BC LIFE
Saved by @zmbnski

1/ So here is a thread on how I turned $32,000 into $1.2m and back to pretty much zero (once taxes are paid).

Just note, I am not bitter or salty in any way at all, the last 2 years have been an amazing ride - travelled the world, been wealthy, been poor.

 2/ Dec '16, my advertising agency folded, I had a little bit of money left and I put $32k into Bitcoin and Ether. As it started to go up I diversified into everything, Monero, Dash, this that, any crap - even Ripplecoin. Everything just kept going up.
3/ By March I think I had around $300k and $500k by the summer. I used to take 25% out but towards the end of the summer I got greedy and put it all back in and by December it was $1.2m.
4/ Thinking I was an absolute genius I decided to start a bunch of businesses. As silly as it sounds I had this goal of making $5m as I wanted to buy Bedford Town Football Club and get them in the league, and as Crypto was going up forever I needed 6 months.
5/ So:
- Trading (income 1)
- Podcast (income 2)
- Mining (income 3)
- Mining pool (income 4)
- Consulting (income 5)

Yes - all of the above as a one-man army :)
6/ As the market started to crash I just ignored it, kept thinking it would come back, it crashed like 4 times in 2017. But it didn't.

Mining is what busted me most:
- 70 S9s
- 70 DragonMints

The above with setup was like $300k.
7/ Mining made money for one month, broke even for a month and has consistently lost since. Problem is I have been stuck in data centre contracts paying a fixed 18 cents fee.

Each month digging into my BTC to pay the bills. Finally paying $19k to release from the contract.
8/ Mining is still losing money but not as much. I am though so close to liquidating it and accepting it as a failure (which will probably be the bottom).

Basically paying losses each month with a slowly dwindling balance of BTC.
9/ At my peak I had around 150BTC but trading shit coins I was losing BTC while gaining $. When I finally realised this I was down to around 80BTC. But this has been dropping in value as some of the coins I have been holding have collapsed.
10/ So basically greed and over ambition have destroyed what could have been life-changing money. After I pay my tax bill pretty much all is gone.

The good news - I have the podcast which is now generating an income, something a little more reliable
11/ I have sold most of the remaining BTC as an insurance for if the podcast has a bad month. I'm a Dad and I have to be responsible for my children.

I don't want any donations or sympathy. Sure I regret stuff but I am happy with how it has all played out.
12/ If there is another bull run and you make a bunch of cash then remember to take profits. Don't overstretch yourself.

People say don't invest what you can't afford to lose, well don't keep in Crypto profits which will change your life.
13/ Anyway, anyone who says I am trying to pump my bags with BTC, well those bags are tiny. BTC could go to $100k and my life won't materially change.

It is one of the reasons I have sympathy for maximalism, all these tokens and coins really are silly.
14/ I am sure I am not the only one with a story like this. If you want to do anything, just support the podcast, even a review on iTunes helps. That is my entire focus now.

Viva la Bitcoin!
Edit: forgot one thing. Conserving capital is so important. When my balance was high I went crazy: new clothes, first class flights, giving money away to family, charity, laughed at $25k lost on Confido... the list is endless :)
Edit 2: If you are not cut out for trading (like me), I wrote a thread on tools which can help you create your own business or a side gig.
https://t.co/svz7sQS9Yy
Edit 3 (last one): a few DMs creeping in with people in similar positions. All I will say is that in the last 5 years I have lost a marriage (after 3 months), lost my Mum (cancer) and nearly died from a drug overdose. Rich or broke, the money made little difference to happiness.

More from Life

E-go Driven
E-go Driven
@EgoDriv
Instead of today's thread, let's have some fun

1 RT = 1 Life Lesson

First one is on the house.

-Thread-

Those you trust the most are those in the best position for betrayal.

Active listening is a false God.

Most people will waste your mental space.

If you want to say "no", dont use any other word.

Seeking approval is the first step to auto destruction
LIFE
\u061c
؜
@levelsio
If you're feeling down lately, here's a quick test to figure out why:

👇

💖 Have you met up with your friends IRL this week?

🏋️‍♀️ Have you exercised today or yesterday?

🎨 Are you working on stuff that's meaningful to you?

🤝 Have you helped someone today with something you're good at?
LIFE
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Pat Walls
Pat Walls
@thepatwalls
If you have less revenue/growth/success than you wish you had, then the best thing you can do is OWN IT.

Write a tweet, tell your friends, and move on.

Once you own it, you fix it.

99% of people on Twitter/social media/internet won't do this.

Being radically transparent and honest is a competitive (and life) advantage.

From @RayDalio's Principles:


My new product has 14 users and <$400 monthly revenue. I've spent the last 4 months on it.

I'm going through a lot of pain to validate and grow it.

But if anyone asks me how it's going I will tell them exactly that.

If I asked them, I would hope they would give me the raw truth as well. Truth builds trust.

I think that goes for your internet audience as well. Authenticity is attractive.

I see this with @starter_story all the time - people don't want to share their revenue yet because they don't have any, or it's not high enough (not all cases but often).

I wish I could tell them that getting the cat out of the bag would actually fix the problem itself!!
LIFE
Risktaker\U0001f9b9\U0001f3fd
Risktaker🦹🏽...
@Risk2Earn
10-Life Lessons From The One & Only @naval

~Thread~

“You want to be rich & anonymous... Not poor & famous.”

The goal is to get rich & disappear, not to get noticed!

The problem is that too many people are chasing clout instead of wealth.

Clout is not gonna put food on the table in 5 years. Change your priorities!

“I don’t have time” is just another way of saying, “it’s not a priority”

Being “Too busy” is a myth,

People make time for the things that are important to them.

If you haven’t made enough time then it’s simply because you haven’t convinced yourself it’s a priority.

“Earn with your mind, not with your time”

You’ll never get rich trading your time for money...

Reason being? Because you only have 24 hours in a day & you can’t work non-stop.

Use your mind & money to create a product that will generate you money even while you sleep 🥱

“You can escape competition through authenticity... No one can compete with you on being you”

No 2 humans are exactly the same, there’s something that makes each of us unique.

Find what makes you different & capitalize.

Your biggest competitive advantage is your originality!
LIFE
Colin Mills
Colin Mills
@OxSoc
I want to tell you a story. It illustrates the low level, but unpleasant hassle faced by academics holding views deemed unacceptable by self-appointed defenders of public safety. I'm not going to name names. I'm not interested in facilitating a pile on. The abused is>>

robust and capable of looking after themself. I was sent a screenshot of the abuser's protected twitter narration of the incident. I've also seen it tweeted on here. I've no idea how it was leaked. I've not seen its authenticity challenged. >>

So to the tale. Dr X organizes a seminar with a symposium panel under the auspices of a Faculty in a large well known UK university. Dr Y who is a member of the university with a legitimate interest in the subject matter of the panel registers to >

attend. Y is known to hold what for sake of succinctness I'll call Gender Critical views. X notices shortly before the seminar is to begin that Y will be in attendance and goes into meltdown. Y is deemed an "anti-trans campaigner" which in the commonly accepted >>

rather than Pickwickian sense of these words is false. X contemplates a last minute cancellation of the event. Hurried discussions are held with senior faculty and eventually with the VC who insists the event must take place and Y must be allowed to attend. The event takes place>
LIFE

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(MAJOR NOTE) The reason Manafort took over Trump's campaign in just 3 weeks despite being hired as a mere delegate counter is that ROGER STONE initiated a whisper campaign against Corey Lewandowski. That campaign started...days after Manafort returned from meeting with WikiLeaks.

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