Self-cannibalism FIAT and my 2017 cryptocurrency experience 1 year later (almost)

I just want to thank the crypto community.

You guys helped make 2017 my best investing year ever. :-)

In spring 2017, I was looking for a change. My bank savings balance was depressing. It seemed as if I adjusted my savings for inflation, I was actually losing money. I was putting my money in a bank, but my money was cannibalizing itself. The reward for saving is nil. If you park your money in dollars inflation will eat your money.

I was looking for an exit. In February 2017, I was asking everyone I knew if they knew anything about Bit-coin. But, I couldn't find anyone that knew anything besides two friends. Dave knew what it was, but only provided me a dictionary definition. Ben, another friend, did some mining years ago, but stopped. They both just gave me unappealing definitions of Bit-coin. So, I turned to Youtube and netflix. I watched the Silk road, and felt sorry for Ross. On youtube, I found Box-mining, and Ivan in Tech.

After a few views of youtube, I went to coinbase. I bought a fraction of a Bit-coin. Back then BTC was around $2000. But, the price gave me a sticker shock. So, I started buying something called 'Ethereum' for $40. I knew nothing about either one, but I was learning. I had some bitcoin and I had some ETH. So, I felt cool. I had space credits. I had magic money. I believed I was an early adopter, I thought. At the time, I believed both ETH and Bitcoin were the same. I knew I liked the idea of crypto-currency. I was sure that cryptocurrency was going to be the 'credits' based system I saw in scifii. So, it didn't matter to me if I had cheaper ETH or bit-coin. I was part of a new movement.

I do not recall how much FIAT I spent, but I knew I had 12 ETH and about 1 BTC after a few weeks.
Shortly after I bought ETH, the price spiked to $200-$250 and I sold it for a 2-3X gain. This got me hooked. "I am a genius", I thought. :-)

So, I started researching some more. I think I found a few Bit-connect promoters which reminded me of a past scheme I got tied up in. So, I avoided Bit connect. But, I did make the mistake of attempting to day trade on poloniex.com. Initially, my day trading lost me about $1000-$2000 which I gained earlier,so I promptly stopped this.

After losing money, I just set a goal of acquiring as much BTC and LTC, I could get my hands on. I gave up on ETH because at $200 it seemed to volatile and expensive. The first few months, my investments lost about 1/3 of their value. Then Bitcoin started slowly moving forward. In December my Litecoin and Bitcoin investments went parabolic. The parabolic rise scared me. I was like WTF. I just got in this as a hedge against inflation. What is going on ? So, I mentioned my gains to a Tax Attorney in my gym. Luckily, the guy was a seasoned investor in the FIAT world and said, " You should cash out 20% just in case. You will sleep better." At the time, I thought he was nuts, but everyone else I spoke to said I should either hold or sell it all. So, after a short thought, Alan's advice seemed to be smart. So, I took his advice and sold 1/2 my BTC two days before the all time high. With the price down, I still feel smart. I also did my taxes and I will have to pay about $20,000-$30,000 in short-term capital gains taxes. I also found a very friendly CPA. For me paying taxes, means I am making money. I am thankful regardless. Taxes do suck but bitcoin.tax makes it easy enough to enjoy my earnings.

So, I am starting 2018 as a seasoned crypt-investor. I feel ready. I have been buying. It is a great time to buy. :-)

Thank you Crypto-daily the m guru in the hoodie.

Thank you Boxmining.

Thank you David Hay.

Thank you Ivan of Tech.

Thank you BTC.

Thank you Universe. :-)