Beware, or Take Care of the Bear?

I have always said that my goal in crypto as far as personal finance goes, is for it to be significantly lifechanging, which has meant that I have been a holder for five years. While I have done okay in general, it is still not to the point where it is much different than if I just work until retirement. Well, I wouldn't have to work as hard perhaps. But, as I am already able to cover my lifestyle with my work, I am in no rush to sell, which means there are other things to consider, with one of those being the bear markets.

Back in the last bear market, through 2018 and 2019, there were a few people who mocked me as a holder, after they had sold. With everything being transparent on the Hive blockchain, it is pretty easy to make judgements. But, back then and at least at the start of the bear, there was very little to do but sell in order to safeguard gains. What this meant though was many of those who did sell, spent too, and were seemingly unable to get back into the markets, even at the lowest of lows.

There are reasons for this of course, as when someone is "up" with the cash in their hand, getting back in is difficult, because they want to either get in lower and it is never low enough or, people fear that "this is the end" and the sky is falling on crypto - why get back on a sinking ship? But, those times have been replaces with more options now, meaning those who do hold are able to earn without selling in a number of ways.

Hive has always been a place where staking earns and I suspect that over the last three years from the start of the bear, I have probably added something like 30K HIVE in curation returns. It doesn't really matter if they were worth 10 cents or a dollar, as I wasn't selling, but now, that is around 23K worth. That is pretty decent for my social media consumption. And yes, earnings from posting add more to that number, something I suspect wouldn't be as high if I had sold.

But, there are other options than Hive out there as we know, with staking for yield immensely popular in crypto the last year- for better or worse. However, what this means is that it is possible to hold tokens through a bear and still have an income stream of value. While this is affected by the price of the markets and demand too, if it is possible to have enough that it can get through the bear without selling, all of the "have to sell to live" concerns go away and all that needs to be done, is to be patient and ride the bear out.

For me, I am quite heavily staked across several pools and kingdoms on the CUB Finance platform, by the @leofinance team. This is currently giving me a decent daily amount of value that gives me the possibility to roll it back in or, use it for something else. I do a bit of everything generally in this area. But, my tokens are secure enough there that I am pretty sure that if I do need to sell, I can.

Then, another major income stream is from Splinterlands, where I have bought a stack of cards over the last months, have played a bit and rented a bit too. The rents are earning consistently something and, the SPS airdrop period still has 275 days to run, which means I am able to use the various tokens I hold and are counted toward the airdrop, to earn SPS each day. This will end though, so it might not make it through a bear market, however if the rental market is alive and kicking, the trickle will keep coming.

Staking in all its various forms is a superpower of owning assets, and while near everyone focuses on price, the real value is in consistently being able to generate income, without having to sell - even if that income is less than the amount of the sale. This is my opinion only, but after watching many sellers at the highs still struggling to make ends meet today where we are back at the highs, it is pretty clear that they would be better off if they had held, especially if they didn't need the cash at the time.

For me, I do not, because I have chosen to work a lot more than most, so this way, I was able to keep my holdings at least static through the bear. Mow though, those same tokens are pretty decent little earners and while it isn't going to last at these levels, we still have a few months left until we reach the real highs and then, the long slide down into the depths of bear belly. All that way, they will be earning too and while I keep staking into various vehicles, even at the depths, those trickles could be meaningful, if needed. If they aren't needed, they will be used to beef up my holdings for the next bullrun.

If I do need it though, it is more likely that I won't need to bite into the capital invested and instead just use portions of the yield. Even though if for example the market dropped the yields 90% - that amount would still be significant in for example, covering a mortgage or a few weeks of grocery shopping in a pinch. this gives me some piece of mind and will effectively work like having the income of a part-time job, except that it is relatively passive and, it works 7-days a week for me.

Of course, there are risks of various kinds involved in taking this approach, with the main one having to have large amounts of capital invested in order to get meaningful returns. But, I think that in the longrun and looking toward retirement (I am mid-40s), having income streams come in from a bourgeoning industry that is likely (imo) to revolutionize the world as we know it, is highly valuable. But, what is more valuable than these streams is, owning the assets that are generating that income.

It might not amount to much at the bottom of the bear, but come bull, I will be glad I held, just as I am now, as holding gave me the possibility to take advantage of this bullrun, and I haven't had to sell a thing. These platforms are giving me the possibility to "have my cake and eat cake too", because I can use the cake I hold as collateral on getting small, daily slices without having to touch my own.

Come crypto winter, will you need to beware the bear, or will you curl up with it, cozy and warm?

Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]