2017ers - Digital Diggers For The Technology Era

It's official. I'm a miner!

This is my crypto-commodity.

Similar to the 49ers who mined for gold in 1849 (the namesake referring to the year the gold rush began), I am now involved in mining for Ethereum. Is it fair to call us 2017ers, the believers and pursuers of cryptocurrency - in this case, Ether?

Regardless of what monicker we go by, we are the technology era's digital diggers. For those of you who are not familiar with Ethereum or cryptocurrency, let me try to break it down. Cryptocurrency is digital money. And Ethereum is one of the currencies available for use. It's the 2nd most recognized and popular digital coin; the first being Bitcoin. It's similar to the physical, paper fiat currencies like the US Dollar (USD), the British Pound (GBP), the Euro (EUR), the Australia Dollar (AUS), Chinese Renminbi (CNY), or the Japanese Yen (JPY) - but it's digital. Currently, the value of Ethereum against the USD is 1 ETH = $295.94 USD as of the time of this writing.

The real beauty of Ethereum is the background technology called Blockchain. I've talked about this before briefly. For me, the long and the short of it is that Blockchain will be the future of every industry conceivable. It's a general ledger system for data (blocks) that are linked (in chain fashion) and secured using cryptography. I relate this to the function of Accounting. Every person or business needs a good Accounting system. This could potentially be the best one ever designed. That being said, it's application is versatile and comprehensive.

For more on cryptocurrency and Blockchain, check out the ultimate guide here.

Getting back to my original point. I'm a miner! How?

Digital currencies are mined, not created or printed. In order to "mine" the "coins" or "tokens" complex computers are built and process extremely difficult maths problems. The machine who cracks the problem is considered to have "mined" the block and is awarded some portion of or the full value of the currency being mined. For a better explanation of the mining process, see here. 

That being said, I made an investment for an interest in a mining machine and will begin to collect Ether on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. Of course, like any other investment, there are maintenance costs along the way. So the hope is that the value of Ether against the USD will continue to climb to be well in excess of the operating costs.

My prediction is that cryptocurrencies will be here for the long run, and that eventually we will see it integrated into society and find it more and more as a payment method both online and in brick and mortar. It's ease of use and security will be the new gold standard of payment processing.

I'm in it for the long haul. Who's with me? (476)

My Investment Compass

Yesterday I spent most of my day tinkering with Excel and putting together tables. My analysis was for some investments I plan to make in the near future. It was a reminder of how analytical I can get sometimes. I started out with ABC up and down the X axis, and XYZ on the Y axis and populated the cells with various formulas. Then I would rearrange the line items or add / delete lines all to get the right amount of detail.

In the world of corporate tax (my profession), it's rare that we have to put together a table from scratch. Most of the time, the data is already provided to us and it requires manipulation. Often times it's as easy as performing a VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP or simply using a Pivot Table. But there's just so much information to analyze. The trick is to know what you need for a narrow down the dataset to those categories.

The data I came up with yesterday was based on reading and research I did about various investment products which I plan to place bets on. For me, my interests are currently in:

• Blockchain technology
• Cryptocurrency
• eSports
• Environment
• Renewable Resources / Alternative Energy

The potential for each of the above is sky high. I think we're going to see Blockchain become the accounting of the future. Plenty of businesses are currently analyzing how to implement and make use of the technology. From the success and safety of the Blockchain, cryptocurrency was developed potentially to make financial exchanges easier, non-centrally governed, and safer than transactions with intermediaries. It is yet another factor that will shrink the world and create a common denominator to create business across borders. Imagine being able to pay for your meal in a foreign country safely without having to exchange currency or use a credit card and be subject to foreign transaction fees with just the click of a button on your mobile phone. It's potentially that easy. 

Then there's eSports, and if you've read my previous posts you already know what I think. It's sports digitized and the market is only growing. I can only see an upside financially. The downside is going to be getting your kids outside for fresh air to play like the old days of activity and exercise. I'm sure the world will find some health detriments, and we should be sure to combat them and set limits. But the trend is upward for eSports. And like anything that requires moderation, it will be a matter of parental guidance and reasonableness that helps mitigate any health concerns. 

The environment and renewable energy also go hand in hand similar to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. It's easy, the bet is that renewable and alternative energy sources will improve the environment that we live. And those who create a greener lifestyle should and will benefit in more ways than just financial - health-wise too. Solar energy is really making a statement these days. The tech has been around for years but Tesla and other solar manufacturers are really making it easier and cheaper to be environmentally friendly. Wind is also rising but less publicly. The new turbines on and offshore will have been providing electricity for a while now but drawing much less attention. Similarly, hydroelectric energy has also been around for a while but with few water sources to plug up with dams, it too doesn't get the recognition it deserves for as long as it has already served us. And the remaining alternatives include biomass, geothermal, and tidal have yet to really make a profound impact but again, the potential is great. 

I suppose over these past few months of unemployment, the experiences I've lived through, the reading I've done and the interests I've developed have helped me realize what my future holds. I know better who I want to be and how I want to carry out that lifestyle. For now, the next investments I will make are just a stepping stone for the future I want to build. And like the past few months, I'm sure these investments will be rocky at time but the long term results should be upward trending. (700)

8 Things That I Am Learning About

Lately, I've been reading about, paying attention to, and/or doing a number of things to keep me up to date on current events, trends, quality of life, the environment, and other personal interests. Here are some: 

1. Reading. It is FUN and Mental and FUNDAMENTAL.
   
2. Blockchain. It is the future of the Internet, Data Management, Banking, and Travel among other things.
   
3. Cryptocurrency. Although I'm not convinced it is the future of money, it's certainly a game changer and something to pay attention to.
   
4. Credit. Because WTF Equifax?! Make sure to sign the petition to make credit freezing FREE for all, not a free-for-all.
   
5. Investing. Whether it be about equities, real estate, or time. Here's a new platform that is popularizing trading for the new generation.
   
6. Climate Change. Because WE SHOULD HAVE Paid More Attention Before, But It's NOT TOO LATE Now - Make An IMPACT
   
7. Travel. You cannot learn to swim by reading a book; you need to throw yourself into the sea or into a swimming pool for that. The same happens if you want to practice yoga; reading books about yoga is useless to achieve a real yoga experience. If you want to know the world you must travel the world." -Jorge Sanchez

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