My Crypto Investing Journey
PoolTogether Community Interview #17: 0xTopa
Welcome to the latest PoolTogether Community Interview.
I hope you are getting a sense of how deep and also wholesome the PoolTogether Community is.
We have so many committed contributors from around the world with many different skillsets so please do join us and take part in whatever way you can.
Today we feature 0xTopa, an investor and keen PT Community contributor. (Please note: Nothing in this interview or post is to be taken as financial advice. Crypto and digital assets are risk and unregulated assets and you could lose some or all of your investment).
Tell us a bit about yourself. Describe yourself in a few words/facts:
Hello, I go by 0xTopa and I live in Europe. I had success trading stocks and even in-game items and made some money doing that, to me, crypto is a way to gain financial independence for younger generations.
How long have you been into crypto?
I learned about crypto at university and jumped right in near the end of 2019. I understood very clearly the potential of this technology right from the start, what it was and where it was going.
I guess you could say I'm in it for the tech. I can code but haven't done so in a long time, basically went full-time trader/investor, but I plan on building in the space in the future.
Do you want to tell us about the main lessons you have learned since then?
Things are complicated and they aren't perfect, but they're the best shot we have at fixing the broken systems of old, we just have to remember that time is on our side.
Why do you think crypto can help young people gain financial independence?
As a new asset class, crypto and NFT's are in their infancy with incredible upside that no other asset class can follow for the next five to ten years, which is also the time horizon that people should look at before investing in anything. It is also the fairest of markets, one that runs 24/7 irrespective of legacy systems with incumbents that control a big part of those same systems (Blackrock, Citadel, Clearinghouses, Brokers etc...).
Where should someone new who wants to invest in crypto start?
PoolTogether on Polygon is a good start for people interested in DeFi because the risks are pretty minimal. Apart from PoolTogether new L2's like Arbitrum and Optimism are cheap alternatives to Ethereum mainnet and based on the Ethereum roadmap are integral parts of the scaling solution to Ethereum. For traders, I recommend using FTX, it's great.
What are the key attitudes, mindsets and strategies people need to be successful in crypto investing?
Invest for the long term (5-10 years), don't overtrade, don't try to time the markets, take profits in increments, stick to your plan, don't get scared of the volatility, volatility is your friend and is an integral part of an emerging asset class, this is basic stuff that goes for any market really.
What was your best crypto moment?
When you ask me this my mind goes to the times I made 3x a year's worth of salary because I minted an NFT or when I bought a CoolCat just because I liked the art and didn't expect any kind of price appreciation of the asset, but for me, the best moment was the Uniswap airdrop, that was 3 months of salary that got given to me for free, was a real shock and I didn't expect to get anything for using the tech, I had only sent one transaction or two and both failed, costing me gas, as I didn't understand how it all worked.
Still, the team wrote in the article launched with the token to include addresses with only failed transactions with a sentence I will never forget, "- love you guys".
Things like these show the kindness and the type of culture that Vitalik and the broad Ethereum community bring, they are incredibly kind and understanding of the world and are an inspiration to all of us that use the platforms that they build, this extends to the PoolTogether team also.
This airdrop gave me the starting capital to grow my portfolio to multiples that I would have had to work 10-20 years for by working a regular job. Giving people free money isn't really about the money it's about the values that the Ethereum community brings, it spreads via the money, but the money comes second.
And your biggest fail?
There are plenty, getting liquidated, not selling at the right times. The biggest one is minting an NFT, selling it for 5-10x the ETH put into it and watching it get resold for 4x that the next day. As I write this the NFT's are worth 10 ETH, and I had 2 of them, sold both for under 1 ETH (pain).
But we live and we learn, this was at the start of my NFT journey and I had no idea what I was doing.
How did you find out about PoolTogether?
I found out about PoolTogether via youtube, I followed a YouTuber that talked about PoolTogether and I decided to put about $100 in to test it out, at first I thought that it might be a scam, but when I learned how it worked I gained confidence, this was when fees were low on mainnet, in fact, I think it might have been the first DeFi app I ever used!
What made you stick around?
The insane potential of the protocol for being a savings account for the world and the incredibly warm and welcoming community.
How are you involved in the community? Tell us about it.
I mostly engage in conversations in the Discord and give feedback about governance, tokenomics, and generally just hang out with the community.
Would you recommend PoolTogether to others? How would you describe it to them?
Absolutely! A savings account mixed with a no-loss lottery!
Are you involved in any other projects or communities?
Here and there, I believe I am most active in the PoolTogether community.
What are the new trends that people need to be aware of in 2022?
NFT's are a big new asset class that rarely anybody saw coming up the way it has, with pfp's taking the most market share. As new L2 solutions come online the Cambrian explosion of innovation and possibilities will expand the scope of what NFT's and DeFi can do and conversely give more opportunities for market participants to earn, for example, merely playing a game.
So, watch the L2 space, NFT's & DeFi on L2 and especially new video games. I predict a big AAA studio will integrate NFT's in one of its games perhaps near the end of 2022.
What is next for you? You have 10-20 years of salary. What do you want to do now?
Sounds like a lot doesn't it, but it's not, the chase never stops, not enough to retire or have any semblance of freedom quite yet, our systems are so bloated with cash that the difference between the haves and the have nots is incredibly large, but I plan on using the income and profits to passively earn more money to live comfortably for the future, that is yet to come.
Do you have any other thoughts and comments you would like to make?
PoolTogether has an incredible vision and potential to help people save and win money, it has an amazing team and community and I wish all the best to everyone!
We hope you enjoyed this interview. Please visit PoolTogether.com to learn more about the protocol and to deposit.
You can also take part in the Community by joining the official PoolTogether Discord.