Like any tech enthusiast who has ever been a part of a bubble, I feel like I may have waited too long for this. But now, I think, the time has finally come. I’m selling off my leftover crypto-assets and moving on with life. Taking this opportunity to pen-down a few (mis-?) adventures over the past 5 years! This is part 1 of what is probably going to be a series of posts, so bear with me.
How it started
No, I didn’t get excited about mining when my cousin told me about it in 2013. I wasn’t even slightly moved when a friend of a friend made his riches in the first boom. I became invested in the cryptocurrencies in the most unfashionable way one can imagine.
So the story goes this way — I was on a major freelancing spree late in 2014. Graphic Design, Social Media Content, SEO Content, Mockups, Branding Kits, Banners, Flyers, Business Websites, Landing Pages — you name it, I was making it. Que /u/kidfraser, a U.S. based freelancer who needed some help with logo designs. I found him on a subreddit, as you can tell from his reference. I wasn’t too sure if he was flipping his work, or if he was genuinely overbooked, but the gig seemed pretty much what I wanted to do. Work was discussed in detail with minor references to the range of budget.
And finally, when we came to discuss payments — he hit the home run (Fine. A sixer for me, home run for him).
“Are you cool with BTC?”
Am I cool with BTC? Of course, I’m cool with BTC. I have no clue what it is, or how it works or how we’re going to transact. But you, sir, are bringing me work when I want it. BTC could very well be Barely True Currency. But barely works for me. As long as I can let it into my PayPal account, it’s cool. So yes, I’m cool with, um, BTC.
I say yes, then proceed to Google how this works and what I’m up for. It appears I need a wallet. Blockchain.info looks like the government of this thing, hm. Governments are the least risky (This is a pre-Venezuelan crisis scenario, mind you). I’ll go with Blockchain.info for my wallet.
At this point, I’m not even clear how conversions would translate, so I take a shot in the dark. “0.3 BTC per assignment”, I say (That’s about $75 at the time and $5000 in December 2017). The guy negotiates a bit and finally settles for 0.1 BTC. I’m okay with that.
And that’s all! I have just invested in what’s going to be a revolutionary currency, a failure, a point of speculation for governments, a fad — all at the same time.