How Crypto and Blockchain Technology Has Impacted My Personal Finance

Short Answer: I'm now living off from my earnings in Hive.

I cannot create a post by just that answer alone so, I will just provide context as to why I reached this point. And for that, you'll have to read on.

Hello Hive!

This is my answer to @theycallmedan's question: How has Crypto and Blockchain Technology Impacted your Personal Finance? If you're interested, you can find more in the post below:

When you say crypto and blockchain technology, I only meant Hive in my case. I didn't try any other blockchain technology because many of those projects are not for me. I mean I traded BTC and ETH, but I didn't shell out any money out of my salary. All those are from the rewards of my blogging.

Technically speaking, I didn't really give much attention to other blockchains outside Hive except some sporadic trading.

I started blogging in the previous chain last September 2017 and that's a few months before the buzz of crypto and the alt season of early 2018. I was interested in this idea that you'll earn rewards just by posting something. I had no blogging experience before, but I had an article writing experience at Upwork.

Everything started with the desire to earn. It was well and good at first especially when I was able to ride the ATH of the previous token that I earned twice as my monthly salary from a single post. Yes! You read that right: From a single post. But everything changed when the long and chilling crypto winter followed.

If I didn't change my notion of blogging for money back then, I would have left already, just like a lot of people I knew back then. When the price was tanking, I studied the entire mechanism. From governance to economics, I tried to understand why blockchain technology works and why it changes the way we content creation. I could not probably explain everything, but I had a grasp of how things work that made me believe this "blogging on a blockchain" thing.

It kept me going. I kept on creating even when I felt so alone. One thing I learned was that you should keep on creating even just for yourself. I can understand those who leave. Maybe because it was not worth it for them anymore. For me, I just changed my mindset.

From the first quarter of 2018 until February this year, there was no effect on my finances. It's more of building my reputation and creating my personal brand.

I witnessed the unfolding of the events before the creation of Hive. At that point, it was not about mere blogging anymore. It was all about protecting what you have been building all those years.

When Hive was created, that was the moment I believed in the true power of a community. That was the moment I decided to keep on creating here. It created a lot of buzz and together with it was the increase of HIVE's price. By the first week of May, I tweeted this:

_{I can't believe my blog earned more than my current salary even at the current price of #HIVE. Is this a sign?}

That was after a month of the lockdown due to COVID-19. Three days later, I tweeted this:

_{Already said it, but I'll say it again: Without #Hive, we would have been in a precarious situation. I didn't withdraw much because I'm still thinking of buying back after $BTC halving, but it feels different to bring food to your family's table in this trying times.}

And it's true! Without Hive during those two months of no work, I would have gone crazy due to boredom and we would have been in a difficult situation financially. Hive became my source of income in those months that we were locked into our homes. I would say that that's the biggest impact of crypto to my personal finances.

I think the pandemic has taken a toll on my sanity as everyone else's. We just have different ways of coping up. I took it hard because my way of coping up has always been to travel. And since travel is restricted, I felt like a pressure cooker that was slowly building pressure inside and I could blow up any time.

My productivity at work plummeted that I felt guilty of not delivering enough. I contemplated so hard on quitting, but considering the situation, it would be very difficult for me to find another job. My boss said that it was not a wise decision. I thought that staying is not wise either. I decided to choose my mental health.

_{Just tendered my resignation letter today.}

On September 16, 2020, I finally decided to tender my resignation and I would say it was one of the most reckless yet the bravest thing I've done in my life. While a lot of people are very happy they still have a job in this pandemic, I decided to quit without a clear plan on what to do next. If you're interested to know more about my resignation, you can check out the post below:

I knew I have Hive though. I decided to try an experiment if I can live off of blogging in Hive. I know it's not sustainable at the current price, but if the forecasts are right and alt season is just at the corner, @acidyo might be right. He said in one of our conversations in OCD that resigning might be the best decision I've made this year.

I'm now more than a month unemployed and I would say I'm still okay so far. This is just an experiment though. I might need to find another job, but for now, I'm contented with the earnings from my blogging.

I didn't know crypto and blogging in a blockchain sort of became the cushion to lessen the impacts of my decision. Without Hive, I would have continued to work and have set aside my mental health.

That's how crypto, I mean Hive, has impacted my personal finances, I mean my whole life in general.

Kim Ybañez