A long time ago, when I was first learning about FIRE (financial independence and early retirement), I decided that I will do that by 2025 when I'll be 47. And for a short time, a couple of months at the beginning of 2022, I was there. Thanks to crypto. Then everything went South, and, I was not clever enough to have at least half in stablecoins. I mean, in the right ones. Then, one morning, Celsius went down. I had around 25% of my portfolio in there, including something like 11-12 ETH and 0.4 BTC. And some stablecoins, as I was talking about that. Talking about fate, when Luna happened, I was on the plane, and by the time I landed, everything was crashing hard. FTX did not touch me, as it seems to me as more of the American stuff, and SBF and Alameda looked like dodgy AF. It was not that they did not look safe, but the fact that they messed up with some companies like ICP and a few more, for their own profit, that made me think that they are a bit unethical, and I stayed away. And last, BlockFi, where I was just putting some extra staff, as a backup. I did reach 0.1 BTC in there before they went down. And there we are, with my portfolio being only 24% of what it was at the beginning of the year.
Now, after so many negative events, I am a bit disappointed in crypto, but the one project that kept me in the game was Hive, and incidentally Splinterlands. A long time ago, when crypto flooded our lives, I decided to get a tract of 100 Lands, and I won another Tract at the Raffle. I got a decent collection in there, but the going down move that eventually happens to all the blockchain games seems to knock at Splinterlands door too, lately. So, I started to focus on Hive, as this is the basic brick for the whole ecosystem. I went up for a mere 1-2K to 6K this year, and I did some little investments on the side too, into DHEDGE, BROFI, ARCHON, and a few more dripping projects. I reach 25K on Leo, even if initially I was dreaming of 30 or even 50K before the bear came to visit us. Still happy with that. Most of my targets, even if they seem quite far-fetched, were achieved.
And now I am looking at the specter of a new year, where I am planning to make some different moves. I am still afraid that I will make the wrong choice, but then, I will just do it, and live with it. I start to rebuild everything from the ground, and my first move was to build some stable reserves, thinking initially to get 1000 BUSD and 1000 USDT in savings (as Binance pays 5.5% and 6% if I am not mistaken). I will get there in January, most probably, and then I may get some USDC too, just in case. Diversification, above all. I do have 3 blockchain games where I am kind of heavily invested, and I will not sell until the bull market is back. Or will I? It is all depending on the market and the macro-economical perspective, which is now major BS.
Anyway, 2025 was the year I choose, and while I was getting close enough to see it, my FIRE plan is still a bit far. Nevertheless, we are going forward, with some strategic moves. I am thinking about redirecting something toward real-life shares, mutual funds, and a big fat emergency fund. But this means doing it slowly or getting some crypto out of the wallet. I am more inclined toward the first choice, but, there is always a but.
As someone said, and I liked this quote a lot: All the greatest tragedies have a happy end, but only for the ones that survive until the end.
See you again
George
