Cryptocurrencies - Your Key to Financial Freedom AMA

I've been tracking the crypto space since Bitcoin was invented and bought my first Bitcoin in 2013 and has been using every cent of my savings to buy cryptocurrencies ever since.

I can now comfortably retire. Which other investment allows you to do that in less than 10 years.

Ask me anything about the cryptocurrency space, there's no such thing as a "silly" question. I think this goes without being said, but I'm going to say it anyway. None of what I say here is financial advice, I do not hold an AFS license, you should seek advice from a licensed professional before making any investment decisions. If you are making investment decisions from some random guy on the internet without doing your own research and due diligence, you should stop immediately!

There's all these controversy about property prices "surging" or becoming unaffordable, not for me, if you invest in the right asset, property is actually getting cheaper and cheaper. Property prices in Bitcoin terms has been decreasing and will continue to as Bitcoin increases in price at a faster pace. So to me, property is progressively getting cheaper and cheaper.

Update:

For those who would like to find out more about cryptocurrencies and why I think Bitcoin is here to stay and will be more valuable in the future, head over to hope.com and watch some of the videos. This site was set up by the CEO of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor who's company bought an aggregate of approximately 90,531 bitcoins, which were acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $USD2.171 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $USD23,985 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses as of 24th Feb 2021.

To those who think that I "got lucky" and was "fortunate", that's very far from the truth. I saw this coming, I knew that with rampant money printing by central banks, fiat currency is going to zero and it has been doing so for centuries. All fiat currencies have gone to the zero, in history, there has not been any fiat currency that didn't go to zero. So Bitcoin's rise is inevitable to me, hence I bought it. I didn't go as far as that family who sold everything to buy Bitcoin, but I did use nearly all of my savings to buy cryptos.

Common criticisms of Bitcoin

  • Its just like Tulip mania
    Bitcoin is nothing like Tulips, Bitcoin is a decentalised and censorship resistant network which enables values to be transferred across the internet at very low cost. The value of Bitcoin is the strength of its network and the fact that it has never been breach or hacked, which means unless someone steals your private key, your coins are safe.
    Tulips has none of these qualities. The only thing which Bitcoin and Tulips have in common is the fact they both went up in value very quickly. Even then there are differences, Tulips went up and crashed all within 3 years. Bitcoin has gone through at least 3 cycles where it has smashed its previous all time highs and never dipped below the starting point of the cycle.
    Bitcoin has recorded a higher year on year low every single year since its existence except for 2015.

  • The Bitcoin network uses too much energy
    This is just market supply and demand. People mine Bitcoin because it is profitable to do so. The Bitcoin network do not require so many miners, in fact it started with just one miner. The network can continue with just one miner, it adjusts as more miners enter and leave, this is built into the network. The high energy used by Bitcoin is a sign that it is valuable and people are willing to make the effort in participating in the effort in securing the network and be rewarded for it.
    Due to the profit motive, the energy sources used by Bitcoin miner are increasingly from green energy sources reducing its impact on the environment.

  • It is used for criminal activity
    Fiat currencies are used on a much much larger scale by criminals. Banks launder money for criminal, there's been so many scandals, and those are just the ones which make it to the media, I'm sure a lot goes undetected.
    Bitcoin is actually very bad for criminal activity, this is why they quickly moved onto privacy coins like Monero and Zcash. The Bitcoin blockchain is public and all transactions remain there forever. If a drug deal is done with cash, unless there's a recording device there at the time of the transaction, that drug transaction is untraceable. If you do a drug transaction with Bitcoin, that transaction will always be on the blockchain, all it takes is for law enforcement to tie one address to a real person, and the entire web unravels, so its not very smart using Bitcoin for criminal activity.

My Crypto mistakes and other pitfalls

I want to go over some of the ways I lost money in crypto over the years so maybe you can learn from my mistake

  • Scam websites
    In 2014, there was a website called Bitcoin savings bank, which promises 9%pa interest if I transferred my Bitcoin there. Very similar to what Crypto.com, Blockfi etc offer today, except they are scammers. Unfortunately, I didn't do my research and I believed them. I transferred 2BTC to their "savings account". Never saw it again.
    Nowadays, these sites are very obvious, they promise hourly returns, like 10% every 2 hours. This is impossible to consistently do, they are all scams, don't fall for them.

  • Double your coins scam
    This is quite famous, there are many variants, but essential it just entails you sending your coins and double or some very good return percentage will return. Its a scam, you will get nothing. Fortunately, I have never fallen for these.

  • Pump and dump groups
    These are almost always scams, there are more losers than winners. Yes you may win one time, take it and walk away, but most likely you will lose. I lost more than 1BTC in this. I'm still part of the groups to monitor, but I never participate anymore. Neither should you. They also have these VIP or "inner circle" groups, where they promise you early notification of the coin to pump for a fee. Don't fall for this. They might also have an inner inner circle group or VIP+, where they promise to take your Bitcoin and buy the coins for you, to maximize your returns. These are definitely scams, they will take your Bitcoin and then block you on telegram.

  • Fake wallet apps
    These apps emulate popular wallet apps and asks you for your seed phrases and private keys so they can steal your crypto. Treat your seed phrases and private keys as private. NO ONE should know, not even staff members of the hardware wallet company. Its like your online banking password, no bank employee should ask for that. If any app do, delete it IMMEDIATELY.

  • Leveraged trading
    I lost around 1 BTC (worth around $5-6k USD at the time). I tried to pick the bottom during the 2018 bear market, the Bitcoin price was quite stable and stagnant around the $5500-$6000k mark, so around Nov 2018, I thought that was the bottom and went in with a leverage long. The market went off a cliff dropping down to $3500. I got liquidated, lost the 1 BTC I deposited. I never touched leverage trading again. Its very hard to pick tops and bottoms, so now I just dollar cost average and periodically buy and hold. You don't need to worry about being liquidated if you do this, it will help you sleep better at night haha.


Mod Note: The user is not associated with TechLead YouTube channel.

Ref.

Comments

      • +4

        Incorrect, you are reading like everyone else with confirmation bias does. Reread it again, reread it in whole

  • +1

    Do you still worry about the price of everyday expenses such as energy and phone plans?

    • No, because I have enough reserves for the "essentials", such as energy, phone plans etc. I also get interest payments as passive income which can fund those essentials, of course they are taxed normally.

      • yeah, i was wondering about that. if you borrow from Celsius, you'd still have to send it to an exchange to sell into AUD or whatever.
        would you essentially show the ATO your records from Celsius that the money was a loan and not a profit?

        • You can borrow Fiat (USD) from Blockfi against crypto collateral.

    • There is a site called Living Room of Satoshi which a lot of BTC/crypto investors use to pay off Credit Cards/BPAY their bills. Check it out. I assume OP would use it too.

  • Hypothetically, how can you buy Bitcoin without the ATO finding out?
    Does the Bitcoin ATM accept cash anonymously under $10k?
    Do the wallet apps 'talk' to the ATO?

    Asking for a friend.

    • +4

      Well, you can buy it over the counter, then you can cash it out at a Bitcoin ATM. You will incur higher fees though, but that's a way.

      Depends on whether its a centralised wallet or not. Wallets on the exchange will be reported to the ATO as part of their data matching program, such as Independent Reserve, Coinspot and BTCmarkets. Your hardware wallets, such as Trezor and Ledger do not "talk" to the ATO, they are not snitches! Just make sure the addresses in those wallets don't interact with an exchange, once it does, then they can get your information through Know Your Client (KYC) provisions.

    • You can mine cryptocurrencies as a way of dollar cost average investing. A lot of pools/services (Nice hash, for example) will take the hard work out of it (choosing/optimising which coin to mine) and pay you in bitcoin. Many pools/services can be signed up to no questions asked.

      Of course, while the ATO have no way of finding out you did this, you have a legal obligation to report these earnings.

      • +1

        I do not see how there can be consistent profit from mining with Nicehash.
        If there was an easy way to profit:
        1) the people with mining equipment would mine themselves rather than lease their mining power on Nicehash
        2) the cost of renting mining power on Nicehash would go up as more people sign up for the easy profits

        I see it as speculating on price/hash rate in a long term contract

      • Nicehash have updated their KYC requirements. Now there is no way to recieve a pay out without submitting all your identity details, including your local countries tax number

    • There are a lot of platforms like shopping.io coming out that will allow you to pay for things with Crypto. So that might be an option in the near future.

      • Transaction fees are way too high to use bitcoin as a currency. It's been up to US$55 before!

        It depends on how many others also want to transfer bitcoin, you basically have to outbid them to get your transaction processed.

        There are other coins that will work thou.

  • +2

    appreciate for the AMA, between litecoin, dogecoin, ethereum which one do you think is worth / progressively increase in the next 5 year? I want to get my saving into cryptocurrencies and thinking bitcoin won't go further that much compare to litecoin,dogecoin or ethereum? I will take your advice as a grain of salt though so don't worry to give any advice.

    • +11

      I think Ethereum would have the biggest potential out of those 3. It is most actively being developed and ETH2.0 is greatly improved. So if I had to make a prediction, I'd say in 5 years time, Ethereum would have the biggest gain.

      Litecoin is abit useless, its known as Bitcoin's testnet, but that's it really.

      Dogecoin is a meme coin, I wouldn't touch it. If you read into the tokenomics of it, you'd wouldn't either. There's no hard coin cap and each block gives 10k Doge and no havening mechanism.

      I don't give advice, so don't worry, none of this is advice, these are just my opinions.

      • Thank you for your opinions, I appreciate it. I do think ethereum will gain more out of those 3 too.

  • +3

    Doesn't the impact to climate concern you?

    • It does, but so many things impact the environment. This issue is not restricted to Bitcoin. Cars, plastics, processed foods, in fact all aspects of human activity impact the environment. Due to the profit motive, the energy used in Bitcoin mining is actually mostly clean energy.

      Do you care about the environment? Are you willing to not use cars or fly in planes?

      • +2

        The alternatives have a lot less impact.

        I also substitute car use with bicycle for example

        Do you have a source that bitcoin is mostly from renewables

        • That's good on ya for doing your bit for the environment.

          The energy use in Bitcoin is governed by supply and demand. The Bitcoin network does not require so much energy, in fact it can be run on just one computer only, which was the case when it was first created. Its the profit motive that drives people to mine Bitcoin.

          Read up on how Bitcoin mining works. The enormous amount of energy used is a function of its popularity and people's faith in the network. During the bear market, the hash rate dropped and hence the energy consumption also dropped.

          Do you know how much energy is used to keep the internet up, to host all its sites? Do you worry about the impact of the internet on the environment?

          • +18

            @techlead: You are deflecting with whataboutisms

            37m tons of co2 a year, about same as NZ according to thus, its not one computer, considering bitcoins not as wide used as the internet its bad

            https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-26/is-bit…

            I am resistant to promote something that is inneficient and so damaging. i will leave it at that

            • +21

              @Tleyx: Don't worry, people who know the value of everything knows the value of nothing: long as I got $ everything else is irrelevant.

              This AMA is just promotion to pump up the price further. Don't be fooled.

              • +7

                @netjock: +1. Ponzi schemes require more "investors/gamblers" to keep the "hype" going.

              • +1

                @netjock: while i agree that this AMA does sound like pump & dump, i disagree that bitcoin's energy cost is not worth. Unless those mining coins are cheating their way into getting free energy, they are paying for it, and therefore, there's no waste, in the same way that people flying planes aren't "wasting" energy.

                • +8

                  @sangohan: I can turn my heating to 30C and walk in my jocks at home because I pay the power bills doesn't make it right.

                  We got this entitlement culture. Because I can afford to fly then pollution is no consequence. People in the pacific can sort out their own problems when salt water is lapping at their toes, long as my crypto goes up in price.

              • +10

                @netjock:

                This AMA is just promotion to pump up the price further. Don't be fooled.

                LOL Yea I am sure an Ozbargain thread is really going to get the price of Bitcoin moving

                • @turbochris: Every little bit helps. You have no idea how the internet is manipulating you.

                  • -2

                    @netjock: Umm… yea OK.

                    Maybe you need this:

                    https://mcphee.com/products/tin-foil-hat

                    Protects against “them” doing “that thing”

                    • +1

                      @turbochris: There is a thing called common sense. Just like historical performance doesn't guarantee future returns.

                      That is why people actually used to research using real books because it is vetted before publishers are willing to print something. Now on the internet it is easy to ramble on WordPress for free.

            • +3

              @Tleyx: I have a problem with this 37m tons of co2 a year. It came from this, in the article:

              If it were a country, its annualized estimated carbon footprint would be comparable to New Zealand at about 37 million tons of carbon dioxide.

              They are just taking the energy consumption of Bitcoin and estimating the co2, have they taken into account the green energy used (estimated to be 39%)? https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-…

              Yes, by sheer numbers its staggering, as of 11th March, 128 terawatts. In 2019, Australia's main grid used 192 terawatts, this is for all of Australia! However, due to the profit motive, 39% and rising of this energy comes from green sources.

            • @Tleyx: My thoughts exactly.

            • @Tleyx: In this case, you should be a big proponent of the Proof of stake (POS) blockchains such as Ethereum 2.0.
              You should be migrating all of your banking services to decentralized finance on a POS blockchain including your lending and savings accounts.
              If you don't, you are contributing to the huge amount of environmental damage the big banks are creating.
              Have you considered how much energy you are wasting by banking with a big bank that opens branches all over the world, offices, data centres, etc? How much energy are their employees are wasting?
              This could and should all be moved to a low energy proof of stake blockchain.
              Some of my lending is through Compound and Aave and these will be the lenders of the future. I look forward to them moving to Ethereum 2.0 where they will be very low carbon footprint.

    • This is a common argument against bitcoin but far more energy is used processing modern money. Think about all the energy powering the buildings of banks, atms, servers, atm machines, money printers, coin makers, vehicles moving cash around etc.

      • Got some numbers with sources on this?

        It's not nothing but lots more people use normal money

        I believe the co2 per transaction is not comparable. Bitcoin is much higher

  • +12

    Congratulations OP on what turned out to be a great strategy. I do take issue with this though: "I can now comfortably retire. Which other investment allows you to do that in less than 10 years."

    People who leveraged into multiple investment properties 10 years ago can comfortably retire.
    I backed out of a residential property block purchase (gutted) which the subsequent purchaser turned into a tax free $1M profit in < 2 years.
    Heck, if you put $100k in Afterpay last March @ ~$11 that would be enough for many people to comfortably retire.

    I'm not knocking you at all for your personal success - all credit to you. But there have been many ways to make big gains over the last 20 years and there will continue to be in many different sectors.

    • -2

      I understand, there are "many ways to skin a cat". (weird expression, I've never skinned a cat before). Point is there are many ways to get to the same outcome, which is financial freedom.

      I read in realestate.com.au about this couple with 32 properties earning $1 mil in rent gross and getting $452k after property holding costs before tax. That's great too, that's enough for them to retire I think. So its definitely achievable.

      Your $100k in Afterpay example is not comparable though, that's like putting $1 mil on black at the casino haha. I just think too many people are skewed towards property investment and not considering other "arguably better" alternatives out there.

      • +33

        Your $100k in Afterpay example is not comparable though, that's like putting $1 mil on black at the casino haha.

        And putting your lifesavings into crypto isn't?

        • +2

          Exactly crypto are more volatile than shares… lol
          Sounds like a troll or crypto marketer!

    • +11

      Heck, if you put $100k in Afterpay last March @ ~$11 that would be enough for many people to comfortably retire

      People probably have but then it isn't much fun when someone turns up at the dinner party and out do you in 1/10th of the time. Everyone else is poop poop. Only my experience is real.

      I can't help but to think this is a marketing victory lap exercise.

    • +9

      All I see from the OP is confirmation bias coupled with hindsight bias mixed in with a high dose of luck.

      OP is no wizard and is no Oracle. Just because OP got lucky in a HIGHLY SPECULATIVE investment does not make that person Warren Buffett nor does it mean that everyone else can follow OP's footstep from here onwards.

  • +9

    Can we see your holdings? hard to take most people words on this site

    • +6

      If I was a billionaire why would I be checking ozBargains and doing AMAs. I'll be on the speaking circuit getting paid $100k for the hour plus travel or just on party island. Look at Richard Branson with Necker Island, he even does an AirBNB of shorts for the rich.

      Is it millionaires gaslighting us mortals or mortals gaslighting other mortals.

  • Well done - Do you have a top 5 for crypto in the current climate or some advice as to how your portfolio is structured percentage wise? I've made a few k here and there but always reluctant to pour a large amount in - seems almost too easy to make ridiculous $$$ in the bull markets which I guess makes me wary of a sudden 2017 like crash again.

    • +2

      You need to understand how the crypto market cycle works. The Bitcoin cycle usually revolves around the halvening event, when Bitcoin's block rewards halves. The last halvening was May 2020. A bull market usually follows 2-14 months after that, followed by a crash and a bear market until the next halvening, which is around May 2024.

      The top 5 for me are, BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA and DOT.

      • +1

        Understanding the cycle doesn't really help predict the end of the bull market does it? Many got burnt last time and it surely will burn many again…..

        Ok thanks - so you don't dabble in anything outside of the top 10 marketcap wise? I think it's probably too late to make any real life changing amount of money in this bull-run sticking to btc/eth etc.

        • +3

          It does. This is usually how the cycle goes, Bitcoin goes up, pulling alts with it, then Bitcoin goes parabolic and the atls go parabolic, that is the signal for the end of the bull run.

          Take a look at the last cycle. In the beginning of 2017, Bitcoin was $1000USD. by around July, August, it was at $4000USD. Then Bitcoin went parabolic hitting $19900USD in Dec 2017. The alts kept pumping, Bitcoin dominance fell to its lowest point late Jan 2018 before the full on bear market commencing in April 2018.

          We are just before the parabolic phase of the cycle at the moment. Bitcoin will hit $100kUSD easily this year, it may go to $250-300k USD, sky's the limit, no one predicted $19.9k USD last time. If you have alts, I'd say start thinking about shifting it back into fiat or Bitcoin towards the end of this year.

          The parabolic phase hasn't started yet, there's still at least 2x return in Bitcoin from here until the peak of this cycle, it may not be life changing, but it would be a good amount. Don't think Bitcoin will make you instant millionaires. Buy it and hold until 2024 if you want any significant gains, or you can wait until the bear market before buying.

          The best strategy is to dollar cost average. I don't trade it, I just periodically buy it and hold. I haven't sold any Bitcoin I bought in 2013.

          • +10

            @techlead: Hmmmm you make it sound likes it's all super easy to predict but my memory of 2017/18 is no one predicted the crash happening at that time and all the talk from the forums and crypto gurus was it would just keep rising. Only people like yourself who were able to ride it down and sit on massive losses have eventually come back out ahead.

            I agree with you and do think it will keep rising but what's not to say the parabolic stage hasn't already happened - if you look at the graphs they all look pretty parabolic to me in the past 6 months… I mean some alts are up over 100x

            Basically when it comes to crypto no one really knows what will happen next despite the usual 'cycles' so yes you can make massive gains but there are many who made massive losses so caution is advised before throwing in your life savings.

          • +1

            @techlead:

            The best strategy is to dollar cost average. I don't trade it, I just periodically buy it and hold. I haven't sold any Bitcoin I bought in 2013.

            Then you have nothing … just some bits sitting in your cold storage (hopefully).

            Unless you cash in it's just nothing.

            Consider following: you have bought 8y ago at $1000. Now price is $70000.

            Do you think price in 8 years will be $560 000, so we can start buying :)

            Who bought at price below $10k is ok and can safely cash in and retire. I don't know why all people who bought ask other to join …. aaah I know, but that's called Ponzi scheme.

            To summarize:
            1. If you cash in - enjoy your retirement.
            2. If you hodl - enjoy that USB stick in your pocket with all the 'winning' bits.

        • +2

          Oh I don't know, I loaded up at the top of the last cycle (yeah, hindsight is great) and haven't sold any so am now back in profit (on the books). Still got some crapcoins but others, like BNB and ENJ have gone off a treat! :) But yeah, if you bought high and sold low then you'd be pissed for sure.

      • +1

        and they're actually the top 5! barring tether, of course.

      • I have all 5, plus cake and link, and a few in sxp and auto

      • Are you meaning there should be a Crash any moment now? Bull is just about over And it will be Bear from about now and another 2 years?

        Or has something changed since this post 8 months ago?
        Is it still worth jumping in for the first time or will I be jumping in on the eve of a crash?

        Have only just seen this post today. Lots of (too much maybe) info.

        • Don't try and time tops and bottoms. If professional traders can't do it then nobody can.

          Just DCA, sit back and chill.

          • -1

            @rektrading: Likely I will do zero. Been thinking maybe one day since Bitcoin could be mined on your home computer…
            I will never jump..

  • +12

    If you have enough to retire on, why don’t you sell out and retire?

    • +12

      I think it's because Bitcoin is a "sure thing" and will only increase in the future - which is why the OP can't wait to buy more during the next crash.

      What a curious sentence I just typed.

      • +2

        Its as curious as saying, "property only goes up", yet from 2018 it fell until roaring back now.

        Bitcoin will only increase in the future, but it doesn't mean there's no peaks and troughs. The point is that it will trend up. I know Bitcoin will only go up in the future because there's no floor in the drop of purchasing power for fiat currency. Ever since moving off the gold standard, fiat currencies has only moved in one direction, down to zero. So part of Bitcoin's rise is a function of the fall in the purchasing power of fiat currency, since there's no floor in that, there's no ceiling for the price of Bitcoin.

        Bitcoin has chalked up higher yearly lows each and every year apart from 2015.

        With each "crash" Bitcoin has never retraced to the price at the beginning of the last cycle.

        For example, it pumped from $100 to $1000, then "crashed" to $500 before going up, it never went back down to $100.

        Likewise, in 2017, it went from $1000 to $19900 then "crashed" to $3300, it never retraced down to $1000.

        This current bull cycle began at around $8000, we will most likely never see $8000 Bitcoin ever again, unless you can convince someone to sell it to you at that price over the counter, in which case, can I get in on this $8000 Bitcoin as well? :D

        • +1

          Thank you for explaining your thought process on this one and good luck for the future. :)

    • +1

      You get lucky once, to get lucky twice might actually involve skill.

      Already a bit sketchy how it is possible to retire by just selling say $100k a year (part of the capital appreciate) to live off rather than constantly taking out loans against it.

      Why only borrow 25% against the asset when you can utilise 100% of it. Doesn't make sense but then crypto doesn't make sense, it makes sense to a minority.

      I like SNL's explanation of NFTs.

      • I haven't seen that skit, I will have a look.

        I'm not a fan of NFTs. I'm not a fan of art either, I don't understand why people pay thousands and even millions for a painting or sculpture, doesn't make sense to me.

        Borrowing 25% against it allows me to free up some equity in it without selling, therefore no CGT payable. Also, I don't lose out on the capital gains of that asset. Imagine people who sold their Bitcoins at $100 or $1000, they lost out on the capital gains after that. With the loan, I'm still exposed to the capital gain (and loss) of Bitcoin without paying CGT.

    • +1

      I can retire, doesn't mean I will. I enjoy my job. Warren Buffett retired at 26, he found it boring and went back to work.

      • +4

        Last time bitcoin corrected, it lost 75% of its value. What happens if you have a 25% LVR margin loan on your coins and the same thing happens again?

        • +4

          That's right, let's assume you took out a loan at the tippy top of the cycle and it falls and you did nothing, then you will be margin called. You will lose your Bitcoin collateral, but get to keep the funds you've been given for the loan.

          My portfolio is large enough that I can sustain such corrections. Take for example, I have 100BTC, which is quite common for people who started in crypto in 2013, that's actually towards the lower end of the scale.

          You use 20 BTC to take out a $375000 loan. If the market fell 50%, your collateral value becomes $750k against your $375k loan. I can just use my 80BTC reserves to increase the collateral to a safe level so I don't get liquidated. The rest are earning interest at a rate of 4-6%, which more than covers the 1% interest on the loan.

          That's how you survive a correction and since Bitcoin has never fully retraced, once you survive one bear market, you are golden, happy days from there.

          • +3

            @techlead: I hope you are correct that bitcoin doesn't experience the same reversion to mean and overcorrection every other asset class ever has experienced.

            • +1

              @mskeggs: If Bitcoin is treated as digital gold, it wouldn't. In the 10 years of its existence it has not reverted to mean, it has just keep going up without ever retracing fully.

              Bitcoin has had higher lows each and every year since 2009 till now except for 2015.

              • +7

                @techlead: I understand the graph.
                It seems needlessly risky to me to have the bulk of your assets in a single class that you cannot ride through a correction.
                This is literally how wealthy people lose it all in GFC style events. You have been very clever to have done so well, why jeopardise everything if the price of bitcoin fall to $4000 for just a day?

                So many people have been margin called out of their assets because of a very short term price fluctuation.

                • @mskeggs: That's why the loan option is not for everyone.

                  I guess I'm taking a calculated bet that Bitcoin will not drop to $4k for just a day, but yea, it is risky to take out a loan against it.

                  Its either that or pay millions in CGT…I'm still debating this, not going to sell out anytime soon.

                  • +6

                    @techlead: Good luck and I hope you hang onto your gains, it sounds like a life changing amount you could use for really positive things.
                    Paying tax on a great windfall isn’t some evil, think of it as the fee to make sure you can have some of your gains in a secure, non-volatile place - just in case.

                    If I was dedicated to leveraging into crypto, I would take a few hundred thousand, or whatever is your comfortable place, and put it in a trust or a separate SMSF in “not crypto” like cash or gold or whatever as your insurance.

                  • @techlead: are you sure you are liable for capital gains tax?

                • +9

                  @mskeggs:

                  You have been very clever

                  Lot of property investors count themselves clever. Sometimes people are just lucky they are being swept by the wave.

                  • +3

                    @netjock: This is why I rarely discuss my investment strategies with others.

                    Two responses are common.
                    - You are completely crazy, it's crashing. Investing $X in Y is dangerous. Take it out now and put it in the bank.
                    - You are so lucky, it's gone up like crazy. You won the lotto. I never win anything.

                    Crypto is just one example of my unusual investments.

                    Each time people respond to my ideas like this I have made my greatest investments, crypto is the most recent example.

              • -1

                @techlead:

                If Bitcoin is treated as digital gold, it wouldn't

                Gold has done nothing. Bitcoin is digital version of do nothing.

                • +2

                  @netjock: In a way that's true. Unlike Ethereum, Chainlink and other cryptos which actually serves a purpose, Bitcoin is just a boring old coin, does nothing except to exist on the blockchain.

                  Doing nothing isn't necessarily a bad thing. Companies buy gold precisely because it does nothing but hold value, Bitcoin can do the same, except better. Tried transferring 10kg or even 1kg of gold? Need to transfer 100BTC? No worries

                  • +1

                    @techlead:

                    Companies buy gold precisely because it does nothing but hold value

                    Which companies? Any of the top 20 listed companies in Australia have gold in a vault?

                    Unlike Ethereum, Chainlink and other cryptos which actually serves a purpose

                    Purpose like? Just because smart contracts are possible doesn't mean it is being used.

                    Tried transferring 10kg or even 1kg of gold? Need to transfer 100BTC?

                    Try stealing 1kg of gold vs stealing 100BTC. I haven't seen someone on a computer in North Korea steal 1kg of gold from an internet terminal in North Korea. Not direct substitutes. Calling it digital gold is just marketing to those who know nothing.

                  • @techlead: BTC chain does do something. Just one example, some companies like microsoft are now developing decentralized ID on BTC blockchain. Check ION.

      • Warren Buffett retired at 26, he found it boring and went back to work.

        If you are confident you are going to get close to $100bn then yeah. Take your crypto and figure out how much it needs to multiply then make a decision.

        • haha, $100 billion?!?

  • Hey Techlead, just a question, i know Dogecoin for many people is a joke crypto, but is getting more popular these days, and they start to use to use for many payments, do you think one day will go over $1?

    • +4

      I wouldn't say never, but I wouldn't touch Dogecoin.

      To put that in perspective, you need to understand the tokenomics of Doge, there's no hard limit and each block gives 10k Doge with no halvening. This means inflation of the coin is through the roof.

      The circulating supply of Doge today is 128.9 billion, so Doge at $1 means it will have a market cap of $128.9 billion, that will make it the third largest crypto by market cap.

      I wouldn't say never, but I would say highly unlikely and I wouldn't invest in it.

      • Thanks 😊

    • https://youtu.be/kLs1YIXOl4c

      Informative video with proper research done to back up what's said.

  • Which platform are you getting your passive income from? and how do you cash out that passive income as expenses? binance > coinspot> your bank? or binance > livingroomofsatoshi?

    thanks

    • +1

      You can use many platforms, such as Celsius, Crypto.com, Binance etc.

      Take Binance for example, you will get Bitcoin or whatever coin you are staking as returns, you can sell those for fiat and transfer it to your bank account. This would count as ordinary income, so you will need to pay tax on it. Seek your own professional tax advice, these are just my opinions.

      For other platforms, you just withdraw the crypto onto an exchange which can send money to your bank account, such as Coinspot, Independent reserve or BTC markets. They are quite quick, you can sell your crypto and have the funds in your account within an hour using the Osko payments, obviously within limits, you wouldn't get $1 mil within an hour, but I've heard from friends up to $15k can be had within the hour.

  • what percentage of your wealth is in BTC compared to other cryptocurrencies?

    • +2

      At the moment, my Bitcoin holdings is 35%, it fell because a few of my alt coins have gone up insanely high, for example Dot and Kusama. I got Dot for under $3, its now over $30, and I got Kusama at $40, its now $550. (All USD by the way)

      • I got Dot for under $3, its now over $30, and I got Kusama at $40, its now $550. (All USD by the way)

        Damn!!

        Were you gambling with those at that time and got lucky, or did you buy due to positive findings in your research?

        • I'm guessing it was researched. but those two were a sure bet due to ex Eth CTO Gavin Wood being at the helm. He's huge ambition and a track record to back it up.
          I'm anticipating Polka/Ksm season all through the next few months. fingers crossed

      • KSM at $235 for me. That has been insane.

        • I'm very bullish with the Dot ecosystem. I think once all the parachains are online, it will take off even more.

          • @techlead: how much you got BNB at? Mine at $20 at 2018, but I sold 40% at early Feb this year when it reached $50. Luckily I hold the rest.

  • i got 10k i want to put into crypto, in the hope it will multiply at least 10x after 2 -3 years, whats the best coin to choose atm?

    saw this story about a guy who bought theta a year ago, now thetas increased, guy basically has at least a milllion dollars now. not sure if true story though.

Login or Join to leave a comment