My Start With Crypto
By Matt Mould

Lets face it; unless you've got stores of reserve funds for startup costs and to make ends meet in the interim phases, going to work for yourself can really suck.  It's a goal that should not be sought after lightly.  It's also not a goal that should be taken on prematurely.  Don't let this discourage you or put you off from the idea, just take what I'm trying to give; Be prepared.



My first venture into the realm of self-employment was back in late 2013/early 2014.  Bitcoin was finally making waves in the media (and not just online, but in mainstream news stories across the country.)  I saw values poised to explode and new equipment coming out to the market set to make a serious dent in the status quo of hashrates.  With the support of my fiance, I jumped.  I picked up my first real miner; an overclocked Antminer S1.  And by picked up, I mean I went through the painstakingly long and complicated task (at the time,) of getting my hands on the actual bitcoin required to purchase the device from the only source available to me at the time.

But it came, it hashed, it conquered.  Even I was too late to reap the insane rewards some managed, but I'd made my money back on my investment pretty quickly.  Before the initial return, however, I invested in a couple more machines to keep the ball rolling.

Little was available for purchase (through legit and lawful channels,) via Bitcoin at the time but I did happen upon (thanks to a fellow miner I had met while hashing out some Peercoin,) a great site that traded gold and silver coins and tokens in exchange for Bitcoin.  Their prices were quite reasonable and the local jewelry shop I had scouted out was very fair, buying the gold at spot and silver a dollar under spot.

But a good while after my expenses had been paid off and I'd made quite the profit on this venture, the difficulty of Bitcoin had surpassed the profitable margin for these machines and I had not made enough to invest in better technology so my time in this industry was to its end (for now at least.)

But along the way, paying close attention to the news and all my feeds, I had managed to watch firsthand as Bitcoin sprang into life all around the globe.  This store accepts it online, that country outlawed it, this U.S. congressman is motioning to have it outlawed, that governmental agency is telling him it's not the place or right of the U.S. government to do it.  Exciting times.  And while I don't currently keep Bitcoin handy so much anymore, I'm still tickled when I see the signs; "Bitcoin Accepted Here."  I also can't help but chuckle every time I go into the black market on CoD: Black Ops 3 and the guy in shadows asks if I got any crypto.  If this part of the game, the crypto keys, wasn't inspired at least in part by Bitcoin and it's successors I'd be awestruck.

So what are your thoughts on Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies out there still being hashed away?  Have you mined or used the currencies yet?  And do you think they'll make it into the truly mainstream?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments.