Securing and streamlining my data
Much of what I've been doing for the past year when it comes to crypto-stuff is securing, streamlining, and diversifying them, just so I'd have the funds work for me in the future, instead of the other way around. It has been taking a long time because there's just no one single solution for everybody. We have our own preferences. With that in mind, I've been moving to consolidate my crypto wallets, emails, and signals.
It's indeed a sobering experience knowing that most of my valuable stuff are just some bits of digital information. So I feel kinda paranoid at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's driving me to develop my own solutions for a worry-free setup without relying on a third party. Being able to secure one's cryptofunds for the long-term is perhaps, the single most important thing to do. What's the point of a hyper bullish long-term market growth if one ends up losing their passwords and getting their funds stolen? Still, I couldn't figure out a good way to solve the problem of memory loss. Rare, but it happens.
I have a little bit more to go, but here's what I've done so far:-
Moved most of my ERC20 tokens to one wallet with a very complex password. Still waiting for the ultimate multicurrency wallet that can house everything and be part of a decentralised exchange. Might be a stupid thought, but I'd rather only handle one instead of many.
Moved 100% into secure email.
For signals and ICOs, I'm reserving my bandwidth for certain contacts on Steemit.chat, Telegram, Smith and Crown, Cofound.it, and when operational, Santiment. Too much noise in the space, so I guess I've to narrow my channels down.
Crypto-diversification
For goal of having less worries and more cognitive bandwidth for other stuff that matters, I've also been moving more crypto resources into diversification tokens. That includes the likes of Iconomi (ICN), Token-as-a-Service (TaaS), and Blockchain Capital (BCAP).
Some fresh ones earlier this month:-
Pillar Project (PLR). Talked about it recently here: https://steemit.com/blog/@kevinwong/the-pillar-project-a-black-swan
Bitquence (BQX). Love the simple idea of a multicurrency platform built around mainstream, casual investors in mind. I think it has potential, especially after going through some of the devlogs and prototype reveal.
Upcoming ICOs that I'm looking out for:-
Synchrolife: A restaurant recommendation platform connecting users and restaurants through tokens. The distribution is not very ideal for me though so this ICO is at the moment, low priority. (https://synchrolife.org/)
Maecenas: The Decentralised Art Investment Platform. I really love the idea of making investments in fine art liquid and accessible. It has never occured to me that people do indeed hedge their funds in such a manner. So it's very interesting to me to say the least. Definitely one to look for this month. (https://www.maecenas.co/)
Pally: Decentralised Social Travel. Seems interesting to me since I'm big on mobility projects. I'd think that Steem can pull this off, but perhaps a more concentrated app / team could perform better first.(https://www.pally.co/)
X8: The ultimate safe haven for crypto investors. A stable-coin that may work? Medium priority on this ICO. (https://x8currency.com/)
The HODL list
Since I get asked this from time to time, here's an almost complete list with some of my thoughts, and in no particular order:-
ICN / TaaS / BCAP: As mentioned before, to diversify.
Steem: Heaviest HODL, since I'm expecting this to be a total beast. Communities feature is an absolute must for the platform to scale. Also there needs to be more utility for Steem Power, providing access into more products and services. Still waiting!
EOS: Entered first round of ICO, and will scoop more when other holdings outperform the price of ether. This project is a generalised expansion of Steem / Bitshares.
IOTA: Seems well engineered for the Internet-of-Things. Post-blockchain technology. May accumulate more over time, depending on reports of network stability.
CFI: A tokenised start-up accelerator. Huge win for me to be able to get early information and access into professionally managed projects. As it expands in scope, it could very well become the Silicon Valley of the distributed age. Or a huge joke lol. Liking it so far though.
STOX: Powered by an already existing business, could probably do well.
SAN: Santiment Network Token. A crypto made for a data-driven blockchain economy. I feel like they're tackling the problem of data-feeds from the right fundamentals. More gut feeling than rational reasoning that I got into this.
Lisk: Version 1.0 + SDK + rebranding coming out soon. Could it end up being one of the best market performers this year? Unlikely, but it would be nice to see mainstream javascript developers taking up the challenge of building apps on the blockchain.
TKN: Monolith's Tokencard. Just need a platform to easily spend ERC-20 tokens in the future. Doesn't seem to be performing as well as Monaco and TenX. So lesson learned, first-mover isn't everything and again, it's best to diversify into token-baskets rather than specific tokens. Anyway, just going to HODL this like a fool.
Others include: ANT, RLC, SIA, STORJ, E4ROW, ∞ (Good Karma), MUSE, SALT, PLR, BQX, Aeternity, Peerplays, BTS, Hush, Viva Crowns.
Conclusion
Not the best with finance and planning stuff in general here, but I think what I've been learning to do for the past year is definitely worth it. Remember: secure, streamline, and diversify your cryptos. Been tying up some loose ends here, finishing up some major works, and will be finding myself with plenty of free time again towards the end of September. As usual, this post is not to be taken as financial advice.