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Where to Invest:

1. Education

2. Retirement Accounts

3. Stocks

4. Real Estate

5. Crypto

6. Buying a small business

7. Starting my online business

Heads up, this one will be a little different than the previous investment avenue articles. I am not going to speak on specific coins; some have come and gone, others still exist. I think this is more about giving my perspective on this type of investment in 2024 with about four years of experience in the space.

First, a mini-rant

I want to state that I am not for or against crypto. I know a lot of people are hard yes or hard no, and the only people in between generally do not know anything about the topic.

I believe that there is a good idea behind crypto; the problem is that a small number of people are shady, and this gives them ample opportunity to take advantage of other people and systems they would not have been able to at any other time.

Part of the problem is that we have not actually solved any problems with cryptocurrencies, which is what everyone thinks of when they hear crypto, and that is fair. There are plenty of other things that use the underlying mechanisms that cryptocurrencies are built on. Blockchain can be a powerful technology for the future and the present, but like I said, there are a select few that are being greedy and ruining the reputation in the general public.

Like all code, blockchain is susceptible to hackers and bad actors. The difference is that with the normal setup, you cannot reverse transactions in any way. Therefore, if someone breaks in and takes your money, it's just gone. That is scary, which is why it is wild that this is currently our most well-known use of blockchain. There are tons of other possible uses for it, but society has struggled to apply it in those fields.

Now the meat and potatoes

Yes, there are some people who have made a ton of money in crypto trading; there are also some who have lost a lot of money. I would say that I am slightly below break-even. I have had some big losses but also some sporadic wins that have kept me afloat.

I think this is more like real estate than stock trading, with one exception. Bitcoin is here to stay; the US has passed laws where we can have a Bitcoin ETF, which is basically the government's way of saying we think that this is going to be around for the long haul and normal retail investors should have access to trading it. Everything else in the space needs an insane amount of research to trade it confidently.

There is also the barrier to entry, which is tougher than setting up an online brokerage account. Most of the world is pretty computer literate at this point, so this will not be an issue forever but is still a concern in the present time.

This is like gold mining in the wild west; some people made a ton of money, most of those people were the ones selling the tools to dig for gold. Just like in traditional finance, there are a few people who hold a large portion of every coin…including Bitcoin. These people have overarching power and no regulations on how to act.

I could dive deeper into my own experience with specific coins, but I believe that will not help anyone. Some have been good, and some I have lost all my money in. I think the more important thing is to educate on the issues with the current system.

Until we figure out more ways to protect innocent investors in this space, I am only going to have a very small percentage of my net worth in there, and it is all cash I already had in the investments since around 2019.

Steps for the Brave

I normally tell people to avoid unnecessary volatility, mostly because it triggers emotions, and as we have covered multiple times, emotional traders lose every time. If you want to dip your toes in, this is how I would recommend you get started.

1. Buy Big Coins: These are available on centralized platforms like Robinhood, CoinBase and most other online trading apps.

2. Do Research: Once you are comfortable with those coins research some smaller ones. Put 100 hours into research before buying.

3. Get a decentralized wallet: This is where things get more advanced, MetaMask is the most popular.

4. Join Communities: Discord is the communication app of this world. Get on there and learn about the community and the founders.

5. Buy decentralized coins: Now that you researched a project it’s time to buy. Try to find ones that are trying to make the world better instead of people screaming, “We are going to the moon.”

This is a super divisive topic; let me know your thoughts with some replies. If you want more specific information on anything we have covered here, just let me know!

Josh