About 3 weeks has passed since my last post on crypto. The pace of crypto has been really fast and furious, there are so many activities going on, so many ICO/IDO/IEO waiting to be listed, so many people and companies getting into the game to earn some really good money, and many investors tapping into this worldwide 24/7 MLM willingly.
I tried my hands on different blockchain networks, different launchpads with my limited capital.
My results, mediocre.
Most launchpads implement a tier system, with a minimum of few thousand dollars entry barrier, so I went around looking for those with no tier system, or those with lower capital requirements, in the hundreds if possible. The allocation amount are often pathetic at best, ranging from 1% to 5% of your staking amount, not really profitable, but fun. The whole crypto world is designed to be fun, which can be tricky when linked to investment, as investment should not be emotionally driven. You have website like Binance based Pancakeswap, Velas based Wagyuswap, and many many more cute websites.
I created many wallets for different network, signed up with different exchanges, based on the coins that I want to purchase and transfer. There are lots of inefficiencies and thus a lot of problem solving along the way, which can be frustrating yet challenging at times.
Some of my experiences and recommendation for people who are looking to try crypto.
I like Gemini for the local FAST SGD deposit, which you can only buy BTC or Ethereum. From there I will utilise the 10 free withdrawal to transfer my holdings to other exchanges or my wallets. Coins/tokens sold are limited as compared to other exchanges, but for people looking into the Terra ecosystem, Gemini is good with its sales of Luna and UST, with free withdrawals. For direct SGD purchase, instead of converting to USD first, we are looking at about 1% loss due to the spread/bid price offered which the currency conversion rates are factored into, so we are paying a bit more for fast capital deployment. You can plan ahead and convert to USD first at your preferred platform or exchange, but sometimes the crypto world just moved too fast. Gemini App has a very simple interface, and i always used it to check the overall market price of major cryptos.
I like FTX for their free withdrawals for almost any coins/token offered on their platform, for ERC-20 coins, you will need to go through their FTX app. Downsides, you need to create 2 accounts one for FTX Pro, one for FTX app. My undeployed crypto and stable coins are parked inside the FTX App for 8% APR with no lock in period.
I have accounts with Kucoin and Crypto.com exchange too, i do not like Kucoin withdrawal fees, it can be high for people who just started out, with low capital, but i am now holding quite an amount of KCS, Kucoin native token, and look forward to participating in their next IEO. I have not been using Crypto.com exchange for quite some time as i try to simplify my process.
I used Metamask Wallet extension + Chrome browser for most of my crypto journey, and i do enjoy seeing the iconic Fox, so far so good, it support multiple networks, which make it slightly easier for me, so I do not have to go create a new wallet whenever I want to try a new network, despite that, I have a wallet for Terra, one for Solana (Phantom) and one for Velas, Velas web wallet is really bad in my opinion, you have to enter the 24 seed phrase each time you log in, and it hangs for a little while everytime. I stopped investing in Terra and Velas, and will also stop Solana after i cash out my IDO proceeds after the locked in period.
Too much inefficiencies, after i spread myself thin over different networks, so I have cut back and tried to simplify my crypto investments.
I have avoided Ethereum for my whole journey due to high gas fees, which is ironic, because most of what I invested in, are linked one way or another to it.
The two main network which i am invested in are BNB(Pancakeswap) and Avalanche(Avalaunch, PenguinFinance), they are mainly for IDOs, with staking function while i wait for the next IDO.
The whole crypto portfolio is at 35% losses, partially due to the overall market fall, and mainly due to my paper hands.
I locked in some cryptos with Celsius, locking in the HODL50 and ADA40 promo, on the same day with few hours difference, as I spent time to buy some ADA and transferring it in. When the rewards unlocked for HODL50, i was eager to transfer out my deposit and rewards for HODL50, while ADA40 was still locked. So after my transfer, and when i checked back, my rewards for ADA40 was canceled, as i did not read the T&C carefully, if your total holdings amount dropped below the recorded amount which you locked in ADA40, you will not be entitled to the rewards, so with my paper hands, i missed the rewards for ADA40 by mere hours after 30 days of locking in. This is just one of the many paper hands scenarios i encountered in my crypto journey, paying the school fees here and there.
In stock investing, I practiced bottom-up value investing, and I screened my own stocks, without listening to all the noise and any recommendations, it is 100% independent, and my fees per trade is at 0.1712% with no minimum fees as I invest through DBS Treasures. Yet in Crypto, it is often the alternative, which really resonate with the term Metaverse, we can all have another identity, which can be totally different from who we are in real life, an alt character. I used the NAV method to calculate my stock returns, which is more accurate to calculate my efficiency as an investment manger, without taking into consideration of capital injection or withdrawal. But in crypto, I just keep track of the total profit or losses against all capital invested. And the crypto portfolio is down 35%.
I continue to believe that more money will flow in than out into the whole crypto market, and a lot of new investors will be paying for the early investors. While the whole crypto market started with a decentralised idea, it has now evolve into a more centralised idea, there are some companies controlling the big money, creating launchpad/ exchange, allocating themselves tokens/coins at very cheap price, then selling them to the public at higher prices, pumping them higher and higher, most projects basically create coins/tokens out of thin air, get people to participate in their IDO, collecting investors’ stable coins in exchange of the IDO coins/tokens, which most of the time, has no actual value, except to stake in their own ecosystem for more of these fictitious coins/tokens.
I took part in, what I feel is a scam/ rug and pull, or at best a soft rug, we never know until the team run away and become uncontactable. I am still in the midst of it. And the amazing thing about it is, if everything goes well, i would be looking at a profit, despite making a bad decision and not doing my due diligence. Other decent IDO/ICO, you will only get a tiny portion of the total token offered, depending on how much you staked. But this particular one that I am in, I chose to deposit 300 USDC, and i got all 300 USDC converted into their token, 20% was unlocked at TGE, which i sold immediately for a profit, and the remaining 80% will be unlocked 1 month later, no prize given for guessing what i am going to do with the remaining 80%, it will be an immediate sell. And i might be looking at a good profit, for making a silly decision. Is this the new tactic, to participate willingly in rug and pull, preferably soft rug, and get out while the others are still immersed in their greed? I would be looking at some really good profits for my silliness. But yet, this is what is happening in crypto everyday, lots of scams here and there, lots of alt-coins/ shit coins created with no actual value, Head, the scam team wins. Tail the scam team wins too, it is either they run away with the money raised in their IDO, or they continue to see how long before people exposed them, and sell all the allocated tokens they had at the highest peak, on top of the money raised.
2022 is huge on crypto gaming right? But yet, it is also the worst, every game is trying to issue their own tokens, most games are really bad, it is like we are taking a big step backwards with regards to the game quality, most games are not even out yet, but they are already selling their tokens for months, with an ambitious roadmap which may or may not be achieved, but people are pouring money in, regardless of what the end result will be. That’s why I feel, long term wise, most projects, website, alt coins will all disappear, only a handful will remains, and if you feel that you are holding one of those gems, you can hold on with your dear life.
Crypto right now is about giving what the people want. It is foolish, very silly, illogical, but yet there are big money to be made.
So what do you want from Crypto? For me it is a small side income, with high risks and high gains. And perhaps when Web 3.0 comes, I won’t be too outdated from it. I was not a twitter, telegram, medium person, but now, I have to use them almost on a daily basic, which is not too bad.
I should be looking to narrow my losses by end of Feb, till then.
Chief Family Officer, Singapore 