So, the question has been asked:
> How has Crypto and Blockchain Technology Impacted my Personal Finance?
The answer is simple.
Not at all.
Four years of earning crypto by contributing content daily to blockchains. Three and a half years of trading crypto. Investments into various projects. Distributing crypto daily to thousands of users over the years and...
Nada.
Crypto hasn't helped my personal finances at all.
The reason isn't because I have failed at crypto or I am terrible at what I do - it is because I haven't used crypto in my personal life, I haven't cashed out, I have ridden the high and the lows and, I am still here. But, just because I haven't had an personal financial benefits from crypto and blockchain, it doesn't mean, my finances haven't changed.
I got into crypto at what was the lowest financial point in my life and one where there was the most at stake in my life. I had a newborn daughter and wife who needed medical care and the formula my daughter needed was costing 1.5x our mortgage. My wife and I had worked for years to build up a safety net and it was drained in less than six months and her own recovery due to some hospital screwups meant she was unable to work. I was working, taking care of both of them - no one was sleeping. So, in a drive of desperation - I started writing in the hope I could earn something to ease the bills. With a lot of effort, we made it through those times, but it has taken its toll on us in many ways.
Fast-forward four years.
As said, I didn't use crypto, even though my financial situation was dire. First off, the initial earnings were so meagre that it wouldn't have moved the needle much at all. But there was more than that. Back in 2017 I started to learn more about the blockchain and crypto scene in general, but more importantly, I started to pay attention to what I already knew about finance economy and realized, I didn't know enough.
I have worked since I was twelves years of age, where I was cleaning out newly built houses before the painters and fitters came in to finish them off. I have earned okay in my life and have pretty much always held a job of some kind and to this day, I haven't missed a job that I have interviewed for, barring the very first one for a restaurant and I was so nervous I couldn't remember the phone number at my new address. Yet, despite always having some level of economic availability, most of my life I have struggled with money.
While I have no one else to blame but myself, the foundation from parents matters a great deal, and they had struggled through their lives too. The apple didn't fall far from the tree and I have lived most of my working life far more hand to mouth, while wishing for something different. But, different doesn't come until different is done.
They say, that we are now in the attention economy and once I started paying attention, I improved my economy. I became far more aware of what I was doing and my own motivations as well as incentives to do what was effectively living my financial life on repeat. Continually doing the same thing that wasn't working, continually feeling that I never had enough and more importantly, never had anything to invest into my own future, and that of my family.
Crypto opened up a space of new opportunity for me, a place where I could not only earn, but also learn - and an ecosystem of applications and relationships in an environment that encouraged creativity. I didn't realize it at the time, but while I was constantly repeating what I had been doing for years in a cycle that held inevitable financial struggle, I had lost my creative self. The initial reason to get creative was for some reward, but the reward ended up being a side-effect of creativity instead. I feel confident that if I hadn't joined the community at that time, it might have been decades before I found my voice, if ever.
The worst thing about financial struggle isn't the going without, it is the being forced to perform continually like a sideshow animal getting whipped by masters for pennies in order to get a meal. No space to be oneself, only be what is required for the audience to throw some coins. I like working hard and I plan on never retiring as I want to always find something that is valuable to do, whether I need the money or not, but I want to work toward something meaningful, not just have a job to pay the bills.
Crypto and blockchain have given me a conduit to meaning that has interlinked so many aspects of my life to the journey, including the well-being and financial health of my family. For me, it isn't good enough to have enough for my daughter to be able to have what she wants, she has to have an environment that is conducive to her own success and happiness and like it or not, that is intrinsically tied to the community she grows in, which is influenced at the global level. If all parents want what is best for their children, it is time we as parents start working toward what is best for all of them. No one said it'll be easy or even successful - but it is necessary to attempt.
The problem is, the economic world we have created isn't built for this, it is instead designed to continually ramp up the extraction of resources to fewer and fewer hands. Most of the world keeps supporting this game in the hope they will be one of the few to "win", without seeing that it is going to lead to cataclysmic social failure and what is effectively, destruction of what our species has evolved to be - all in the name of profits for entities that have no skin in the game, no skin at all.
Something has to change and it has to change quickly, but that change isn't going to come from those who have the resources to change, as they are benefiting from things staying on course as they are. The only way to change the economy is to create a new one. To let the other implode while continually shifting the value it holds into a system that is far better at distributing widely, as it is controlled by the many, not the few. This means, generating wealth in ways that haven't been possible before; Crypto and blockchain.
So here we are - no personal financial benefits as yet, even though I am still financially struggling in the world as I always have. But there is a difference now - my process has changed. I am a poor person investing my creativity and resources into what I believe is a rich future that empowers many, rewards many, encourages many and promises to provide a space for broad creativity to once again be the driver of our economy - rather than narrow financial tools and vehicles that continually become more efficient extractors used to transfer wealth from the many into the pockets of the few - and are only open to those who have already accumulated wealth.
I keep participating daily and have built up a small stack of crypto that I hope can one day be used to improve my financial position and life experience - but my position in the crypto and blockchain space is important, as it is where I see the potential for the disenfranchised to rediscover the value of ownership.
Instead of just being where the ball is headed, let's own the field of play too.
As always, I see ourselves as the biggest hurdle to our future well-being, but that is the same as it has always been in our species, as we seem to find it impossible to truly collaborate for the betterment of us all. However, up until now, we haven't had the ability to organize ourselves economically at a global level from the ground up and have always relied on the top to dictate direction. Times have changed, the tides are turning.
This post originally appeared on the Hive blockchain:
Transaction d226d9202749c4082828486de7f9e698949859e2
Included in block 49,034,637
We are now on blockchain time.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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Thanks for such a candid article!
After reading the article, I was visited by an unusual idea, which I will be happy to share with you.
Paradoxically, but I am also looking for meaning (in my actions, in life, in cryptocurrency… in everything). This article showed me what a person who changes the world for the better with his work, veiledly criticizing the economic dogma of well-being, who seeks meaning in his work and is not afraid to work without rest, looks like. And it's not scary that this article has changed the world by only 0.00000000000000000000000000001%. This is an infinitely greater number of times greater than 0.
I'm glad you found your way. There are only a few such people! Perhaps someday I will find my way too.
It is a paradox indeed. the problem is that a lot of people want different without building the conditions necessary for that to be possible. It is generally necessary to change things over time, which means playing the game in a direction toward changing the game.
Not much, but better than zero. Interestingly, that is about how much of a Bitcoin I have too! :D
:D
That's a wonderful story you got right there - a one with a real long-term goal! Congrats on not taking out anything even in times when others would simply cash out! You're the real crypto enthusiast!
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An enthusiast means that there is no earnings, right? When should I turn pro? :)
I think it means more like you're really sure crypto will succeed and that's why you're not taking anything right now.
In my opinion, you're a pro already!
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You see? This is exactly the "thingy" that I've been telling you that inexorably will change radically with the age in the measure you get older.
How many tokens are you willing to bet? };)
That is the work scenario. Do what you enjoy doing well, people will happily give coins and more - as long as what you do is interesting to them. This is the issue with getting paid for anything - the buyer has to care enough to make the purchase. A lot of people make decisions to do what they want, but fail to see that it can also cost them what they want. Opportunity cost. If there is the hierarchy of doing what is wanted is ranked well above the others, there isn't an issue. The problem of course is, when a person hasn't even done the ranking and put doing what they want above their need for food.
I also had financial problems and in my case the blockchain did help me, No HIVE was STEEM.
But that's another issue, I had a lot of problems and my wife was pregnant and you can imagine everything that was going through my head. In summary, for some of the people who live in Venezuela, this type of project based on blockchain is a lifesaver for many.
When I lived in Venezuela that helped me a lot.
But this time I live in another country and I think about buying some HIVE because if I want to grow and help those users who do not have the support, I must invest to give a helping hand to those who need it.
Hahaha I left the subject but hey is what I wanted to express.
Cheers!
It has been a huge help to many around the world, especially if they are from a country with a poor currency.
Life always throws up challenges to face and sometimes the difference between success and failure is a thin sliver to walk.
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That's right, we just have to be patient and fight for what we want and love. Success is not achieved in a cereal box, it is outside and we must go for it.
I am right there with you, I did buy BTC and then sell it that was my first trade and I made some cash and thought I was a freaking genius and then reinvested and continue to do so without much care for what it becomes really just having fun with it.
I ride the ups and downs too, perhaps I'm a nutter but I don't have the skills or time to time the market so I am just building stake and spending time in the market.
Super lucky I still have fiat coming in so I don't have to rely on crypto in any way and that I can burn some of that filthy government money for Bitcoin regularly
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It is funny isn't it? Some of the trades I have made would make my eyes water IRL.... :D
I think that a lot of people who could, should get some work. I am tired of the "nothing out there" complaint from some people when, there is definitely something out there. they don't seem to see what it is really costing them to live without making a bit extra to invest.
Oh I've had some horror trades like buying LTC at the top, but here I am, I was able to average that down so now I am almost even again lol, can't lose if you keep going. If I think of the upside I could miss out on it kept me motivated
Oh I hate that cop-out, I think it's a lazy excuse, in some cases yes if you're in a remote part of the world, but if you're in a city even a 3rd world city there's always someone willing to pay you to do something for them, money is constantly flowing.
Its a case of people not realising opportunity cost losses, I was talking to my cousin, he has a friend who hasn't had a job in 8 years and each year his covered by his family he feels his winning when in fact his losing in time to earn, upskilling, investing, and will only realise it when he loses that support
it is sad that things can go up so much and we can be almost even again. :D
I think that many people don't "feel" like working, so no matter the opportunities, they will pass them over.
It sounds like your cousin's friend is in for an uncomfortable future. I hope his parents are very wealthy - it will be uused for redistribution through mismanagement ;)
It will change at some point for sure. All the time and energy you have put in will change this story big time. You are a machine and really deserve everything that is coming to you and you are one reason why I push myself so hard on here. You have shown what is possible with dedication and commitment and I listened to the idea of the 5 year degree nearly 3 years ago and I am still going lol. You sold that to me then and I still believe it today and hard work will pay off at some point.
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I really hope that this all works out for us. Been a few years already and that degree time might be coming to a close after 4 already put in :D
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If you believe in a brighter future, you live in a manner that reflects and helps create it. They say that history repeats itself, but at least the monarchs of old did have some skin in the game.
It's a verse from a Pink Floyd song that keeps coming back to my mind...
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which also meant that they bled. A corporate entity doesn't have the same weakness and, it can jump ship into another "body" easily.
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I didn't realise that about the medical situation a few years back, how come the state didn't pay? I thought that's the one thing Northern Europe is just really good at?!?
It's kind of profound that you've got such a legacy on the chain but haven't seen any financial benefit.
I would say it's a shame that Hive doesn't reward people who stay powered up regardless, but someone would find a way to abuse even that somehow!
At least you've got a house now, despite crypto not helping, and all the crypto still - I'm sure Hive's day will come, it's bound to break 900 SATs sometime soon!
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We even had private health insurance.
The problem was that for the state to pay, our daughter would have had to go through months of testing formulas when it was very obvious to the allergy specialist what the problem was and she didn't want to put her through the literal pain of it. Without the testing, the state doesn't pay. The private insurance didn't pay because they saw the formula as food, not medicine. So - it was between 700 and 800 euros a month for the formula with no rebate at all. 60€ a can. With the state subsidy, it would have been 3€ a can.
It is weird that there are plenty of others who have benefited with far less effort, complaining :)
One day I will use some of it of course, but that day hasn't come yet - especially at these prices. My fear is that something will happen and I will be forced to use it before I am ready. I think this happens to people often - unforeseen circumstances.
900 seems so far away...
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Damn those technicalities.
At least it seems those milking days have gone, for the most part anyway!
I'm sure one day we'll be lamenting having sold at 9000. (Hopefully not because Bitcoin is worth $1.)
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This is why we don't give her screen time. She wants a scarfe for Christmas :D She will learn soon enough how to bleed me dry.
I must've missed this the first round but boy ain't I lucky that we crossed paths. The entire first half is both relatable and sad in an odd way.
Financial struggles back in 2017 and getting on the chain is totally my truth. The sadness is on my part of not following up on the lessons to get better especially in investing on crypto.
Circumstances were different (didn't have the means to feed my youngest at the moment and odd jobs were what I survived on) so very little fiat was coming in and the fact that I had depression to deal with wasn't helping with anything but you see... you chose to leap and I sort crawled. Sigh.
Thank you for this
2016/17 was pretty tough - but I wonder if 2020 has been harder in many respects. Back then, I felt I had more control over my actions and acted accordingly. I hope that the conditions of the world don't degrade to the point we no longer have options.
How is life treating you now?
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I think life is simply difficult or mine is. I jump from one toxic space to the next. Financially or emotionally.
Yes strength comes with it but it is the going back to the drawing board thats disturbing. I desperately want to be done with this phase.
Forty is approaching fast. I feel like I have to build a space where I am safe for myself. That I am past the drawing board shenigans!
It seems to be a common thread in us :D
Back to the drawing board is definitely a problem at this age. I am tired of it too, but see that it might be a continual part of my life. Maybe one day, we'll find a way out :)
And here I was thinking I am alone :D
To finding a way out! 🍻
So many people who got first into crypto because of financial struggling to survive. I sure can relate to that ... even tho I did cash out to buy food for myself and some other things needed to be able to go on. I wish for you to find a financial relief.
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Thanks for your story, I'm excited to know that you had a good experience in the blockchain. It shows that you are a hard working man, who wants the best for his family, wife and daughter. Congratulations on that.
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Crypto hasn't helped my finances at all either. Mostly because I stupidly sold my bitcoin for Steem years ago (lol,cry). I'm still a believer though that blockchain technology is the innovation that will lift all boats, both rich and poor, as long as the world governments don't kill it with bureacracy and red tape.
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Greetings friend! I have read many of your publications, they are always very good, but I found this very interesting. Unlike my post and many that I have read, you give a different approach to the answer to this question. Of course I understand that everyone's experience is not the same, in addition to the day to day that we all live to earn a living. The fact is that you are a great writer and I am glad that this is a means to express yourself.
I can also express my art on the blockchain, although for us Latinos who lived in our countries, changes in our finances have been for the better. I think that no matter how much more studies we have in our country, titles are not worth living well, but rather the way we manage our day to day ... A pleasure to read you brother. Happy day!
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