How I Got Here

Reading time: 3 min

In 2018, a Reddit post changed my life forever.

And it’s why I’m here talking to you on the other side of the screen.

It was a typical morning. I was on my 6 a.m. bus ride to work, tired as hell, endlessly scrolling on my phone…

Then I stumbled on a post about Bitcoin that sent me down a rabbit hole.

Bitcoin is hitting new highs after new highs.The crypto market is boomin’.Everyone is gettin’ rich.

I instantly woke the fuck up.

I’ve heard about Bitcoin before this. I knew it was used for the dark web, but I never bothered to look more into it. Now one Bitcoin is worth $20,000?!

Holy. Shit.

My heart started pounding. I could hear my pulse thudding loudly in my ears. I was hit with a big case of FOMO.

My mind started racing with all the things I could buy once I became rich like everyone else.

A Lambo. A big ass house. All the pairs of Jordans I ever wanted growing up. My family would be set for life.

This was my chance to make it.

At the time, I was a recent college grad and had a couple grand in my savings that I could use to invest. I had zero investing experience but there was no way I was going to miss out on this.

So, I did what most rational people would do.

Take all my savings and dump it in.

Yup, I bought the top.

Over the next couple of months I watched my portfolio drop…

And drop…

...And drop, until my portfolio was down 90%.

Oof.

Now, this is the part of the story where you expect me to say “I turned things around, became an amazing trader, made millions, and lived happily ever after.”

Nope.

I saved up some more money, tried day trading, and lost it all which put me even deeper into the hole.

Double oof.

That was a tough (and expensive) lesson to learn, especially as a newbie in the investing game.

And it was an even tougher convo with my girlfriend (now wife). We wanted to save up, move out, and start our lives together but my dumb ass set us back.

Enough was enough.

I took ownership of my mistakes and I was determined to learn everything I could about crypto, investing, and how to properly manage money.

I started consuming everything about crypto and personal finance out there.

I read books and blogs daily. I replaced some Netflix time with educational YouTube videos. I listened to podcasts while working, doing laundry, washing dishes, and other chores.

The more I learned about crypto, the more I was fascinated by potential use cases—especially NFTs and gaming. As a gamer, skins and game items as NFTs instantly clicked.

I also started budgeting and learning how to be intentional with money. (No, this doesn’t mean penny pinching. We’ll talk about this in future articles.)

Fast forward to today: I’ve built a six-figure portfolio, I love geekin’ out about personal finance, and now I work in the web3 gaming industry.

It’s been a hell of a ride.

Along the way, I’ve experienced huge wins and equally huge fuck ups which have taught me valuable lessons. And I want to share all those learnings with you. That’s why I’m starting this newsletter: Fifty Fridays.

On (you guessed it) Fridays, I’m gonna publish a post to level up your crypto and money knowledge.

I’ll break down confusing crypto and money topics into simple understandable concepts. And I’ll share my experiences to help you avoid all the mistakes I made.

I believe crypto is one of the most important technological advancements since the internet. My goal is to make crypto accessible and talk about it in a way that anyone can understand.

I also believe financial literacy is an essential life skill. I know, it’s not an exciting topic. But it’s important that you understand the basics of managing money—making money is one thing, keeping it is another.

Money can be a scary topic to talk about, but it doesn’t have to be. I hope sharing my personal stories (like this one) will help normalize money talks and help you along your financial journey.

Let’s get this bread together 🤝

Next week, we’re going to start off with an important money lesson—it’s going to change the way you think about wealth.

See you next Friday,

Fifty Sat

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Fun fact: I love dubstep, trap, and 2000s hip hop.