This is a timely topic these days. I, like Rok made a lot of Steem in the early days of Steemit and I've had an experience somewhat similar to his. The very first thing I did was pay off all my debt, which was pretty substantial due to the 2008 Housing Crisis here in America. One of my early crypto mentors taught me to cost-average, sell little bits all the way up during a bull market and never try to time the market. That advice proved invaluable.
Thankfully I got that far before disaster struck. That disaster was the Bitgrail exchange hack. When the price of Nano (formerly Raiblocks) spiked in late 2017/early 2018 I was selling it on that exchange. I wanted to sell it before the price dropped but they were limiting how much of my Bitcoin I could withdraw in a 24hr period. Long story short, Bitgrail locked the wallets.
Shortly after that the news of the hack hit the news cycle. When the dust settled I lost the equivalent of nearly a million USD. I come from a lower middle class background so this is more money than anyone in my family had ever dreamed of. I should have known better than to keep that much on an exchange but greed got me, Bitgrail was the only exchange that had any real volume for that particular coin and I didn't want to miss out on the tremendous spike in price. Before I knew it Bitgrail was limiting withdrawal amounts and then locked the wallets...I fell for the bait.
I joined the class action lawsuit but it's being handled by an Italian court (Bitgrail was an Italian company). They've been dragging the case out for over a year now and keep delaying a decision. I have no faith at this point that we'll receive any kind of a refund.
To be clear...Nano is an amazing coin with a promising future, the Nano dev team isn't at fault. Most people think it was the exchange that conducted the hack (or at least covered it up). If I think about it too long it can take me to a dark place so I just try to keep my mind occupied and focus on new opportunities.
Despite all this I'm still a firm believer in cryptocurrency and I'm very grateful for it. Steemit allowed me to write full time for almost two years but I'll be having to find new revenue streams soon. I just think some very drastic measures need to be made to make exchanges and wallets easier to use and more secure before cryptocurrency will ever reach true mass adoption.
Luckily I sold my Nano holdings on time. I didn't much at all but to get hacked wouldn't be a nice feeling. I had my fair share of scams though. Having many alternative revenue streams is essential to feel financially independent.
I'm glad to hear it! I still hold some Nano. I think it has pretty awesome potential in the next 2-3 years. Yeah, the Bitgrail hack was awful what's been equally as bad is how this case has been handled in the courts. There have been plenty of ICO scams as well. I've gotten nailed by a couple of those too. I think any space where you have the potential of getting rich overnight brings the shady folks out of the woodwork.
I'm working on building 4-5 independent revenue streams and will feel much more comfortable after that. I left a fairly decent corporate job exactly two years ago after a 23 year long career so I became used to the (perceived) stability of a regular paycheck. I don't regret that decision one bit though. The company I worked for just recently bought out or down-sized most of their tenured employees.
Publishing collections of your posts as a Kindle and/or paper book on Amazon through KDP would be an obvious source of additional revenue stream, right? I'm doing this with my Pinky and Spiky comics and Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast.
Yes, for sure, I have two books currently published with Amazon and plan on having a collection of short stories, poetry, and a series of children’s books soon. I’m also planning on producing a subscription meditation course as well. Ideas are flowing. 😊
Generating ideas is the easy part. Getting enough eyeballs to support these ideas is another matter. Wishing you well!
Totally true. I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years and keeping your readers engaged enough to want to purchase your work is very challenging. It takes more effort that producing the material. Thanks!
Oh my Eric...so sorry to hear that...
Tbh I would have jumped off the roof or something similar if I were in your position...I totally feel you because I came from a middle class also. At least you are debt free now(?)
I deeply believe that some projects out there have a bright future, Steem included
Is that because of the low price?
Thanks, @mindtrap, it's been tough at times but as I said I just try to focus on the present and the future. Yes, that fact that I was able to pay off all that debt was a true blessing, I focus on that positive as well.
The low price of Steem is partially why I'll soon have to find new income streams. The other reason is this crushing bear market we've been in for the past year and a half. People just aren't buying books anymore either. Thankfully, I think we're almost to the end of the bear market now but I want to be proactive and bring in as much revenue as I can before the situation becomes dire.
I really wish you all the best my friend.
Oh don't forget that I owe you some beers...
And when things finally get better you also have an open invitation to spend a few days here in Greece. Hate it when I have to repeat myself :P
Thank you very much my friend! I wish you the best as well! I'll definitely remember that invitation and will reach out when we finally make it to your part of the world!