have more confidence in Bitcoin in particular. I mean, this coin has been in the news so many times now. It started because of the Bull Market in 2017, but now recently that Bitcoin hit a new ATH of 42,000 USD, and still people like my sister dare not believe this is real!

My sister still believes that Bitcoin is “Fake Money” and that you cannot do anything with it. And still my sister says, "I will not put anything in Bitcoin because the next day I lost everything". And I think, "Uhm well no, you will never lose it". Yes, it is possible that the value in euros will decrease. But once you own a Bitcoin, it is and will remain yours until you send that Bitcoin out of your wallet.

And that made me think… how long would it take before we see the real mass in crypto. How many of the population is now active in crypto? And why is it that people like my sister keep so stubbornly refusing to delve more into this technology? If I heard in the news that Bitcoin is worth USD 42,000, and I don't own any of that yet, I would certainly go to the trouble of finding out why it was worth so much, and how I could get it. Yet that is not what I see around me.

3 years, made some nice profits and still I am crazy?

After more than 3 years of being active with crypto, I have only recently seen a slowly increasing interest in my partner. But that is really the only one in my immediate environment that shows that. All my friends and my family are very far from crypto. One says it's illegal, the other says I don't get it. Another flatly asks me “Bitcoin, what is that?”, And others say “Oh you really have to stop doing that before you get picked up by the police, that's all criminal, you shouldn't want that!”.

Now I admit, I live in the countryside in North Brabant, but it is really not the case that only underdeveloped people live here. So well, it really surprises me I must say. The resistance tooth that I have been feeling for 3 years and the disapproval on people's faces when they hear about crypto ”. It means that I cannot actually talk to anyone about crypto anyway, that I am really alone in my life. Not always pleasant, because sometimes when I am happy about something I also want to share that joy. Unfortunately… that never went. Fortunately, my partner's approach has recently changed and I can now talk to him about this, but it has been lonely for a long time. And for a long time it made me feel like I was crazy. That I was doing things that could not be done, and many have made me feel in the past years that I was doing useless, while I was trying hard to reach a turning point in my life. I fought for my financial independence!

Taking back control with crypto

And now I was thinking ... what would it take to show people that fiat money is going all the way in the wrong direction. The control that goes further and further, the cash that is increasingly disappearing, giving the banks and government per country even more control over your money. Why don't those people see that you take back control of your money with crypto. Yes of course I also see the volatility that is going on in crypto right now. But in addition to the risk, I also see the many possibilities that this entails. The knife cuts both ways. Yes you can lose a lot, IF you put in everything you have there is a risk that you will lose everything. But this has never been different with speculating in the stock market. Yet that has been around for as long as I can remember and no one will say you are stupid to do it. At most, people will say… "Be careful, and how do you do that?" Then they suddenly become curious and open to it. While crypto offers just as many or perhaps more possibilities, and yet I don't see the people around me making a rejection gesture. But "Oh no, I won't, I don't want anything illegal."

This once again gave me the idea to write down the best tips I could think of for crypto beginners!



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  • TIP 1)

Make sure you understand what the blockchain is, what it does, what it stands for, and don't invest until you really understand it. So don't just invest for the quick money!



Why do I say that? After all, we are all there for the money, I now almost hear people thinking! Well that's not entirely true. That's only part of the blockchain. To understand how important the blockchain is, you have to go back to the invention of the internet. At the time, that ensured freedom of information. And that was already seen as revolutionary. But the possibilities within the blockchain have been built that this technology can again provide the freedom of value. And that is far more revolutionary than freedom of information has ever been or could have been. The freedom of value is unprecedented. That has never existed. And that is precisely the power of the blockchain, the blockchain has the potential to provide freedom of value! Let that sink in for a moment before you read on, understand HOW this freedom of value is possible, how the blockchain works and what it can mean. You can also invest in 10 minutes.


  • TIP 2)

Only invest what you can afford to lose. Then you don't have to regret losing it, but also make sure you don't regret that you should have invested more.



This doesn't really mean anything like “Know how far you can go”. Of course you understand that if you do not have more than 2500 euros in savings, then it is not wise to invest all this in crypto. Because we all know, the price can go up sharply today, but if you don't recognize that yet, don't take your winnings and keep going, then the next day you could lose more than you won. That is painful to watch, but it becomes even more painful when the price goes into free fall just after your investment and you see your entire investment reduced to a fraction of what it was. Especially if you are just starting out in crypto, this can cause a huge bad feeling and it can cause your trust in crypto to be damaged forever. You sell your crypto with a lot of loss to save what you can save and get an experience richer, but an illusion poorer from the crypto for good.

If you get in with money that you can spare, which you use purely to get the feel for crypto, to test whether it is for you, then the emotions are less high. If you lose it, you lose it. Still no fun, certainly not! But you can look at it more distantly and less emotionally and also analyze where things went wrong. If you can win, you still have to be careful not to get too Greedy, because that's where things still go wrong. But all in all, with money you wouldn't miss if you didn't have it anymore, you're still stable there and less emotional.


  • TIP 3)

Perhaps the most important tip I could think of, and one that is too often passed over. Invest your time and money not only in the crypto itself, but also in the security of your crypto!



We all know that within crypto hackers and scammers are there. They are active on a daily basis, and those who do not want to become a victim of it would do well to keep their hard-earned crypto safely on a hardware wallet. Many people leave it on an exchange, and even though these exchanges will do everything they can to prevent hacks. They can never rule it out. After all, they are a favorite target of hackers. But the software wallet on your phone or on your PC is also a potential risk. The most secure way to store your crypto is and remains a hardware wallet, offline! Unfortunately, the hack game will continue for a while, it can just be very lucrative ... so make sure your crypto is safe yourself!

  • TIP 4)

If you are looking for a crypto to invest in, look at the total market value and not only the price!



Just for your imaging, a brief comparison with XRP. A Bitcoin is worth many thousands of dollars at the moment. An XRP is only a fraction of this, you buy 1 XRP for 0.26 USD. Now suppose that XRP gets all steam ahead and dethrones Bitcoin. People who have not done their homework expect the XRP price to go upside down many times ... yet nothing could be further from the truth. Of Bitcoin, 18 million are currently mined, in total only 21 million Bitcoins are released. Never will this be again. At least 40 billion of XRP are already in circulation. And up to 100 billion available. Each month a maximum of 1 billion XRP is released, which is not used, which is returned to the Foundation. But the scarcity of Bitcoin is certainly not reflected in XRP. With at least 40 billion in circulation compared to the 18 million Bitcoin in circulation, that means that even if XRP were to overthrow Bitcoin, the XRP price would be far from match Bitcoin's price, simply because the scarcity is not present. And that does not mean that you cannot make a profit with these types of coins. Of course that is very well possible, but do not expect that this crypto, just like Bitcoin, will suddenly be worth many thousands of dollars. Because then you will be disappointed and you will regret that you did not do your research better in advance.

  • TIP 5)

Don't let them fool you!



As soon as you enter the crypto you actually end up in a very intense rollercoaster. And the greater the amount you get in, the more intense this rollercoaster will be. And the more your emotions run wild with you.

And yes, it is especially when you are just starting that you will still be able to influence this very much. As soon as you enter the crypto world you will start hearing terms like FOMO and FUD. And if you don't pay attention, and don't control your emotions… then you are guaranteed to find out what it means for yourself. To be ahead of that, I prefer to explain it to any beginner. Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). This speaks for itself, right? No? Okay, you can hear your neighbor talking about the crypto he bought that is doing so well. He has already made thousands of euros in profits and is already dreaming of his early retirement on a luxury yacht. The neighbor on the other side proudly tells you about the brand new car she will soon be buying from her crypto. Your comrade who suddenly talks like he can stop working in 1 year and all this time you think ... "WHAT, I WANT THIS ALSO!"

You ask all those people which crypto you should buy, and blindly trusting their judgment you buy the first one they recommend you at that peak. Much too high! And the next day you see the capital that you have invested falling down at breakneck speed. Yes, your newly purchased crypto that was supposed to make you a millionaire has gone free fall. Since you had not yet followed TIP 1), you have no idea what you have invested in now… so you sell in the same blind panic to save your money from destruction.

Notice here… the step to buy blindly because everyone pretends to be almost a millionaire, that's FOMO. The step to blindly sell in panic with a big loss… that is FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt).

So don't be fooled, to buy, or not to buy. DYOR… yes another well known term which means Do Your Own Research. But once you've done your research, you know what you've bought, and you're confident… don't let that fool you into panicking selling!

If you have done good research, and you trust it ... then you are usually in it for the long term. You are therefore prepared for price volatility. There has never been a price that has never stopped going up without going down again.

  • TIP 6)

Check every transaction very carefully before sending it!



We are so used to the fact that banks want to know everything about us with transactions, we are so used that if we ever do something wrong that the bank can correct our mistakes and we still get our money back. That we have to pay extra attention in the crypto world. Because it is precisely the fact that banks check everything that we want to get rid of in crypto. Freedom of value ... remember! As a result, there is no central bank within crypto that can correct your mistakes. If you make a mistake in the wallet address you are sending your crypto to, it will never arrive in that wallet. But you have lost your crypto. There is no possibility to recover your crypto. So BEFORE you make a transaction… double check it. Have you checked it yet? Then walk away from your PC ... and then check it quietly again, and again. Check, check, double check. Just as often until you are 1000% convinced that you have done everything right. Only then do you send the transaction. Once a transaction is confirmed, it is in principle irreversible. Be very aware of this.


  • TIP 7)

If you have followed all these tips, and you feel at home in the crypto world ... don't forget to grab your winnings every now and then. Give yourself a gift for your hard work!

After all, there is little more motivating than giving yourself a gift. And in any case, it's a very good reason to keep doing what you're doing. It is confirmation that you are on the right track and it is the best motivation you can get. In addition, it is never wrong to spend time and money on yourself.



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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
Week 41 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
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