Well I knew I didn't get lucky off some crypto punt. Got lucky with my timing getting involved and got unlucky with my timing getting out. All of the fundamentals behind cryptocurrency still had merit in my eyes. Before I made that life savings investment I put in thousands of hours of research which is still paying dividends to this day. One of the worst aspects of cryptocurrency though is that most of the investors in my experience are not very bright. Almost all of them are gamblers, few of them understand finance, almost none of them know the market is a marathon and not a sprint. Cannot tell you how many times I have seen people blow up million dollar portfolios. All the advice in this thread was good advice, and I would strongly recommend it to most crypto "investors"
It's been a very interesting journey so far though. Most of my money is tied up in what is probably one of the only crypto tokens that is about to reach profitability through revenue. I will say though that markets are extremely demoralizing in the short term. As most of yall are aware if you are in the market or looking in from the outside, vaporware/scams move the hardest. Stuff like dogecoin/amc/gamestop seem to be the best performing assets in decades, but there is always someone on the other end of the trade, and when the music stops, well someone is stuck holding a smelly bag of diapers.
My money has been tied up in a good company. They don't hype, they fly under the radar, they are run by dotcom legends, they have a lot of integrity, and all of their work is starting to show. The crypto market is going absolutely insane for the pets.coms and palmpilots of this decade. Meanwhile im holding what I would consider that amazon tier company. Boring, but growing, hiring, thriving. I constantly see scams passing me by when it comes to gains and it makes holding the portfolio that I have extremely challenging, but I have to remind myself how many times I see something thats hot one year cease to exist in the following years.
I didn't end up squandering any of that money. I took maybe a year or two off work and did a little bit of traveling and enjoying my time away from the office. My expenses were super low the entire time and I did everything frugally. Slept on a floor in shanghai, and stayed with a buddy up north in the U.S. sleeping on an air mattress and learned how to snowboard. I am back at work and have been for a couple years but im basically already financially independent. Job is low stress and it brings in some extra cash while I figure out what to do next. Honestly thought I would have quit by now but now I just see myself trying to take on bigger and bigger challenges. Almost nothing in my life has changed aside from having more financial freedom.
I have a pretty good grasp on finance now and all of it is self taught without asking for any help, but now the waters are getting more and more murky. Im starting to look into things beyond just cryptocurrencies, homeownership and standard financial stuff like stocks,bonds,etc. Looking into purchasing land and starting several businesses here soon so now im going down more and more rabbit holes. It's been a fun process and I haven't really noticed im picking up tons of skills along the way. I feel like im moving on to bigger things but I never really had these ambitions when I set out. I just wanted to sit at home, cook a meal, take a walk and then play some videogames and not have to worry about work when I started my journey around 16-17. Now im putting more and more on my plate even though im full and content. Almost nothing has changed in my life since I made this post except for personal growth and the cash in my account. Still drive the same car, still live in the same house, still buy the same stuff.
Now im sort of at a crossroads because theres a land deal im really wanting to go in on and im having a hard time coming up with the cash I need. The property feels like my magnum opus so I really want it, and if the deal falls through I feel like im going to be spinning my wheels while trying to find that next thing that gives me the same spark. Im still young but im starting to feel like I have done and seen a lot of things and im ready for my next chapter which im hoping is probably less about me and more about other people.
Sorry for the long winded post everyone, but thats my update. I occasionally skim this forum, and came back to get some info on tradelines and found I had an abandoned thread and figured I would let yall know I didn't blow it, and I hope I never do.