Always ready to jump with crypto

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There was a discussion at the beach yesterday with some friends about the economy, investing, saving and because I was there, crypto. I still find it interesting as to how much smart people trust the proven untrustworthy and discount anything that challenges what they have read in the financial times. It is not that a person has to run out and buy some crypto because I said, but why won't people even investigate it? The two guys I was talking with are both working in IT companies, both smarter than me - but both seemingly uninterested in researching a little themselves and seeing if there is indeed an opportunity for them.

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I find it odd.

People will spend an inordinate amount of time researching what is the best pair of running shoes to wear or phone to buy, but won't spend half the investment into working out why some people believe Bitcoin has value or, how the security of crypto makes it property - like gold - except it transports better.

I once wrote a post about what might have been different if the Jewish people in Nazi Germany had Bitcoin instead of cash, valuable, pianos and paintings and whether more of them would have just walked away, their wealth secure. Even if the Nazis had killed them, that wealth couldn't fall into Nazi hands by throwing away the keys - it would be lost forever - so the best it could do would be to reduce the effective amount in circulation.

But, this triggered another thought when ownership came into question yesterday. The reason it is hard to leave a place is because we are attached, invested in what we have. The Jewish people had their businesses and belongings and these things don't travel well. It was stay and hope things improve, or run and lose everything owned.

However, in a hypothetical scenario where I face the stay and likely die, run and lose all choice, even if I don't have any crypto, it is better for me to run. After all, what the hell do I own? What do you own?

Most people run their finances on debt, something that wasn't possible in quite the same way or to the same extent 80 years ago. If I am forced to pack up and run taking nothing but my family, what am I really going to lose? My house? No, the bank owns the majority share of it. How much does the average person actually own, and how much debt are they tied to? I might be financially better off to be able to run and get a clean slate, a chance to start again from zero - instead of in the red. I would lose a percentage share of what I use, not what I own, as I don't own what I use.

Ownership is important for many reasons, but mobility of wealth might be even more valuable than the wealth itself. A bar of gold is worth about 500,000 dollars, but weighing in at 12 kilograms, it isn't exactly easy to smuggle across a patrolled border and, it isn't likely going to be able to be "hidden" anywhere comfortable. Because valuables don't travel well, owners are tied to a location and that location is not owned, it is governed and subject to laws that can change at the drop of a hat.

While crypto can very much be owned, it is has no weight nor size, no matter how much it is worth. According to @peakd, @tarazkp protected by a key is worth about 27,000 dollars - while that is no bar of gold, it doesn't matter where I am in the world - as long as I can get online and hold the keys, I have access. If HIVE raises in value to say, 10 dollars, that 27K will be worth about 1.2 million - same key, same size, same mass, same conditions apply. Not only that, anyone with the key can access it, wherever they are in the world - both a risk and a valuable security mechanism, as it is like having a Star Trek transporter of value. If that 10 dollar HIVE was to hit 10 dollars, I would be able to curate full-time for the value I need and I can do that from anywhere in the world also.

I think that once we are comfortable with the conditions of ownership and earnership online, in time, this will fundamentally change the way governments operate because they will not have the same level of control over constituents, as many more in the group can pack up and leave if they choose to. So, the governments would actually have to compete for public resources at a greater degree. We can see this when it comes to retail now, where retailers who essentially had a captured local market a couple decades ago, have to compete with international conglomerates like Amazon, and they are failing. They created top heavy organizations that milked and extracted all they could, but now "consumer choice" through globalization and online services has changed the game. The same thing will likely happen at the government levels also, probably driven by the trillion dollar companies that absorbed the disposable incomes and bought the debt of local citizens and in doing so, weakened the power a government has.

Hopefully, none of us will ever have to be in a situation where we have to run from our own country, but with the volatility of the world, hope is not likely enough. However, perhaps having ownership and financial independence from currency control will mean that governments will start making shifts to retain some power before it gets to the point that there is wholesale exodus. That might be wishful thinking, yet it is good to think about what benefits crypto currencies and blockchains offer us, the citizens who all love to some degree under the yoke of governmental control.

Perhaps too, the debt cycle we have been conditioned into is also actually a form of security too, because debt is only good for the collectors when there is someone to pay back or something to recoup. When that wealth can be destroyed with a loss of a key or transferred out of reach in seconds - the debt collectors have to be careful how they play their cards - otherwise they may never earn the rent they seek.

Some random things to think about on a Monday at least :)

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

Posted Using LeoFinance



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42 comments
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It is crazy to think that in 5 years time you or many of us could be curating full time and making more than most working an 8 hour day. All those years of building a career and then there is others who have had fun building an account on Hive worth some value whilst still working. this has given many people choices that they would never of had and I will always be grateful whether it hits $5 or $10 as I believe it will.

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It is funny that people can spend and pay for 4 years in university getting a degree that may or may not help them earn, but struggle to have fun on a platform that pays a little and potentially a lot more for what they do daily other places. I hope that we are able to get to a position where many of us can do well.

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The two guys I was talking with are both working in IT companies, both smarter than me - but both seemingly uninterested in researching a little themselves and seeing if there is indeed an opportunity for them.

I'm also used to seeing my intellectual superiors act and think in willfully stupid ways. But I've come to think that I shouldn't complain. In this day and age, the conservative mindset easily leaves one behind. The rate of change is accelerating and decentralization is but one example of that.

Curating for a living while having total freedom of choice as to where to live may well be in the cards for many of those onboarded in the first few years.

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In this day and age, the conservative mindset easily leaves one behind. The rate of change is accelerating and decentralization is but one example of that.

It will be from these sectors that the most violent pushback will likely come, as they will witness first hand a degradation of their powers and control, while those they controlled start to usurp power.

I think it will be possible to curate for a living for me around the 10 to 20 mark, though it might not cover everything, it will go a very long way.

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(Edited)

Assuming you have about 120,000 HP. At $10, that would be worth $1,200,000. Assuming curation APR of 10% (very modest at this time but the rate of inflation slows down about 0.5 percentage points per year), your curation rewards would be worth $120,000 annually or $10,000 per month. I would say that's more than enough to support your current lifestyle and some more. :)

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Will it be enough to live on crypto island though? :D

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Of your own? :D

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I think I will still have to share, perhaps a townhouse or duplex on crypto island.

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Why crypto island?

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Nah, just somewhere with a little more freedom - though that should happen everywhere eventually :)

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Existe un dicho que dice, perseveras y triunfaras, nunca es tarde para comenzar, me agrado tu post, gracias por compartir.

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I asked J about your opening paragraph as he's one of everyone who's thingi about crypto, and his answer was that because while it's "free" (as in relatively free from government oversight/interference) that's also a downside as because it's unregulated you have exactly no recourse whatsoever if you get caught up in an unexpected pump/dump or otherwise get scammed (people can screech about due diligence all they like, for sure some people are greedy but sometimes stuff just happens somewhat unexpectedly like steem), and that it's not ready for mainstream use (which I think we all know).

He did actually look into it before making that decision though, meanwhile I merrily barrelled the other way XD

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Yes; if you believe regulatory agencies work for the customer, then crypto looks really reckless.

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With the wording of some of the regulations they probably worked for customers once? XD

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It is good to be skeptical of crypto (and everything), but one also has to look at the alternatives and potential there, as well as the risks.Is it better to lose a small amount now taking a chance on changing the world, or at retirement find out that everything one has worked for has been squandered? I think a lot of people playing it safe are going to discover that the safe path was easy to choose, but has a painful end. I reckon crypto is a decent hedge bet on the governments screwing up the economy. :)

!ENGAGE 20

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He won't (usually XD) dismiss things just because he doesn't like the sound of them. He also hasn't fully internalised (or internalised at all) that he could make comparatively minute investments in crypto to mitigate potential risks (he's used to dealing with much larger amounts of money moving around as he's done stocks).

He's also gotten a ridiculous level of conservative since we spawned children that got bigger and like doing stuff that costs money and bought a house and other such adulty things.

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Hmmm I loved the Nazi exercise for the imagination. Crypto would have changed the game completely, I am sure of that. It is a great potential in crypto, and I can see it clearly, even if I am new to crypto for as long as I have been on Hive . It is a great way to return power back into the hands of people, to allow, just as you said, to have a possibility to make an income from every corner of the world. You can evolve from being stuck to one place, consuming and trying to own as much as possible, to the freedom of creation. We all want more time to be creative, but time costs money. Therefore if we can work on the money aspect, the world can be our oyster , literally.

I am interested in finding out more about crypto. I am not familiar with it at all. Can you recommand me a place, a book, a community, where I could learn more? How do you do this trading, crypto wallet transaction stuff? I am a newbie and I am sure that most people who are good in crypto have no time no teach me 1 on 1 so I would need to learn it on my own, but there is so much information and sources that I have to know the good places where I could learn the basics, from having a wallet, to doing transactions, to invest slowly in crypto, shortly, how to become a crypto student. If you could put some relevant resources for learning this, I would appreciate it:)

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Hmmm I loved the Nazi exercise for the imagination.

I tend to use more extreme cases for my mental exercises (which might make some uncomfortable) and then work backwards.

I am interested in finding out more about crypto. I am not familiar with it at all. Can you recommand me a place, a book, a community, where I could learn more?

We are at that place - expand your following list so you introduce more crypto and investment-related content, checkout the Leo Finance community (https://leofinance.io) and @khaleelkazi, @newageinv. The idea is to build knowledge for investment, not just tips on where to invest.

How do you do this trading, crypto wallet transaction stuff?

On the exchanges for me, Bittrex, Binance etc.

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Thank you for all the information, I will follow up and learn more!

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The staking has begun. I have a long way to go and much more to learn.

But what I just learned by reading this post. Made me feel more comfortable investing in this crypto-sphere.

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at the very least, the potential is far greater than the cost :)

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In Anthropological terms this is commonly known as the “luxury trap”.

The luxury trap is a giant bear trap that the human race blindly walked into around the time of the agricultural revolution and has been unable to escape from since.

As soon as people started settling land and investing time and money into it they changed the course of history for us all. If you were a hunter gatherer and something came and threatened your livelihood chances are you would just leave that area but if you’re a farmer with fields, livestock and a house full of “stuff” you’re stuck. War, economic depression, environmental disasters, whatever the cause you can’t pack up your wealth and leave, you are compelled to stay and see it through.

In short the luxury trap also gave rise to forms of centralised control for example kings, kingdoms and eventually nation states that we suddenly became dependent on for protection of our illiquid and immovable luxuries.

Crypto gives humans a way of removing some of the shackles we placed on ourselves all those millennia ago while simultaneously weakening the grip of centralised powers which is of course why those in power who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo will stop at nothing to discredit it.

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Just like crypto having a tradeoff on speed, security and scalability - our lives are a series of tradeoffs between much of the same things - mobility, security and freedom - these days (perhaps always), we seem to value security heavily, while mobility is considered less valuable. People choose to stay where they know (even in the same country), rather than move for better opportunity - as they would have done as hunter-gatherers.

I like the way you presented the idea of luxury trap, thanks!

!ENGAGE 50

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Which paints these Covid travel bans in a different light.
I wonder how International travel will look this time next year.

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For sure - Shut down the travel services and most people can't get very far. Australia is lucky in many ways it is an island, but it is also a risk.

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I'll know it's time to panic when they confiscate our guns, and take over the internet.

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An EXCELLENT article... anyone who has lived near enough to recent violence has thought about this ... what could you grab and go and start over with? Would it be easy enough to conceal to avoid attempts at theft? Those "keys" fit the bill ...

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Yep and the scenario would apply to cases of fire also - the house is gone, but there is still available value.

!ENGAGE 25

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I really hope for it :)

The slogan of the present.

Thanks for the article, I hope it can bring at least one more crypto enthusiast to the world of cryptocurrencies.

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People will spend an inordinate amount of time researching what is the best pair of running shoes to wear or phone to buy, but won't spend half the investment into working out why some people believe Bitcoin has value or, how the security of crypto makes it property - like gold - except it transports better.

This is very true. I think the reason is because people don't want to learn. They just want a quick rich scheme where they can flip their money. They seem to not understand that every investment has an underlying structure that should be studied. I was telling a friend about a new non-custodial exchange that I found on Changenow and the first thing he asked was have I made my research. I told him yeah and that the reason. Safety is my top priority — the exchange being a non-custodial service, does not control your crypto assets. That this is the reason I would use the product.

Good article Tarazkp

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I think it will be more obvious to many when things really start o move how important it is to own your keys.

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