Before we get strated I want to express my deep gratitude to Route. He allowed me to write a guest post on his substack. You can find the original here.
A quick introduction.
I learnt about crypto in 2017. Through a friend in the CS:GO skin trading community.
So I created a Wallet and began accepting USDT as a payment option. Fast forward a couple weeks. I was hooked. The idea of an open “gamified” financial system and sitting at the forefront of it’s ever expanding boundaries fascinated me.
I was always interested in money. Finance. Banking. In university I learnt about macro, introductory banking, contracts. Theory. Often outdated. Obsolete. I needed a practical approach. Something fungible. Learn. Adapt. Execute.
So in my freetime I roamed this sector. Discord. Twitter. A few names come to mind. Mocho. Godfather. Loop. Donalt. Route.
The insights I gained here shaped my economic understanding much more than any degree ever could have. Allowing me to speedrun much of the “Amateur phase”. You know the saying. New market participants have to pay a tuition fee. Trial by fire. Sooner or later.
So did I. Ran up the humble portfolio I had built by working in the space. Became overconfident. Then lost it all. Doubt. First Success. Venturing out the Risk Curve. More Success. Leverage. Dead.
Luckily I stayed. Taking some odd jobs. Working. Waging away. No speculation.
Until 2021. DeFi. NFTs. I was hooked again.
The skills I had gathered through my CS:GO skin trading “career” (if you can even call it that) started to pay off huge. With a couple analysis tools and the help of a group of bright-minded degens I became very successful. In trading colorful pngs. Ironic.
Nowadays I sit comfy in spot. Have gotten more rational. Less of a degen. Some yield positions here and there. A little leverage on the side. Maybe some airdrop hunting for dessert. I have honed my edge. Waiting to deploy it again.
This is my story.
Have I made it? A question I contemplate daily.
Wanted to put my thoughts into words. A framework.
Here it is.
Defining Success in Crypto
This is not a new subject. Rather the question at the core of the life of every human that ever lived. Will ever live.
It’s answer. Simple. Yet varied. Constant through time. Humans don’t change at their core.
You could follow the teachings of the ancient greeks. Defining success as seeking wisdom. Striving for ethical excellence. Cultivating inner virtues.
Take the route of the modern Emerson. “Laugh often and much; Win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; Appreciate beauty; Find and support the best in others.” But most importantly.
Leave the world a better place.
Or simply listen to Wooden and find success not in external achievements but in knowing that you made an effort. Did your best. Achieved what you were capable of.
The answer is always subject to your ideals. Your values. Social. Economic. Religious. Ideology.
Let’s bring this back to crypto.
You’re either here for the money or the tech. Right? A foolish statement. Misguided.
I rather think of two camps living in this sector. Tourists and Residents.
Tourists want to experience. Feel the thrill. Make money. Extract value. Residents want to build. Help move the space forward. Make money. Generate value.
Most residents start out as tourists. Most sectors thrive because of tourists. There is a symbiosis, much like in travel. Some might find it problematic. I see it as essential.
Where you fall on this binary spectrum dictates how you define personal success in crypto.
Tourists
You’re only here to get rich quick. You log on. Check prices. But only of the assets you hold. You jump between narratives. Follow whatever clickbait thread hits your TL. Countless Telegram and Discord groups. Read like a maniac. Not to learn. Solely to profit. No depth.
I don’t shame you. Money is an easy goal. Freedom. Opportunities. Bottled energy and time of humans.
“Once I have enough I can finally follow my true purpose.” you keep telling yourself.
That purpose lies elsewhere. Beyond the horizon of our subculture. Just a stepping stone to something else.
So you grind away. Always in pursuit of some magical number. A million. 10. Nowadays that might not even be enough to retire right? Delusional. CT is an endless timeline of success. Larps. Retarded takes. Scrolling through you feel insignificant. Unsuccessful. Zoom out.
Money is not everything. A means to an end. Sure. A tool. Propellent to accelerate you on the road to your final destination. So what happens once you hit this number. What will you do then? Disappear? Turn your back on this space? You will get sucked in again. I talk from experience.
Why leave the casino on a winning streak right. The only way to leave this place is to find purpose and fulfillment elsewhere. Or get burned. Hard.
So how do you define success. As a Tourist. Three ways.
First. Monetary. You hunt a number. One you think will allow you to retire. Live off of for the rest of your live. Or at least until you have found your true calling.
Maybe add some yield positions in there. I remember the “Curve Wars”. Lock 30’000 CRV and retire. Infinite Cashflow. Passive Income.
Second. Coping. Not everyone in crypto can make money. This is a market. Predatory. Will those less fortunate participants consider themselves unsuccessful?
The knowledge they leave this space with might pay off hundred folds in the future. Financial literacy. An understanding of elementary DeFi infrastructure.
Communal feelings. Endurance. Contacts. Jobs. Even a good story.
There are outcomes that can lead to success that do not necessitate a positive PnL.
Third. Leaving. Harsh but true. For those treating the market as a casino. Gambling. Shitcoins. Without a strategy. Leave.
A smoker would count quitting as a success.
But the sector is broad. Seemingly infinite vectors to work on. A never ending demand for true competence. Chances are that if you spend enough time here, you find something that truly excites you. Your magnum opus. Purpose.
(Forth. Becoming a Resident). At what point does a Tourist become a Resident? Not a set amount of time. Not even a job. It takes a cognitive shift. In approach. Motivation. Motive.
This was my first success.
Residents
It’s hard to define a Resident. From the outside. But you’ll know.
But defining success here is easy. Oh, so easy.
You’ll never reach it. But you’ll be succesfull.
Not what you expected right? Not what I expected either when I started writing. Hear me out.
What is success? An end. A finish line. Once passed, you have everything you’ve ever wanted. The end to a chapter of your life.
Then, on to a new one. Turn the page.
As a Resident you live here. You enjoy working in the space. Pushing it forward. In whatever way.
You don’t care about the prices. Sure. It stings to see BTC tumble below $20’000. It stings to see new degens outperform you. It stings to miss out on entire sectors because you have some sort of risk framework.
But as a Resident you don’t envy Tourists. The same way a turtle doesn’t envy a bird. The same way a tour guide in Spain doesn’t envy the seniors he’s showing around. The same way a cook doesn’t envy his guests.
They might be better off in the moment. Making money. Flying. Enjoying themselves. Consuming.
But you have found something true. Purpose.