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Welcome to the world of crypto paranoia. Many of us live and breathe it every day.
Trust no one.
Do not rely on exchange trading volumes, they may be inflated.
Beware of influencers who may be shilling projects.
Developers can rug pull.
NFT projects can be scams.
Do your own research.
It's the wild wild west, y'all. It's like walking through a minefield. It's like thrill seeking, living on the edge. And after we've bitten through our nails and tugged at our hair roots, we're still gonna confess to ya, we love it! Well, at least I will.
My faux pas FOMO
Last night I FOMO'd into this project, right? And before you get all tsk tsky, and head off to write long lecturey posts capitalizing on my stupidity, relax, I have for all that lecture stuff, all right? We're pals here, I think. And besides, it's just about $10 I invested. I didn't go wild and reckless with my entire inheritance.
Anyways, so I FOMO'd into this project, one of those rebase projects.... InfinitUP. And I began to have dreams of the mansions I would build and the grand parties I would have by the pool. But then I noticed that the volume of coins in my wallet were decreasing and their value falling-FAST- even as the statistics appeared to be climbing. And yes, I know how rebase projects work, I , okay? This isn't like the Binance, Beta Finance faux pas I made the other day, this is different.
And I had company too. Check this out.
Anyways, we'll see. Maybe I'm tomorrow's millionaire. Maybe that $10 was my lotto ticket to the big life, right? I doubt it, I think I should have left my money on SHIB. But we'll see.
Netflix: Trust No one
So, I'm sorry guys, my infinity story is not the purpose of this post. I'm actually writing to get your thoughts on the upcoming Netflix project: Trust No one: The Hunt for the Crypto King
Yeah, I know, it's old news, but in case you haven't heard about it before, Netflix announced in September that it's working on a project to premiere in 2022 about the the "suspicious death of cryptocurrency multimillionaire Gerry Cotten", the 30 year old CEO and founder of Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX who reportedly died of complications related to Crohn’s disease while on his honeymoon in India.
And since he was the only person who had access to the cold storage of client funds amounting to an approximate $250 million, well, those investments disappeared with Cotten's death. Investors, of course, are crying foul.
Right, so that's the story in a nutshell. And it's really distressing to hear stories like this, I'll tell you because, my little dance with danger aside, occurrences like these do little to build confidence in the crypto trading space. And with so much fearmongering already pervading in some mainstream spaces, I keep coming back to the point, bad actors do nothing to build confidence.
And yo, I'm not calling Mr. Cotten a bad actor, to be clear. not the one to say whether he really died or not. wasn't there, didn't see his death certificate. Shiiid, I'm just in my arm chair sharing some commentary here. But I will say this. Netflix tends to make some bomb ass documentaries, in my view, so I'm definitely anxious to see this one.
Besides that though, I've been listening to conversations about this whole story and some meaningful points are being made about the safety of cryptocurrency banking and about digital investments being factored into your will, and I wanted to bring those to you.
The Safety of Cryptocurrency Banking
There's this great article by crypto writer MubaShar Nawaz, Is Cryptocurrency Banking Secure, that really takes a good look at this without getting into the complicated crypto jargon that would just be mind boggling wizard speak to the uninitiated muggle venturing into the crypto world for the first time.
In his post, Nawaz explains how cryptocurrency banking, using blockchain technology, differs from traditional banking in the decentralized creation of a irrevocable, time stamped, reliable and secure digital ledger. He also goes on to identify the risks users face including exposure to cyber attacks, the risk of pin loss and vulnerability to Ponzi schemes and scams.
And guys, I confess, if I weren't reeling from my $10 loss last evening, I'd probably be perched like that Michael Jackson meme with the popcorn right now, ready to get all snooty about fellow traders who got rug pulled. But I can't, right? It happens to the best of us, and sometimes at really devastating levels. So my fun stories aside, be careful, all right? I can't stress that enough.
Accounting for digital assets in your estate planning
Yeah, no one likes to have that heavy conversation about estate planning because it reminds us all too much that the clock is winding down to the bell ringing signifying the end of our school day here on Earth, ya know. And while, in real school, we would all be glad to grab our backpacks and head home because we know what home we're headed to, it's kinda sorta different when that bell ringing means you have to walk through a foggy veil to who knows what. And this is not a post about religion, we're here to talk crypto, but I'm just saying, all right? It can give you the heebie jeebies.
That said though, given our increasing digital footprint and acquisition of digital assets with the growth of the cryptoverse, some with the potential to balloon all the way to the moon, or go up infinity, perhaps not like my InfinitUP shit coins, it is important to account for the impact that your digital assets can have on your estate plan.
So these are some things to think about: How many accounts do you have? How do you ensure that your spouse or trustee has access to your assets in the event of death or incapacity? And what prevents technology companies from freezing your assets and refusing to grant access to your representatives?
It's something to think about guys. Not tomorrow, today.
But anyways, I'd love to know what you guys think. Is taking your crypto assets into account a serious consideration for your estate planning? Are you even thinking about estate planning for that matter? If something unforeseen were to happen to you, do you have measures in place to ensure access is granted to your loved ones?
And on the issue of crypto banking, how secure do you feel?
I know exchanges can have some attractive lending and staking programs, but do you feel comfortable leaving your coins online in an exchange or are you more likely to opt for cold storage? For me, I feel no less secure than I would in a traditional bank, I'll tell you that. In fact I'd trust blockchain banking more, to be honest. And as far as the security issues that arise from hacking, scamming or Ponzi schemes, I mean, those abound in all spheres, so outside of burying my funds in a chest on an island somewhere- which I can't really do, cuz it's digital assets- I think I just have to educate myself, weigh the risks and strike the balance that suits me.
For me, for , I prefer a mix. I'd keep some funds in cold storage and HODL away, some I keep on wallets for the staking returns, and some I trade. That's me. But what about you guys? I'd love to know.
Okay, that's it for me, for now. I'm off to have a cold drink. I know, it's Sunday, it's just juice, all right? And then I'm back on the prowl for another story. So, until we meet again, friends, be safe! Arrivederci!
