Last summer I bought a Trezor wallet and tonight, I finally got around to setting it up. To test the Bitcoin address cost my 16 dollars - 16 dollars to transfer 16 dollars. 0.005 in transfer fees. That is criminal - perhaps that is what they mean when they say Bitcoin is for criminals. To put that in perspective, if all 21 million bitcoin were evenly distributed across the global population, that would be 1/6th of a single person's allocation gone in a single transfer. I am hoping that I won't have to transfer Bitcoin very often - as a couple of transfers and I won't have any left.
The reason I decided to set it up is that I realized that I have too much exposure on exchanges even though I am not trading much, so I am going to have to move some of the value off and into storage. There is far too much risk in having it on exchange where all kinds of things can go wrong.
I like the idea of being able to use my tokens for something like on Hive, but not everything comes with this ability. Quite a while ago, I bought some Travala tokens (AVA) and staked them to earn the 24% APR and hopefully, when people can travel more freely again, this will be used by more people when they book trips and travel. Since I am taking off exchanges, I decided I would stake more AVA to increase the returns. It isn't a huge amount, but they aren't earning anything on the exchange since again, I am not trading them.
I have a fair amount of Enjin too, but I am not sure what I am meant to do with that. I don't game or anything, but I am hoping that with all of the people who do and that it has been getting some support in Japan, it will be something that will be useful later. I have been holding it since 2017. Any time now. Actually, It did get some action a week or so ago on some news, so that was nice to see and I saw that 
The other day, one of my colleagues was saying about how he could have one Bitcoin or, have the car he just bought and for him, it is a no brainer to have the car, as it is something real. This makes sense of course, if in need of a car, but I at least have never really understood how people see it as money well spent, unless it is for work purposes and therefore, an investment. For work, a car has utility and can generate value, while for personal use it is pretty much guaranteed to lose.
However I do understand him also, as it is kind of incredible that the comparison can be made at all, especially if looking from outside the crypto industry. It is hard to fathom for most people where the value comes from, let alone how it can possibly worth as much as a car, when a few short years ago it was possible to get them for pretty much free mining. It is kin of like those kids who kept their Star Wars toys unopened in boxes and had them become highly valuable later in life. So many people had the opportunity, but they didn't "store" them, though I would suspect that most of the collectors weren't children at the time, as kids don't tend to think that far ahead in life.
But then, it seems most adults don't think that far ahead in life either, since most do not invest anything into anything unless they are forced to by law, and even then, it is up to the employer to make sure it happens. I know that for me, I haven't been nearly as active in this are before I got into crypto and I am still struggling to pay attention daily. Lucky for me, I get to combine what I enjoy doing with what I don't.
My writing has utility in this way as I can not only use it to earn a little crypto, it also encourages me to focus on areas that I would likely neglect normally. It is not that I am not interested in investing, but my attention can easily become financially distracted, something that might run in my family. Writing gives me the opportunity to combat my nature in this area, and the time I spend doing it is like staking for a return. Yes, it locks up resources, but in doing so, I am able to both earn and protect insulate myself from myself.
I think that in the past, I suffered from a habit of seeking retail therapy, even though I didn't really have the money to spare. I don't buy much for myself directly, but I really enjoy the process of buying things for my wife and daughter, even if they do not need them. My wife has a few dresses with tags on them still and I can't blame her for the purchase, it was definitely me. I am good at picking clothes for women and I liked the return on the investment, which was the smile on the face and the than you for doing something I am good at - but it isn't valuable past that, when the closet is full of dresses.
This means that my writing becomes a generator of value and a savings scheme rolled into one, as while I write about what I do, I become far more aware of my usage of my resources, as well as have something else I am pretty good at to turn my attention toward and to feel good about. I sometimes consider how other people feel when they do what the do on Hive and wonder how many actually enjoy themselves because they are interested in using their skill, not just the outcome of using their skill. For me at least, there is definitely a "it's the journey, not the destination" feel to my time here, even though I am always heading toward something in the future. The future just gives the direction of which way to move, it doesn't absorb the attention, as that is required for the journey.
Yep, you can buy a car for the same price as a Bitcoin, but even though it gets you from A to B, does it add to the journey? Yep, I could buy my wife more dresses and enjoy the process, but does it add anything more to our relationship, does it make me love her more or her me? Probably not. Crypto doesn't have practical value in this way either, but in time, it could possibly buy something that does have utility that helps me along the journey and maybe, gives my family opportunities we wouldn't have available otherwise. A resource to build with, or lean upon, as the journey may require.
I should take my wife out to dinner when we have the chance though, if only to have an excuse to take some tags off a dress.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]