“$50,000 is a lot of money until you have it in your wallet and realize it’s all just numbers.”
On Tuesday, Shabby, a pseudonymous cryptocurrency trader, struck a chord with this opening statement in his viral post on X (formerly Twitter) about financial freedom in crypto.
What Happened: The trader went on to say, “you aim for $100,000 and realize $100,000 won’t change anything, so you aim for $1 million.”
At $1 million, one would surround themselves with people who have $10 million and continue chasing higher goals, he assumed while not having hit that milestone yet.
At $10 million, “you start to buy yachts and only fly business class,” he wrote, and only meet people that have as much or more money.
“The life you are living is exactly the same, just different numbers,” he said.
He delivered a somber conclusion:
“Comparison, competition, ambition, greed and becoming something will always go on.”
Aiming for a number to solve one’s problems does not solve “the conflict within oneself,” which results in being “as miserable, just with more money,” he said.
Thus, even having $100 million does not equal freedom, he noted. Instead, the author mused, it may be understanding and trying to be free of one’s desires, ambition, greed and competition.
“Happy is the man who is and has nothing,” Shabby concluded.
Read Also: ‘Jeo Boden' Meme Coin Races Past $500M Mark: ‘The Chinese Love The Meme,' Trader Claims
Why It Matters: The post, which gathered over 1 million views, taps into one of the main emotions in the cryptocurrency community: greed.
Kun, another heavily-followed pseudonymous trader, agreed, pointing out that success is not money but “focusing on how to live day to day the way you ideally want.”
Jason Choi of Tangent, a crypto VC firm, stated that equating self-worth with net worth leads to becoming “a deeply insecure and unlikeable person.” He shared how he “obsessed over the numbers” during his stint at the best returning Asia-Pacific fund, but at the cost of his relationships and health. Following a reset, however, he said he has been healthier and happier by obsessing with “being the best in the world” at his craft.
Still, opinions on the matter differed.
Fiskantes, yet another highly followed trader, argued that he is significantly happier now than in his “make it days.” Mental freedom from “poverty problems,” according to him, is “a prerequisite to be consistently happy in this hyperinflating clown world.”
JPEG Lord also disagreed, saying the post “screams self sabotage.” His take: treating money as “just numbers” is a mistake and having more money provides more opportunities.
The crypto space is rife with rags-to-riches stories. But rich is not rich enough for some, like the trader who was up $5 million on a meme coin and was determined to turn it into $50 million. Some may take the (former) "Dogecoin millionaire," a trader who refused to sell his $3 million worth of Dogecoin DOGE/USD, not as a warning sign but more as an uncompleted challenge.
FOMO (or the fear of missing out) has gotten the better of many investors, especially when looking at the biggest fumbles from eye-watering rallies.
But as Shabby pointed out, tying one’s identity to real or missed gains can lead to a never-ending and unresolved conflict. James Howells, a South Wales resident who threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin BTC/USD in 2013, has, in vain, spent a decade trying to recover his treasure.
Similarly, the “memecoin supercycle” can hardly be explained with anything but the desire to make a lot of money, preferably with little effort.
There may just be something to the notion of crypto’s “broken moral compass.”
What's Next: The future of cryptocurrency investments is expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga's upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.
Image created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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