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This article is written for the "My KUCOIN Story" event. I am sharing #MyCryptoStory as #KuCoinTurns5.
Despite us all being incredibly early to lay claim to our predestined slice of ‘Blockchaintopia’, I am fairly late to the party as an investor. Indeed, until recent years I was a victim of the mainstream propaganda, which claims that anything and everything associated with Crypto is half fraud, half money-laundering, half hopium. Most people are born into the bondage of wage-slavery and groomed to love our yoke of life-long servitude, until they’re scrapped by the callous system.
No, I wasn’t so simple-minded as to think that the big government, legacy finance institutions, big pharma and tech-giants have the people’s best interests at heart… That’s an intentional oxymoron. Instead, I was hoodwinked by ‘ye ole selective truths switcheroo’. I failed to discern that the carefully curated stories spun by the mainstream media, while largely based on speculation derived from factual evidence, have a hidden agenda to paint an overarching sentiment of fear, uncertainty and doubt. Essentially, the goal is to convince the public that they’re better off choosing the devil they know, trusting the legacy political and financial institutions to know what’s best for the plebs while the masses obediently slumber their lives away.
Thus, I fell for the underlying narrative that Crypto was a desperate money-making fad at best or an MLM scam at worst. This was largely due to the bad rap Bitcoin received from the actions of hackers, sleazy purveyors of illicit activities on the ‘Dark Web’, as well as the scoundrels and miscreants running shady-shoddy operations the likes of Silk Road and Mt. Goxx. Naturally, no one in the state/corporate captured media reflected upon the dystopian societies we occupy or the need for true democracy, which would be ushered in by the advent of global financial freedom.
Having witnessed the bad side of the Bitcoin, my mistake was failing to seek out the good. Life got in the way and I had no time to DYOR. That’s on me.
The wrong preacher:
Just as observing a feeding, flipping frenzy of #LiquidityLeeches over an NFT PFP collection, pushed by a washed-up celebrity will not make one a connoisseur, eager to curate and bask in fine art (as these people have absolutely zero interest in the subject matter—their only concern is profit,) so it is easy to write off the immaculate brilliance of blockchain tech after listening to a few desperate rants from Max Keiser, circa 2013. Yes, while YouTube completely hid Davinci15’s video from me, THAT was my ambassador, from whom I heard about the blockchain and Bitcoin. Had I seen this video instead, I’d have been an early adopter in a heartbeat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw29h7LhEuE&t=224s
Instead, I got Max, who's great, once you understand Crypto, but not the best for beginners. So needless to say, I was put off and presumed that anything to do with Bitcoin somehow came with a toxic vendetta, stigma of illicit activity and get-rich-quick MLM schemes. As though fiat is not thousands of times easier to use for dodging sanctions, smuggling illegal drugs, etc.
It didn’t help that the mainstream media only focussed on Crypto during the bull runs, which last for about a month every 4 years. They pick up the sensational, flash-in-the-panprop stories, spin them and, inevitably, a spectacular crash comes on their heels and Crypto looks like a crazy lottery or a wild gamble.
The towering cliff:
Indeed, for most people, life is complicated enough and Crypto adoption is hampered by the extremely steep learning curve of entry: self-custody. Having been trained from the cradle to rely on centralised authority to judge what’s best for the people, it is very hard for the masses to learn to stand and walk on their own financial feet. Most people are stuck in the rut of their careers and real world worries (most of which are brought on by finite resources). As adults most people are docile, i.e., ‘responsible’ enough to know that ‘there is no free lunch’, ‘hard work pays off’ and in tune with similar self-defeating cliches. Thus, while we dutifully file our taxes and chase our tails, the rich get richer by walking around the obstacles the blind masses insist on surmounting, because they believe the lie that there is no other way.
The world fell away:
My story is no different. After graduating in business management and consulting, I have spent most of my career working in the field of marketing and copywriting. Specifically, I wrote for the tourism and travel industry, helping to conceive and design advertisements for numerous local brands and as well as a few notable international brands including KLM, British Airways and the Radisson Hotels. I have also written for various chambers of commerce and other business associations. Between 2009 and 2020 I was the editor-in-chief of an online international B2B directory with a community close to 200,000 business owners. Then the pandemic lockdowns hit, budgets dried up, advertising in the travel and culinary industries screeched to a halt and… long-story-short, suddenly I found myself with time on my hands. At long last, life slowed down enough for the blinders to fall from my eyes, so I could see clearly and understand that the most exciting, innovative and future-proof industry, the blockchain scene, is unfurling right before me. I took the plunge, invested and have been hooked, soaking up knowledge like a sponge.
So it took a world-wide paradigm shift for my focus to pivot from slaving away to prop up and perpetuate an inefficient, ailing and largely obsolete industry, to seeking financial freedom at the pinnacle of human innovation. is how it is for most people. The prerequisite of finding success in the Cryptoverse is not only a matter of casual interest. It takes patience, dedication and discipline. Taking the leap of faith takes conviction and guts.
TORUM—my tribe:
Aside from time, what is the most precious asset in the world? No, it is not a precious metal or igneous rock. It is not Bitcoin either. It is information. Hope and luck are prerequisite catalysts in any and every successful endeavour, however, putting chance and karmic forces aside, the best way to maximise our chances of success is to be prepared for the future, i.e., make shrewd plans based on good intelligence. And information/intelligence is best gleaned or mined by joining the right Community.
Mighty BULLISH on $XTM!
The reason most people in the world are put off by Crypto is the fact that the amount of research required to learn to swim in this rapidly evolving ocean of knowledge is truly daunting. Thus finding a circle of friends, where one is welcomed and can receive information without ridicule is crucial to navigating the plethora of pitfalls that await gullible Crypto n00bs. Although I found TORUM via YouTube, in May 2021, I was still reeling from the sudden consciousness upgrade and was only able to Land on Torum by the year’s end, as I noticed the meteoric rise of XTM, Torum’s native token. Having managed a social platform before, I immediately understood the industry-disrupting potential which Torum holds.
#BlessedSatoshiHODLersClub
I could tell you that my primary holdings include XTM, ROSE, EFI, NEAR, DOT… But in truth, my most significant and permanent investment into the blockchain has been my time to gain knowledge. THIS is what is guaranteed to 1000 X my net worth in the years to come. I intend to continue growing and learning and am grateful to Torum’s passionate, global Family of Friends for making my Crytpo life so enjoyable, interesting and fulfilling.
Come on down and see for yourself--learn, earn and have fun. Use the link below and receive an XTM reward upon completing registration and trial.
