Was it enough to be comfortable?

Laying in bed, I remember a conversation I was having with a Hive user back in 2017. It was about how much crypto a person would need in order to be preety comfortable in the future. He thought that 15 thousand worth would make a significant amount 5 years from that point and he was right. At today's prices, that amount if exclusively in Bitcoin would be worth around about 300,000 dollars, and there is still a little over a year more to go since that conversation set the "5 year" condition.

What will it be worth in a year frim now is anyone's guess, but I assume if you are reading this, you like me, expect more.

At that stage, I think I had about that much in value, but it doesn't necessarily mean I have the 300k now, as it of course depends on what is done with it. I, like many others, didn't hold bitcoin and instead went into many other coins instead. In fact, I was and still am pretty negative on Bitcoin, even though I believe it is going to continue doing very well in the coming years. It actually wasn't until relatively recently that I held any bitcoin at all.

Silly me? Yes and no - it depends on how you look at it. For me, most if my early investment potential came from earning on Hive, so I felt an attachment to what I earned and a commitment to the community still to do this day.

While I watched many others earn and extract and likely do very well with their investments, I couldn't help but feel that they were selling the community out. While they benefited themselves, they didn't feel the need to give anything back.

For example, a very old and one of the most highly rewarded accounts ever, was complaining about the lack of support the get. They have been on the platform since 2016, earned well over 100k HIVE, yet have less than 1500 earned in curation. That takes some skill.

But, perhaps they took their Hive earnings, sold it in the early days for 2-4 dollars, bought Bitcoin at 500- 1000 dollars and now be sitting on a couple million in crypto. However, going by the way they speak, I suspect they didn't do that at all and probably have very little if anything left.

We all make decisions and one of the cool things about crypto is we get to make more decisions with how we use our digital wealth. Some use it very well and turn a little into a lot, some have good luck, some bad and some sell what they have into fiat, thinking there is plenty more crypto where that came from.

They are right. There is plenty more where that came from, but it doesn't mean they will have any access to it. A lot of people had early access to the reward pool, were able to draw a lot from it, but thought that was going to always be the case. A lot if the early users didn't factor in the changing technology, userbase or the economy as a while. They used it as an ATM and many didn't spend what they withdrew very wisely. Though most do not admit it.

My opinion on this is speculative and based on the way theu have spoken and acted, not what they have said. A lot of people become bitter when they realize they have squandered an opportunity and some never recover from the feelings of entitlement, gained from the good times they experienced.

Personally, I could be well retired by now, if I had made some different decisions. Yet, even though I have not spent any crypto, I am far away still. There are various reasons for this, with one of them being that I have stayed highly motivated and connected to Hive. Perhaps more so than many, perhaps more so than I should have been. Yet, even knowing the alternative life u could have had, nothing has really changed, I am still motivated.

I still think it will come financially good and moreover, it will benefit many people in the process, directly and indirectly. If it does, I will be over the moon for so many people.

And I think that this is what is so attractive about Hive, as it is not a solo game, it is one where relationships matter, behaviors matter, personality matters and track-record matters. There are many other aspects too, but interaction is very important.

Investing is normally a solitary game where even though many people are involved, they are conolety unknowns. Buys and sells are made with only one person in mind. Here it is different as at least for many, there are other dynamics knowingly in play, and this affects all aspects of the Hive economy. Yes, people loin out for themselves, but they look out for others to at least some degree also.

But yeah. The conversation from years ago came to mind and I was thinking what might have been different if I had taken alternate paths. Maybe a lot, maybe nothing, however I have been content with the one I have taken, even if it is yet to lead me all the way to where I want to be.

Or is that where we want to be?

I don't know. Your journey is yours alone. But you needn't walk it alone.

I dont know how many people from the early days took full advantage of their opportunity as early adopters here, but I know that many didn't. Sometimes, it isn't how much you have, but how you use it that matters.

Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]