For some, the road into the world of cryptocurrency is slow and smooth — accelerating steadily over time, perhaps starting with a sole focus on Bitcoin while learning more about its past and present along the way. We could liken it to Scrooge’s journey in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: fiscal frustration followed by sound guidance into a deeper appreciation of community and coin alike.
For others, it’s a whirlwind of learning, unlearning, and investing all at once. There’s often self-doubt, market FOMO, and plenty of misinformation along the way. This is how I felt getting into crypto. If the aforementioned learning experience mirrors Charles Dickens, then mine was more like the movie A Christmas Story — it felt like I was given a Red Ryder BB Gun with no instruction manual.
This was thrilling, even for a pacifist, and surely some conversations felt like I was walking into a room full of people while wearing pink bunny pajamas. I was confused and concerned.
In some ways, though, I think this plunge has been for the best — enrolling in classes for the first time in years, seeing the world through lighthearted tweets and memes, and scouring newsletters during one of the most eventful years in the history of fintech. NFTs and laser eyes exploded while I scrambled to understand what a “golden cross” was. I fell in love with all of it.
Arriving late to the party had its ups and downs. There are a few core learnings, though, that I would have liked to know before becoming fully entrenched in crypto. So whether you’re an old pro or a novice, I’m hoping that talking about them might provide some insight.
1. Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins.
Custody is everything in crypto. I entered the scene when public exchanges were already established. Even though I knew that password keychains were the essential element of Bitcoin ownership, I questioned the reliability of memory. Exchanges like CoinBase and Gemini seemed to conveniently take care of that for me.
I was taught the value of self-custody and introduced to ownership options (from software wallets to hardware ones like Ledger and Trezor) in Pomp’s Crypto Academy, where I began to ask myself what solutions would make the most sense for me long term. Lifestyle and risk tolerance both play a part — and it all came down to where I felt comfortable placing my trust. Most importantly, I learned this: if you don’t have the password for your crypto, that means another entity technically owns it.
2. Don’t Trust. Verify.
This saying is often used in blockchain and crypto communities to counter the old Regan era adage, “Trust, but verify.” This attitude was used frequently to speak to compliance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union through dual-sided confirmation. Bitcoin enthusiasts have flipped this phrasing on its head to instead point out that peer-to-peer trumps trust. In a trustless system where every transaction is verified by individuals within the network, there’s simply no need for a third party to authenticate.
Of course, there’s a nod here to the verbiage on the U.S. dollar: In God We Trust. Faith in government-printed currency, in this sense, also begs to be examined. Any proposed solution to the blunders of our financial system should aim to address, course correct, and continually innovate.
3. Not All Coins Are Created Equal.
For better or worse, what started with an anonymous white paper has sprouted a bustling crypto ecosystem consisting of many currencies across a spectrum of decentralization. Altcoins — tokens other than Bitcoin — are scrutinized for their levels of “decentralization” (yes, even Ethereum).
It’s argued that Bitcoin is the only asset with a protocol that doesn’t yield to some central authority. Much of my first year of growth was spent researching “both sides of the coin” — to better understand the structural issues that Bitcoin solves for before blindly championing any coin that might falsely claim to do so.
Even though I wasn’t an early adopter of Bitcoin, clues like these ones have helped me to find my footing in fintech and improve my fluency in crypto.
I’m pretty sure many of those who got in the game years ago encountered similar turning points, and perhaps an even rockier emotional ride.
No matter when you start off, the crypto journey is all about long-term learning. But for those who are just starting to ask questions now, it’s a good thing there are so many incredible resources to explore — from independent news to podcasts and events. Asking questions is the most important part, and as long as you’re doing that, your growing knowledge may eclipse many smaller regrets.
NOTE: According to IMDB, A Christmas Story was based on the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Loving the irony here.
Wow! My eyes are open, lips are shut and my ears are listening….. looking forward to next week
Thanks for posting this Stephanie. Love the literature allusions, great analogies! Looking forward to next week's newsletter