Like many others, I jumped in on the Bitcoin mining bandwagon in late 2013. I was living in Gurgaon, India – host to giants like Google, TCS and the (still barely relevant) Nokia. Yet, no one I knew had heard of Bitcoin or Blockchain. Heck, people were scared to even use an ATM
Though I had a steady job, my bank balance failed to keep up with my insatiable appetite for the latest gadgets.
As I struggled to keep up, investing in Bitcoin looked more and more attractive. So, I did my “research” and figured that mining rather than buying would help me build my own retirement fund. Lack of trust in exchanges too, played a role - not that there were any real options to buy BTC in India back then.
I quickly put together my first rig powered with a R9280x graphics card - which is still chugging along almost 3.5yrs later (awesome hardware by MSI). The entire process involved a lot of trial and error, but I still remember the joy of getting that first share. Each week, I would make a trip to Nehru Place (imagine a best buy, but 100x bigger) to add more hashing power. 1 rig became 2, which became 4 and by the end of December, I had invested an entire year’s salary into my rigs, borrowing more from my credit cards each time.
People that know me have often remarked my nose for sniffing out opportunities. Little do they know that it is greatly overshadowed by my impeccably poor timing. I may not be the only one to buy high and sell low, but the ability to do it over and over again is uncanny.
Plagued with the Mt.Gox fiasco and China’s crackdown on Bitcoin (should’ve seen it coming), doom and gloom took me. Thoughts of How will I ever repay my credit cards? and *I’m doomed * seemed to play on repeat. As Bitcoin plunged lower and lower each day, I decided it was time to pull out and sell my rigs while they still had value.
Though I was able to recover 60% of my investment, it **took me nearly 2 yrs to recover financially. **
Why did I come back then? FOMO? Get rich quick? The answer is very simple. More than creating a retirement fund, I want to be involved. I NEED be involved.
Like an old lover, mining has pulled me back into her arms again. This time, I’m not in it just for the money. I want to learn and be a part of something bigger than me and help others along the way.